Baltimore Clipper

Experience a taste of the excitement engendered by America’s merchant adventurers who built and owned the finest clipper ships in the world. The first real clipper ship was the “Ann McKim,” built for Isaac McKim in 1832. When the British ended the East India Company monopoly in the 1830s, the U.S. began a China trade with faster and more capacious ships, and competition between the two countries grew. Repeal of the British Navigation Laws in 1849 allowed American ships to load Asian tea for British markets. A typical voyage from Boston to Canton and back to England by way of the Cape of Good Hope took nine to ten months. American fortunes were made carrying furs from the Pacific Northwest to China, where they were traded for tea. A premium was paid in England for the earliest arriving ship with the season’s new teas from China. The first American ship to reach the docks was the Oriental, arriving from Hong Kong in only 97 days, creating a sensation. The 25 years of the clipper ended when the Suez Canal provided a shorter route through the Mediterranean. It was a romantic era in America’s maritime history and another chapter of tea’s long and important story in the world economy. This blend is a “historic re-creation” of the China tea carried during the golden years of the American clipper ship.