Morse’s Tea

Brewing tradition in Halifax since 1870

Tea was Canada’s favourite non-alcoholic beverage well into the twentieth century. It was seen by many as an important part of English society and was a staple in the average Canadian’s diet.

Morse’s Tea is the oldest brand of tea blended in Nova Scotia. It was founded in 1870 by John E. Morse, who opened a tea store in downtown Halifax, establishing it as Canada’s oldest tea company.

John Morse took various teas from India and Sri Lanka and experimented with blending them to produce the right amount of flavour and colour to achieve a superior orange pekoe tea that he felt would satisfy his Maritime customers. Orange Pekoe is not a type of tea but rather a tea leaf grading system that refers to a grade of whole black tea leaves. The tea is made from whole leaves, rather than the broken leaves or smaller particles, which are often found in tea bags.

Morse focused on customer satisfaction and provided his customers with a pamphlet called ‘Tea Tips’, which educated them on the history and origins of tea and how best to prepare it.

The Morse’s Tea Building, a six-story building on Hollis Street, was constructed in 1841, after an earlier fire had destroyed the original building that once was home to the Jerusalem Coffee Shop. The building is still there and is designated as an historical building. The Morse’s Tea Building was built with some of the original bricks from the Jerusalem Warehouse as it was referred to.

Morse’s Tea was sold to Barbour Company in 1982 and operations moved to New Brunswick. In the late 1980s the building was bought by the Nova Scotia School of Art and Design (NSCAD). In 2004, the Morse’s Tea sign – the last vestige of the company’s origin in Halifax was painted over.