Hyson is a type of green tea, but when it was imported in the mid-18th century by British East India Tea Company merchant Phillip Hyson, it was called “xīchūn” (“bright spring”) in China. Hyson was highly taxed for American colonists, and 70 cases of the tea were thrown into the harbor during the Boston Tea Party in December 1773. Still popular today, this mild-flavored loose-leaf green tea is recognizable by its thin rolled leaves that unfurl in hot water.