Deborah's Pantry of test-driven and hard to find culinary supplies

Each Pantry item comes packaged in a manner reproducing 18th century packaging using contemporary images and extant examples, whether packaged in paper packets, cloth bags, or glass or earthenware containers.

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The Beverages

Chocolate

Beginning in June of 1700, Hannah and William Penn made numerous requests for chocolate, "if to be had." (Deborah Logan, Correspondence between William Penn and James Logan...)

Chocolate defined by N Bailey, Dictionariuim Domesticum, 1736: "A drink made of the India cocoa-nut."

Chocolate Cake (left)
1771 receipt
8 oz block, $16.00

Drinking Chocolate
1 oz in a tin, $4.25

Chocolate, Powder'd
Pure Chocolate
2 oz, $4.00

Chocolate Patties
3 oz each, $4.00

Pure cacao with a very small amount (less than 2%) of sugar, vanilla and cinnamon

Cacao Beans/Nibs
Beans from which ground
chocolate is produced.

Cacao Nibs
Criollo, roasted
2 oz, $5.00

Cacao Nibs
Criollo, roasted
6 oz, $12.00

Coffee

"A drink well known made of a Berry brought from Turkey and other places." (N Bailey, 1736) William Penn asked of James Logan in a letter dated the 6th of the 7th month, "...fail not to send..., and some coffee-berries, four lbs..." (Deborah Logan, Correspondence between William Penn and James Logan...)

Directions for Preparing True Coffee
Secrets concerning Arts and Trades, 1755 (title page missing) transcribed from French to English 1755.

Coffee Berries (light roasted) Jamaica Blue Mountain 4 oz bag, $6.00	Coffee Berries (light roasted) Jamaica Blue Mountain 8 oz bag, $10.00
Chicory A patriotic substitute for coffee 4 oz $6.00

Tea
All Pantry teas are sold loose "in the leaf"
TEA SAMPLERS are offered for your pleasure.

BRICK TEA/TEA BRICKS are not sold by the Pantry
Brick tea and tea bricks were not available in western Europe or in the colonies. Many have argued that it was here, but none have come up with any primary source documentation to place it here. "Tea bricks were sold direct to Tibet and Russia and invented before modern packaging. The brick is composed of all of the plant, stalk and all." (Emily Hahn, The Cooking of China, 1968)

- IMPORTED TEAS -

Bohea Tea A black fruity tea, oxidized before drying and offering much color and pungency. This tea will last for years if stored properly and will take on a mellow, winey character. 2 oz, $3.25	Congo, or Congou Tea A leafy, finer quality of black Chinese tea usually produced from a large leaf located on the fifth line on the plant. The taste is very sensual and sweet, reminiscent of roses and some muscat grapes. This blend produces a delightful, naturally scented tea. 2 oz, $3.75	Gunpowder Tea A type of young green tea in which each leaf is rolled into a ball by the picker before being cured. 2 oz, $3.25
Hyson/Green Tea Chinese for "flourishing spring," it is a type of green Chinese tea plucked early, but typically harvested from the second crop, after gunpowder tea. Made from thinly rolled and twisted leaves, which unfurl when brewed. 2 oz, $3.00	Oolong Tea Semi-fermented tea from China or Formosa; a diplomatic blend because it is composed of black tea and green tea. It is more delicate than black tea, yet stronger than green tea. The floral Ti Kuan Yin produces a clear mellow brew and is famous for its light fragrance. Milk and sugar are commonly added to this type of tea. 2 oz, $3.00	Souchong Tea A black tea having a pronounced smoky flavor; produced from the largest leaf of tea. Surprisingly, it contains less caffeine than green teas. 2 oz, $3.00

- LIBERTY TEAS -

"...for tea we [North American colonists] have sage and bawm [balm] in our gardens, the young leaves of the sweet hickery [sic] or walnut, and above all, the buds of our pine,infinitely preferrable to any tea from the Indies..." (Benjamin Franklin)

Lavender Tea
Produced from the blossoms of the aromatic plant, the tea was and is commonly used for medicinal purposes.

1 oz, $2.75

Lemon Balm Tea
Grown in kitchen gardens for use as a tea or as a lemon flavoring in cooking.

1 oz, $3.00

Oswego Tea
(Bee Balm)
A North American native plant with a strong minty scent and taste.

1 oz, $3.00

Patriot's/Sage Tea
If you were in a household committed to the cause of freedom, you forsook British import teas and drank "Patriot's" or "Liberty" tea, a healthy tea made from garden sage.

2 oz, $2.50

Spearmint Tea
Mints were a popular substitute for imported teas.

1 oz, $2.00

Spearmint Tea in a Tin
Mints were a popular substitute for imported teas.

1/2 oz in a tin, $3.00

Thyme Tea
Another substitute for imported tea because the herb was commonly grown in kitchen gardens.

2 oz, $2.25

- TEA SAMPLERS -

Order one for yourself and one for a friend. They make great gifts!

Imported Teas Sampler
A collection of six imported teas, each in a small package enough for a pot of tea so you can sample these 18th-century flavors for yourself. Included in the Imported Tea Sampler: Bohea, Congo, Gunpowder, Hyson, Oolong, and Souchong teas.

Imported Teas Sampler, $16.00

Liberty Teas Sampler
A collection of six domestic teas, each in a small package enough for one pot of tea so you can sample these tastes. Included in the Liberty Tea Sampler: Lavender, Lemon Balm, Oswego, Patriot's, Spearmint and Thyme Teas.

Liberty Tea Sampler, $14.00

Wassail Mix

Wassail Mix
Half-ounce in a tin, $4.75

Imported Teas Sampler, $16.00