Tea Blog

In my first look at this topic, I suggested that given the wide range of tea varieties and terminology, a dedicated tea dictionary would be a useful reference. As it turns out, tea authority James Norwood Pratt has already produced such a resource.

This ties in with

this earlier exploration of archaic tea terms such as Bohea and their historical usage
,
which highlights how many once-common terms are now largely unfamiliar to modern tea drinkers.

Two such historical tea names are Hyson and Singlo. While Hyson can still occasionally be found today, Singlo appears to have largely disappeared from modern use.

Hyson is believed to have been named after Phillip Hyson, a director of the East India Company, an organization deeply involved in the early global tea trade.

Evidence of its former popularity can be found in

these historical advertisements featuring Hyson tea varieties such as “superfine Hyson” and “Cowslip Hyson”
,
dating back to at least the early 18th century.

Interestingly, Hyson also played a role in the Boston Tea Party, accounting for a small percentage of the tea thrown into the harbor.

Singlo, by contrast, made up a much larger share of that shipment. According to

this historical account of the types of tea destroyed during the Boston Tea Party
,
Singlo comprised nearly a quarter of the cargo, possibly due to surplus stock held by the East India Company.

For broader context, see

this overview of tea and coffee consumption during the colonial era
,
which provides background on how these varieties were traded and consumed.

Both Hyson and Singlo were green teas, though they differed in leaf appearance and harvest timing. Hyson typically featured long, twisted leaves harvested earlier in the season, while Singlo leaves were larger and picked later.

References to Singlo date back to the 17th century, including

this travel account describing Chinese tea varieties observed in the late 1600s
,
which also mentions early forms of Bohea and other teas.

For additional historical perspectives, see

this early 19th-century text discussing tea classifications and trade

and

this mid-19th-century work outlining tea terminology and commercial practices
,
both of which provide further insight into how these now-obscure terms were once widely understood.

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