1 00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:04,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:13,480 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:17,360 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy B. Wilson. Tracy, do 4 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:20,599 Speaker 1: you drink tea? I do. I drink coffee more, but 5 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:23,960 Speaker 1: I do drink tea as well. I drink coffee more. 6 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:28,040 Speaker 1: I try to incorporate more tea into my, uh my diet, 7 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:31,000 Speaker 1: but it's tricky. I tend to default coffee. But today 8 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:33,360 Speaker 1: around the world, people drink tea all the time, and 9 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:35,519 Speaker 1: of course, for Great Britain, it's no secret that tea 10 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:38,120 Speaker 1: has become part of the cultural identity. We'll talk about 11 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:40,239 Speaker 1: some shifts in that at the end, but right up 12 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:43,120 Speaker 1: until the nineteenth century, the only place that tea was 13 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:48,320 Speaker 1: really being grown and prepared was China. So, uh, this 14 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:50,879 Speaker 1: brings up the question of how did tea become the 15 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:53,479 Speaker 1: drink of Britain? And that story is kind of a 16 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:56,040 Speaker 1: long one. It comes with some caveats as to where 17 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 1: truth and legend overlap. But then there's this really interesting 18 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:03,880 Speaker 1: nineteen century corporate espionage story that comes into the mix. Uh, 19 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:05,760 Speaker 1: So I thought we would talk about that kind of 20 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:08,400 Speaker 1: the it's not even a brief history of tea. It's 21 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:13,600 Speaker 1: really like Great Britain's relationship with tea as we know it. Yeah. Yeah, 22 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:17,919 Speaker 1: there's some things back in the archive that are similarly 23 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:21,440 Speaker 1: about tea, but totally different in terms of which specific 24 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:26,640 Speaker 1: tea things they are discussing. Yeah. So, as with a 25 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:31,960 Speaker 1: whole lot of food products that have been around for 26 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:34,120 Speaker 1: a really long time, we don't really know where the 27 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:38,320 Speaker 1: idea to brew tea leaves came from. Uh. There are 28 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:42,399 Speaker 1: lots of different speculative stories about its origins, though, and 29 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:45,679 Speaker 1: one of the ones that is most frequently cited is 30 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:49,720 Speaker 1: the story of Chinese Emperor Shennong. And according to the 31 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:55,280 Speaker 1: legend seven b C. The emperor, who was scientifically pretty knowledgeable, 32 00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 1: was sitting with a cup of boiled water when a 33 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:02,040 Speaker 1: leaf from a nearby camellia dropped into it, and knowing 34 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:05,520 Speaker 1: that this wasn't dangerous, the emperor gave it a sip 35 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:08,280 Speaker 1: after seeing how the hot water caused the plant to 36 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:12,240 Speaker 1: release color into the liquid, and voila tea was born. 37 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:16,880 Speaker 1: There's another story that comes from Buddhist origins, and and 38 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:20,960 Speaker 1: that's hail the monk Bodha Dharma was wandering and meditating 39 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: as he traveled for nine years without sleeping, and he 40 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:27,360 Speaker 1: sat down to meditate by a tree, but he fell asleep. 41 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:31,520 Speaker 1: And he became so angry by his body's weakness and 42 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:34,280 Speaker 1: succumbing to sleep, that he cut his eyelids off and 43 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 1: cast them into the dirt. There a tea plant grew 44 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 1: up to honor that sacrifice and also provide a natural stimulant. 45 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:47,320 Speaker 1: I will step aside and say that this story has 46 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:50,080 Speaker 1: always cracked me up, because it seems like the least 47 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: zen thing on earth to cut your eyelids off in anger. Yeah, 48 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:57,520 Speaker 1: but that's just me. Uh. Tea containers dating back to 49 00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:00,240 Speaker 1: the third century have been found in China and some 50 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:03,640 Speaker 1: that are possibly even older, and T is referenced in 51 00:03:03,639 --> 00:03:06,480 Speaker 1: a poem believed to have been written sometime in the 52 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:10,160 Speaker 1: second or first century b CE titled a Contract with 53 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 1: a Servant, and the book The Classic of Tea was 54 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:16,400 Speaker 1: written by Lu Yu in the eighth century. In short, 55 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:19,959 Speaker 1: China's history with T is a very long and very 56 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 1: rich one. Modern tea production is much faster, though production 57 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:28,600 Speaker 1: is compacted into a twenty four hour timeline that starts 58 00:03:28,639 --> 00:03:31,520 Speaker 1: the moment that tea leaves are picked. The leaves are 59 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:34,080 Speaker 1: sorted by size, and then they go through a second 60 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 1: inspection to classify them by size, appearance, and what type 61 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:42,160 Speaker 1: of tea they will become. For leaves selected and classified 62 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:44,320 Speaker 1: to become black tea, they are processed in one of 63 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:48,840 Speaker 1: two ways. The so called orthodox method requires first withering 64 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:51,400 Speaker 1: the tea. The leaves are spread out on a wire 65 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:54,920 Speaker 1: mesh trough and air is circulated around them to dry 66 00:03:54,960 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 1: them out. So then these leaves are rolled, and that's 67 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:00,480 Speaker 1: what makes them look sort of spend ly and twisted. 68 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:03,880 Speaker 1: Then they're oxidized and once again laid out in a 69 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: thin layer in a warm room. As the enzymes and 70 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:10,440 Speaker 1: the leaves react with the oxygen in the air, the 71 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:13,560 Speaker 1: leaves changed colors, and the length of time that they're 72 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:16,400 Speaker 1: left to oxidized determines how strong the tea is, so 73 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 1: the longer they oxidize, the stronger the tea will be. 74 00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:23,599 Speaker 1: And then after oxidation, the leaves are dried through a 75 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:26,679 Speaker 1: process called firing one more time to remove the remaining 76 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:31,080 Speaker 1: moisture and destroy any remaining enzymes, so all reaction processes 77 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:35,120 Speaker 1: are halted, and then those tea leaves are ready to 78 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:39,679 Speaker 1: be packed up. The second method, which is known as cut, 79 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:43,320 Speaker 1: tear and curl or CTC, is pretty much the same process. 80 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:46,040 Speaker 1: The only real difference is that in the rolling stage 81 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:49,200 Speaker 1: they're put through rollers with sharp teeth that break the 82 00:04:49,279 --> 00:04:52,800 Speaker 1: leaves down into very tiny fragments, and this enables more 83 00:04:52,839 --> 00:04:56,000 Speaker 1: tea to be shipped in smaller packing space that was 84 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:58,920 Speaker 1: developed in World War Two. Yeah, that was for when 85 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:03,000 Speaker 1: you were shipping by human not weight. Uh. And green 86 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:06,200 Speaker 1: tea doesn't go through the oxidation process, though it is 87 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:10,440 Speaker 1: steamed or pan dried to stop enzymatic reactions. Oolong tea 88 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:13,680 Speaker 1: is created through sort of a mixed process of bruising 89 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:17,040 Speaker 1: the leaves and then letting them go through partial oxidation, 90 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:20,479 Speaker 1: and white tea is made the same way green tea is, 91 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:24,640 Speaker 1: but only new leaves and buds are used. But all 92 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:28,600 Speaker 1: of these processes remained a total mystery to the Western 93 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:31,800 Speaker 1: world for quite a long time, even as Europeans and 94 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:35,279 Speaker 1: British people in particular were drinking tea as part of 95 00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:39,080 Speaker 1: their daily routine. So today it's estimated that about a 96 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:42,440 Speaker 1: hundred and sixty five million cups of tea are consumed 97 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:45,599 Speaker 1: in Britain every day, Whereas coffee, while it has grown 98 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 1: in popularity still only clocks in and around seventy million cups. 99 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:52,120 Speaker 1: But that love of tea is hardly a new thing 100 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:56,200 Speaker 1: for the British Isles. By the eighteen hundreds, tea was 101 00:05:56,240 --> 00:06:00,159 Speaker 1: already wildly popular in Britain. King Charles the Second and 102 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,640 Speaker 1: his Portuguese wife Katherine of Braganza are credited with being 103 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 1: the ones to bring tea to England in the sixteen hundreds. 104 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:10,400 Speaker 1: He was popular in other countries of Europe already by 105 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:14,119 Speaker 1: that time, including in the Netherlands and Portugal. As part 106 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:18,440 Speaker 1: of Catherine of Braganza's dowry, ships loaded with luxury goods 107 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:21,040 Speaker 1: were sent to England, and among them was a trunk 108 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:25,560 Speaker 1: of tea. But while that story points to Katherine as 109 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:28,480 Speaker 1: the bringer of tea to England, there is actually mentioned 110 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:31,520 Speaker 1: of tea in England in a diary entry by Samuel 111 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:36,240 Speaker 1: Peeps on September twenty, sixteen sixty, writing quote, and afterwards 112 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:38,640 Speaker 1: I did send for a cup of tea, a China 113 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:43,120 Speaker 1: drink of which I never had drank before, and went away. Now, 114 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:46,440 Speaker 1: that diary entry was written almost two years before Catherine 115 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:49,760 Speaker 1: arrived in the country, which happened in May of sixteen sixty. Two. 116 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:55,279 Speaker 1: So even if the tea was already there, Catherine certainly 117 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:58,239 Speaker 1: did love it, and as a royal she set the trends. 118 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:01,360 Speaker 1: There was even a poem about her and her love 119 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:04,960 Speaker 1: of tea for her birthday, the year after she married Charles. 120 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:08,160 Speaker 1: The poem was written by Edmund Waller and it reads, 121 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:13,160 Speaker 1: Venus her myrtle Phoebus has his bays tea, both excels 122 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:17,120 Speaker 1: which she vouchsafes to praise the best of queens, the 123 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:20,280 Speaker 1: best of herbs. We owe to that bold nation which 124 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:23,120 Speaker 1: the way did show, to the fair region where the 125 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:27,600 Speaker 1: sun doth rise, whose rich productions we so justly prize. 126 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:32,360 Speaker 1: The muses friend tea does our fancy aid progress those 127 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:35,560 Speaker 1: vapors which the head invade, and keep the palace of 128 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:39,960 Speaker 1: the soul serene fit on her birthday to salute the queen. 129 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:43,240 Speaker 1: Coming up, we're going to talk about the East India 130 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 1: Company's interest in tea and how the beverage became even 131 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:49,440 Speaker 1: more ingrained in British culture. But first we're gonna go 132 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:54,119 Speaker 1: get a cup of tea and cause for a sponsor break. 133 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:00,760 Speaker 1: The East India Company, which has come on the show before, 134 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:04,720 Speaker 1: had been established in sixteen hundred and as t interest 135 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:07,840 Speaker 1: grew in England, the company developed a growing interest in 136 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:11,200 Speaker 1: the tea trade. The E. I. C. S alliance with 137 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:14,000 Speaker 1: King Charles the Second was fruitful in this regard, as 138 00:08:14,080 --> 00:08:17,040 Speaker 1: land that had also been part of Catherine's dowry was 139 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:19,600 Speaker 1: given to the East India Company by Charles in a 140 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:22,800 Speaker 1: long term rental agreement, and that land was the port 141 00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:26,800 Speaker 1: city of Bombay, which is modern day Mumbai. The East 142 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:29,560 Speaker 1: India Company used this as their main office for trade 143 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:32,480 Speaker 1: with the farriest from that point on, and over time 144 00:08:32,920 --> 00:08:36,520 Speaker 1: tea imported from China became a staple in the British isles. 145 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:40,920 Speaker 1: Britain's coffee houses started offering tea to customers in the 146 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:43,800 Speaker 1: second half of the sixteen hundreds, and as the leaf 147 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:48,400 Speaker 1: brewed beverage started surpassing coffee and popularity. The East India 148 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:52,640 Speaker 1: Company's monopoly on the tea trade, particularly in the colonies, 149 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:56,760 Speaker 1: really shaped Britain's history. Folks who listened to our show, 150 00:08:56,840 --> 00:08:58,920 Speaker 1: we'll know that the passing of the t Act in 151 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:02,959 Speaker 1: seventeen seventy was what led to the Boston Tea Party. 152 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:06,439 Speaker 1: And then in the eighteen forties, when Britain was already 153 00:09:06,559 --> 00:09:09,120 Speaker 1: very deep into its love affair with tea, the beverage 154 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 1: experienced another uptick in popularity, and that was, according to 155 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:17,040 Speaker 1: common legend, thanks to Anna Russell, the seventh Duchess of Bedford. 156 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:20,079 Speaker 1: And as that story goes, Anna felt herself feeling a 157 00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:23,520 Speaker 1: little rundown in the afternoons because the stretch between lunch 158 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:26,080 Speaker 1: and late dinner, which at that point was kind of 159 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:28,920 Speaker 1: in the eight or nine o'clock hour, was quite long, 160 00:09:29,559 --> 00:09:31,920 Speaker 1: so she asked her servants to bring her tea and 161 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:34,240 Speaker 1: light snacks. And she really found that she liked a 162 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:35,800 Speaker 1: little bit of bread and butter with a cup of 163 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:38,560 Speaker 1: tea so well that she started doing it as a 164 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:41,160 Speaker 1: daily ritual, and she started to invite her friends to 165 00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:44,400 Speaker 1: join her in the afternoons to take tea. This is 166 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:48,600 Speaker 1: when I usually have tea because I will often want 167 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:50,320 Speaker 1: a little pick me up, but know that a cup 168 00:09:50,360 --> 00:09:52,400 Speaker 1: of coffee is going to be too much pick me up, 169 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:56,559 Speaker 1: so I have tea instead. Anna Russell was also a 170 00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:58,800 Speaker 1: lady in waiting to clean Victoria, and the two of 171 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:02,719 Speaker 1: them were friends. So just as Catherine of Braganza's influence 172 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:06,760 Speaker 1: had popularized tea in the first place, Victoria's interest in 173 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:10,360 Speaker 1: her friend's idea made afternoon tea a trendy activity among 174 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:13,880 Speaker 1: first the aristocracy and then the rest of Britain. It 175 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:16,400 Speaker 1: also evolved from a simple snack of bread and butter 176 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:19,480 Speaker 1: with some tea and some more of an afternoon meal 177 00:10:19,679 --> 00:10:23,840 Speaker 1: that could feature finger sandwiches and pastries. However, it is 178 00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:26,360 Speaker 1: worth noting that's similar to the way that Catherine gets 179 00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:28,640 Speaker 1: credit for bringing tea to England when it had actually 180 00:10:28,679 --> 00:10:31,599 Speaker 1: already been there. There do seem to be mentioned of 181 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:34,880 Speaker 1: afternoon tea as a ritual and a social event prior 182 00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:37,760 Speaker 1: to Anna's alleged invention of it, dating all the way 183 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:40,880 Speaker 1: back to the mid seventeen hundreds, so it's likely that 184 00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:44,640 Speaker 1: really Anna's high social profile simply lead to her tea 185 00:10:44,679 --> 00:10:49,160 Speaker 1: parties kind of getting more historical attention. There's also some 186 00:10:49,559 --> 00:10:52,079 Speaker 1: discussion of how that kind of launched a whole industry 187 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:55,120 Speaker 1: of like China, specifically for tease, so it may be 188 00:10:55,280 --> 00:10:58,320 Speaker 1: just that kind of economic driver that makes this the story. 189 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:00,800 Speaker 1: And it is also a cute story about this hungry 190 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:03,720 Speaker 1: lady who then invents this extra meal and has her 191 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:08,160 Speaker 1: friends over, so it's it's understandable that that caught on 192 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:12,240 Speaker 1: That reminds me of our podcast about the Brief History 193 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:15,480 Speaker 1: of White Weddings, where we talk about the development of 194 00:11:15,559 --> 00:11:18,880 Speaker 1: China sets to be sold to brides and like creating 195 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:23,480 Speaker 1: the idea that you needed that super super new You 196 00:11:23,559 --> 00:11:26,920 Speaker 1: don't you don't need that. But it's very brief history 197 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:29,240 Speaker 1: of tea in Britain is really intended to set the 198 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:31,880 Speaker 1: stage for the meaty part of this story, which is 199 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:34,760 Speaker 1: starting in the mid eighteen hundreds, at which point t 200 00:11:35,160 --> 00:11:38,400 Speaker 1: had become vital to Britain's identity. But at the time 201 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:42,319 Speaker 1: all tea was still being exported from China. The East 202 00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:45,600 Speaker 1: India Company did not like being forced to deal with 203 00:11:45,679 --> 00:11:49,000 Speaker 1: one country for an item that was so important to Britain. 204 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:54,760 Speaker 1: They saw this as a fundamental imbalance. The an early 205 00:11:54,920 --> 00:12:01,040 Speaker 1: effort to reverse this imbalance was by exporting opium to China. 206 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:04,520 Speaker 1: I just want to say, opium for tea is not 207 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:09,679 Speaker 1: an equivalent trade, no, And it's more complicated than that. Right. 208 00:12:09,679 --> 00:12:12,839 Speaker 1: It wasn't like they were trading directly to China. They 209 00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:15,720 Speaker 1: were trading the opium two people for silver, and then 210 00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:19,319 Speaker 1: that opium was being sold in China and it completely 211 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:23,439 Speaker 1: messed up the Chinese market. Yeah, it led to like 212 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:27,360 Speaker 1: the enormous problems with addiction like this was this was 213 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:29,679 Speaker 1: not a good way to try to get a better 214 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:33,120 Speaker 1: trade deal over Tea, and it led to the First 215 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:36,440 Speaker 1: Opium War, which was fought between Britain and China as 216 00:12:36,559 --> 00:12:41,120 Speaker 1: China tried to make Britain stop illegally sending them opium. 217 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:44,960 Speaker 1: And we're gonna come back to the First Opium more briefly. 218 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:46,800 Speaker 1: We're not going to get super deep into it. That 219 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:49,520 Speaker 1: is a whole other matter on its own, But first 220 00:12:49,559 --> 00:12:51,959 Speaker 1: we have to actually introduce a man into the story 221 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:57,240 Speaker 1: named Robert Fortune. So Robert Fortune was born in Berwickshire, Scotland, 222 00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:01,840 Speaker 1: on September thirteen to a farming family. He grew up 223 00:13:01,880 --> 00:13:04,520 Speaker 1: to become a botanist, and he worked at the Edinburgh 224 00:13:04,559 --> 00:13:10,120 Speaker 1: Botanical Garden and the Royal Horticultural Society. In eighteen forty two, 225 00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:13,160 Speaker 1: he embarked on a plant finding expedition in China on 226 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:17,000 Speaker 1: behalf of the Royal Horticultural Society. The First Opium War 227 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:19,199 Speaker 1: had just ended at this point with the signing of 228 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:23,080 Speaker 1: the Treaty of Nanking in Britain immediately took advantage of 229 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:26,400 Speaker 1: its greater trade footprint in China and Fortune's trip was 230 00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:29,560 Speaker 1: part of that. All of China was not open to 231 00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:32,760 Speaker 1: foreigners at this point, but Fortune, on this journey had 232 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:35,600 Speaker 1: traveled right up to the edges of the boundaries of 233 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:39,679 Speaker 1: those forbidden areas as he sought out plants. It was 234 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:43,079 Speaker 1: the first of several journeys, and he wrote several books 235 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:47,600 Speaker 1: about these travels, filled not only with horticultural and botanical information, 236 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:51,720 Speaker 1: but also riveting stories of pirates and danger and dressing 237 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:55,480 Speaker 1: in disguise to hide his European origins. The stories in 238 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:59,000 Speaker 1: his first published travel journal, three Years Wanderings in the 239 00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:03,360 Speaker 1: Northern Provinces of China, became really popular in Britain society circles, 240 00:14:03,679 --> 00:14:07,520 Speaker 1: and that it got the attention of the East India Company. Yeah, 241 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:12,160 Speaker 1: that's a fascinating read because there, I mean, it reads 242 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:16,640 Speaker 1: it's borderline Horatio Alger, except with a much chiller tone 243 00:14:16,679 --> 00:14:19,600 Speaker 1: because it is very like their bandits and he's you know, 244 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:22,400 Speaker 1: kept sick in the hold of a boat. He doesn't 245 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:24,480 Speaker 1: think he's going to ever get back to England. He 246 00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:27,480 Speaker 1: thinks he's going to die there. And it's pretty exciting stuff. 247 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:31,400 Speaker 1: Because Fortune had experience traveling to China, he was the 248 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:34,520 Speaker 1: natural choice for the East India Company to send on 249 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:38,440 Speaker 1: a mission of utmost importance. They needed someone to be 250 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:41,760 Speaker 1: a tea spy. If they could gather the secrets of 251 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:45,560 Speaker 1: China's tea industry and gather some plants in the process, 252 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:48,160 Speaker 1: those plants could then be grown in India and the 253 00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:51,080 Speaker 1: East India Company would be able to bypass China for 254 00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:55,200 Speaker 1: its tea needs, breaking the years and years old trade 255 00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:59,800 Speaker 1: monopoly and creating its own revenue stream. This entire i 256 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,400 Speaker 1: he is really emblematic to me of the East India 257 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:07,960 Speaker 1: Company's whole attitude towards China and really the British Empire's 258 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:10,680 Speaker 1: attitude towards China. Like the Treaty of Nanking that we 259 00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:14,600 Speaker 1: referenced earlier was basically a treaty that gave that gave 260 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:17,520 Speaker 1: Britain all of the benefit and China zero of the benefit. 261 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:20,440 Speaker 1: And it was just basically like, hey, you have this thing, 262 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:23,600 Speaker 1: we should have it, so we're gonna come take it. 263 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:26,200 Speaker 1: There is an attitude of let's take it, like that 264 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:30,960 Speaker 1: seems to be the solution to every problem. Yeah, so 265 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:35,080 Speaker 1: Fortune had already made some tea discoveries on his previous travels. 266 00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:38,680 Speaker 1: He had found the rather surprising information that green tea 267 00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:41,120 Speaker 1: and black tea actually came from the same type of plant, 268 00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:44,800 Speaker 1: although generally those used for black tea were grown in 269 00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:48,920 Speaker 1: different areas than those used for green tea. Additionally, some 270 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:51,520 Speaker 1: of the bushes were revered for their age and the 271 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:54,280 Speaker 1: quality of leaves that they produced, but they were still 272 00:15:54,440 --> 00:15:58,880 Speaker 1: the same species Camelia senensis. This was a huge revelation 273 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:01,840 Speaker 1: and one that Contra predicted commonly held beliefs at the 274 00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:05,400 Speaker 1: time among British botanists. And I would say, people that 275 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:08,400 Speaker 1: drink tea today but don't necessarily know a lot of 276 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:11,560 Speaker 1: tea about tea today might come to the same conclusion 277 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:13,560 Speaker 1: that the green tea and the black tea that they 278 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:17,360 Speaker 1: have had are two different plants because they taste they're different. Yeah, 279 00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:20,120 Speaker 1: And the scientific minds of Britain had been hard at 280 00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:23,160 Speaker 1: work trying to suss out the nature of China's tea industry, 281 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:25,000 Speaker 1: and they had spent more than a century at that 282 00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:28,760 Speaker 1: point examining tea leaves to try to discern the nature 283 00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:31,040 Speaker 1: of the plants that produced the drink that had become 284 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:34,080 Speaker 1: so beloved. They basically were looking at process tea leaves 285 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:36,280 Speaker 1: and trying to backwards engineer what kind of plants they 286 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:40,040 Speaker 1: thought they came from. So prior to fortunes observations abroad, 287 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:43,080 Speaker 1: it was firmly believed that the plants that produce different 288 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:46,120 Speaker 1: types of tea were related but had to be different. 289 00:16:46,720 --> 00:16:49,840 Speaker 1: But even with this new information found by Fortune, the 290 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:53,920 Speaker 1: multiple steps in processing tea remained a complete mystery to 291 00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:58,320 Speaker 1: the British, and so did actual plant samples. Here is 292 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:02,360 Speaker 1: the direction that Fortune risk seaved. Quote Besides the collection 293 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:05,119 Speaker 1: of tea plants and seeds from the best localities for 294 00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:08,439 Speaker 1: transmission to India, it will be your duty to avail 295 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:12,080 Speaker 1: yourself of every opportunity of acquiring information as to the 296 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:15,359 Speaker 1: cultivation of the tea plant and the manufacture of tea 297 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:19,240 Speaker 1: as practiced by the Chinese, and on all other points 298 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:22,800 Speaker 1: with which it may be desirable that those entrusted with 299 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:26,679 Speaker 1: the superintendence of the tea nurseries in India should be 300 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:31,280 Speaker 1: made acquainted. So we're going to delve into this mission 301 00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:35,040 Speaker 1: and how it played out and how it impacted international trade. 302 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:37,640 Speaker 1: Really after we first pause for a little sponsor break. 303 00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:47,200 Speaker 1: So right before the break, we talked about how Robert 304 00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:50,400 Speaker 1: Fortune had gotten this mission from the East India Trade company, 305 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:53,640 Speaker 1: and this was not a quick, get in, get the information, 306 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:56,080 Speaker 1: get out situation. It was going to be a lengthy 307 00:17:56,119 --> 00:17:58,800 Speaker 1: trip away from his wife, Jane, and their two children, 308 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:02,160 Speaker 1: Helen and John. Helen, the older of the two children, 309 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:05,440 Speaker 1: was just seven in when this all happened, and John 310 00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:08,439 Speaker 1: was only four, So Robert Fortune was going to be 311 00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:11,880 Speaker 1: missing a significant period of time in his children's childhoods. 312 00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:15,680 Speaker 1: And Robert and Jane had also recently lost their third child, Agnes, 313 00:18:16,119 --> 00:18:19,720 Speaker 1: in infancy, and this job, which would take him away 314 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:23,520 Speaker 1: from his family, also came with inherent dangers. While there 315 00:18:23,640 --> 00:18:26,800 Speaker 1: was more territory in China open to Britain, there was also, 316 00:18:27,040 --> 00:18:29,800 Speaker 1: because of the nature of that treaty that Tracy mentioned 317 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:33,760 Speaker 1: that was completely one sided, really a lot of hostility 318 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:36,640 Speaker 1: toward British citizens there in the wake of the First 319 00:18:36,680 --> 00:18:40,280 Speaker 1: Opium War. Fortune knew that if he really wanted to 320 00:18:40,359 --> 00:18:43,360 Speaker 1: unlock the secrets of China's tea production, he was going 321 00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:46,439 Speaker 1: to have to spend years gathering information about it. He 322 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:48,800 Speaker 1: needed plants, he needed seeds, and he needed to learn 323 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:52,240 Speaker 1: everything he possibly could about the growth, the harvest, and 324 00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:55,640 Speaker 1: the preparation of tea. He was driven not just by 325 00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:58,600 Speaker 1: his assignment, but by his own desire to collect new 326 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:02,639 Speaker 1: species and expand his own knowledge. And additionally, he was 327 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:06,280 Speaker 1: allowed to collect non te specimens while he traveled and 328 00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:09,399 Speaker 1: he would retain all rights to those discoveries. The East 329 00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:12,800 Speaker 1: India Company only wanted the tea. Yeah, this is one 330 00:19:12,800 --> 00:19:15,480 Speaker 1: of those things where he sometimes gets simplified as like 331 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:18,880 Speaker 1: a tee thief, and he certainly was doing that mission. 332 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:21,800 Speaker 1: But for him there was a much broader appeal that 333 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:24,239 Speaker 1: he was a man who wanted to collect plants and 334 00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:27,240 Speaker 1: he was fascinated by finding different species. That was the 335 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:30,440 Speaker 1: whole purpose of his prior travels in China. So it's 336 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:32,600 Speaker 1: a little more nuanced than just I'm gonna go sneak 337 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:34,920 Speaker 1: in and steal things. He was like, you're gonna pay 338 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:37,000 Speaker 1: for me to go and explore and find new species 339 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:40,280 Speaker 1: for several years, all right. Yeah, he basically had funding 340 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:44,399 Speaker 1: for a horticulture expedition provided that he did all this 341 00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:49,639 Speaker 1: spy work with tea first or during so fortune hired 342 00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:53,359 Speaker 1: two servants in China, both from t DRIs districts and 343 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:56,240 Speaker 1: from their starting point at Shanghai. The servants who would 344 00:19:56,280 --> 00:19:58,840 Speaker 1: be traveling with him and helping him to enter spaces 345 00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:03,000 Speaker 1: that he might not otherwise have access to prepared him. 346 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:05,600 Speaker 1: He had to leave his European clothes behind and take 347 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:09,399 Speaker 1: on the style of the locals, sort of. His front 348 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:12,680 Speaker 1: hairline was shaved and a braided q was sewn into 349 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:14,960 Speaker 1: the back of his hair, and Fortune wrote of this 350 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:17,959 Speaker 1: transformation at the hands of his hired men, quote, they 351 00:20:17,960 --> 00:20:21,119 Speaker 1: were quite willing to accompany me, only stipulating that I 352 00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:24,080 Speaker 1: should discard my English costume and adopt the dress of 353 00:20:24,119 --> 00:20:27,399 Speaker 1: the country. I knew this was indispensable if I wished 354 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:30,560 Speaker 1: to accomplish the object in view, and readily acceded to 355 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:35,600 Speaker 1: the terms. So thus disguised, Fortune posed as a visitor 356 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:39,600 Speaker 1: from a distant province, and his servants would ask intranstance 357 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:43,479 Speaker 1: itsy factories to observe and collect samples. By the beginning 358 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:46,800 Speaker 1: of eighteen forty nine, he had collected a significant sampling 359 00:20:46,840 --> 00:20:48,960 Speaker 1: of plants and seeds, and he started trying to send 360 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:51,800 Speaker 1: them to India, where he also sent word that he 361 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:55,040 Speaker 1: needed updates as to whether the plants arrived safely and 362 00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:59,000 Speaker 1: whether they and the seeds were planted successfully. Barton was 363 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:01,480 Speaker 1: also able to ants plant some of his plants to 364 00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:05,000 Speaker 1: a temporary garden in Shanghai at the Dent Baling Company 365 00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:09,359 Speaker 1: Trading company before sending them onto India. This was not 366 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:11,960 Speaker 1: the first time that the British had made efforts to 367 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:15,640 Speaker 1: transplant tea from China, but all their previous attempts had failed, 368 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:19,679 Speaker 1: and Fortune was very aware that his samples were very fragile, 369 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:25,720 Speaker 1: and he also understood the importance of careful transport for them. Yeah, 370 00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:27,800 Speaker 1: and we're going to get to a really large number 371 00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:30,760 Speaker 1: of samples that you find out he took. And one 372 00:21:30,760 --> 00:21:32,920 Speaker 1: of the things that made this so possible is that 373 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:37,359 Speaker 1: UH tea plants are actually pretty easy to root from 374 00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:41,120 Speaker 1: a cutting. So for our gardeners out there, basically, if 375 00:21:41,119 --> 00:21:44,600 Speaker 1: you cut an sample from a T plant and you 376 00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:47,919 Speaker 1: put it in dirt, it starts developing roots really really quickly. 377 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:49,840 Speaker 1: So that's when we get to these big numbers. I 378 00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:53,280 Speaker 1: just want you to understand how that was able to 379 00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:57,399 Speaker 1: be accomplished. On one of his first factory visits, Fortune 380 00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:01,760 Speaker 1: made a rather unsettling discovery. He realized that Prussian blue 381 00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:04,920 Speaker 1: and gypsum were being used to add color to green 382 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:08,120 Speaker 1: tea that was intended for export to Britain. And this 383 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:10,159 Speaker 1: was because the producers of the tea believed that the 384 00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:13,800 Speaker 1: British preferred their tea to look more evenly green, but 385 00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:16,720 Speaker 1: of course they were adding substances that were poisonous to 386 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:21,280 Speaker 1: achieve this cosmetic change. In the Eastern India. Company would 387 00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:24,840 Speaker 1: later use this information and samples of the pigment compounds 388 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:27,240 Speaker 1: that Fortune sent back to England as a way to 389 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:30,840 Speaker 1: show how tea grown and processed by British producers would 390 00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:35,840 Speaker 1: be superior to imported tea. Fortunes first shipment of thirteen 391 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:41,679 Speaker 1: thousand seedlings met with a bad end. Someone somewhere along 392 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:44,480 Speaker 1: the line opened the containers that they were shipped in 393 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:47,400 Speaker 1: to inspect them, and this was something that Fortune had 394 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:50,560 Speaker 1: expressly said should not be done. By the time they 395 00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:53,159 Speaker 1: reached their destination, all but a thousand of the plants 396 00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:56,520 Speaker 1: had died of rot, and even the living samples were 397 00:22:56,520 --> 00:23:01,159 Speaker 1: infested with fungus. The first year of Fortune's work was 398 00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:04,560 Speaker 1: for nothing, and then on the upside, the first year 399 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:08,840 Speaker 1: had also been spent researching green tea. Black tea was 400 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:11,800 Speaker 1: the more enticing target, and that was because that was 401 00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:15,560 Speaker 1: the preferred drink in Britain, So this lost work was 402 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:19,159 Speaker 1: not the most important of his work. Fortune headed to 403 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:22,439 Speaker 1: provinces known for black tea production next, although at that 404 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:25,560 Speaker 1: point he had not yet learned that his samples of 405 00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:30,480 Speaker 1: green tea had been destroyed. Yeah, it was that long 406 00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:34,960 Speaker 1: delay in communications that caused him to not discover that 407 00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:39,160 Speaker 1: until some time later. And the containers that Fortune had 408 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:42,760 Speaker 1: been using were called Wardian cases, named after their inventor, Dr. 409 00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:46,240 Speaker 1: Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward, and the idea behind them was the 410 00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:51,320 Speaker 1: enclosed glass containers offered plants a self sustaining environment. This 411 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:55,520 Speaker 1: gave Fortune an ingenious idea after that first shipment, he 412 00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:59,320 Speaker 1: realized that instead of shipping seeds and shipping seedlings, he 413 00:23:59,359 --> 00:24:02,280 Speaker 1: could plant the seeds in Wardian cases and let them 414 00:24:02,359 --> 00:24:05,960 Speaker 1: germinate as they made the journey back to India. This 415 00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:09,320 Speaker 1: method actually worked well, and it let him send better 416 00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:13,720 Speaker 1: samples that actually arrived in their destination. Intact, there were 417 00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:16,280 Speaker 1: so many seedlings and some of the shipments that the 418 00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:20,160 Speaker 1: men receiving them couldn't get an accurate count. The seedlings 419 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:23,080 Speaker 1: were moved to soil on plantations in India that were 420 00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:25,920 Speaker 1: owned by the East India Company and they thrived there. 421 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:29,760 Speaker 1: So despite these early setbacks, fortunes work for the company 422 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:34,040 Speaker 1: wound up being a huge success, and Fortune continued his 423 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:36,679 Speaker 1: sample gathering for the remainder of his trip. This was 424 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:39,639 Speaker 1: all still happening really in the first half uh and 425 00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:42,600 Speaker 1: when he wrapped up his business finally in Shanghai, he 426 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:46,760 Speaker 1: actually took more than plants out of the country with him. 427 00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:49,520 Speaker 1: He had had acquaintances in China recruit a team of 428 00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:53,880 Speaker 1: eight young men who were experts in growing and processing tea, 429 00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:57,400 Speaker 1: and though these men were reluctant to trust foreigners, with 430 00:24:57,440 --> 00:25:00,240 Speaker 1: some assistance and a bit of pressure, Fortune was able 431 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:02,679 Speaker 1: to get them to agree to a three year contract 432 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:05,199 Speaker 1: during which they would train the men on the Indian 433 00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:07,840 Speaker 1: plantations in the best ways to handle their plants and 434 00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:12,879 Speaker 1: their harvest. This was, to be clear, it completely uneven contract. 435 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:18,240 Speaker 1: The workers were getting paid probably a decent amount compared 436 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:20,840 Speaker 1: to what their other options might be, but they were 437 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:25,480 Speaker 1: also pledging to pay a massive default sum if they 438 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:28,600 Speaker 1: were unable to fulfill their duties for any reason. So basically, 439 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:31,159 Speaker 1: if they got sick in those three years and couldn't 440 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:34,160 Speaker 1: do their work, they had to pay a hundred dollars, 441 00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:36,240 Speaker 1: which at the time was huge, especially compared to what 442 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:39,920 Speaker 1: they were getting paid. It was really not fair or 443 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:43,280 Speaker 1: kind in any way. These men traveled to Darjeeling and 444 00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:46,040 Speaker 1: the lesser him alay As, just as the plant samples had, 445 00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:48,679 Speaker 1: and they shared their knowledge, which had been kept for 446 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:51,639 Speaker 1: generations only in China with the workers on the British 447 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:59,000 Speaker 1: own plantations. The tea industry from their underwent a massive shift. Soon, 448 00:25:59,359 --> 00:26:03,000 Speaker 1: tea cuttings were cultivated in other countries as well as India, 449 00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:06,760 Speaker 1: but India's production was massive and they could export quality 450 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:09,639 Speaker 1: teas at a lower price, taking the market share away 451 00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:13,199 Speaker 1: from China. This happened really quickly over the course of 452 00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:16,199 Speaker 1: like a decade, and then China spent the next hundred 453 00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:19,160 Speaker 1: years trying to catch up and finally once again became 454 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:22,880 Speaker 1: the largest exporter of tea in the nineteen fifties. By 455 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:26,200 Speaker 1: the time Robert Fortune died in April thirteenth, eighteen eighty, 456 00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:29,800 Speaker 1: it's estimated that he had introduced about two hundred eighty 457 00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:33,080 Speaker 1: plants species to the Western world from China. There are 458 00:26:33,119 --> 00:26:37,240 Speaker 1: more than a dozen plants species named after him, and 459 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:39,919 Speaker 1: since the nineteen eighties there have been a lot of 460 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:43,719 Speaker 1: think pieces published heralding the end of teas dominance in 461 00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:47,639 Speaker 1: Great Britain. Coffee has gained in popularity in that time, 462 00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:49,639 Speaker 1: but tea, as we mentioned at the top of the show, 463 00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:53,200 Speaker 1: still far outpaces it. I ran into a few different 464 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:57,600 Speaker 1: articles predicting when coffee would surpass tea as the main 465 00:26:57,640 --> 00:27:02,280 Speaker 1: beverage of Great Britain, but those are all, you know, predictions. 466 00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:08,760 Speaker 1: I don't know. I think even if coffee does surpassed 467 00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:14,000 Speaker 1: tea as the most popular beverage, the association of tea 468 00:27:14,119 --> 00:27:19,840 Speaker 1: with British culture is so entrenched. Um. I can't speak 469 00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:24,280 Speaker 1: for how entrenched it is within Britain, but outside of Britain, 470 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:28,240 Speaker 1: it's like they're so parallel that I think even outside 471 00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:31,760 Speaker 1: of the country, people will probably associate tea with Britain 472 00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:36,000 Speaker 1: long after it is not the most popular beverage. Well. 473 00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:39,199 Speaker 1: And I also suspect that even if it somehow is 474 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:42,639 Speaker 1: surpassed by coffee, it's not like it's going to go away. 475 00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:45,959 Speaker 1: It will still be part of of British culture. And 476 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:48,080 Speaker 1: I think tea has gotten more popular in other countries 477 00:27:48,119 --> 00:27:50,080 Speaker 1: as well. I feel like in the United States this 478 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:54,000 Speaker 1: is just experiential. I don't have data on it, um. 479 00:27:54,119 --> 00:27:56,520 Speaker 1: You know, I have certainly noticed that tea has become 480 00:27:57,040 --> 00:28:00,200 Speaker 1: much more prevalent in for example, office breaker him, is 481 00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:03,879 Speaker 1: that it ever used to be? Uh? So you know 482 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:07,679 Speaker 1: a teath safe. We're always gonna want tea delicious It 483 00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:11,800 Speaker 1: is delicious delicious. Do you have delicious listener mail? Have 484 00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:16,840 Speaker 1: beautiful listener mail, Rebecca, She writes, Dear Holly and Tracy 485 00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:19,720 Speaker 1: from an avid Stuff you Missed in History Class fan, Hello, 486 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:22,280 Speaker 1: I've been listening to this show almost since the beginning. 487 00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:24,919 Speaker 1: I work as a custom picture framer and I do 488 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:28,320 Speaker 1: some freelance illustration work on the side. Your podcast has 489 00:28:28,359 --> 00:28:31,040 Speaker 1: gotten me through many, many long hours of framing and drawing. 490 00:28:31,359 --> 00:28:33,520 Speaker 1: For a few years now, I've I've been doing a 491 00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:37,840 Speaker 1: monthly series every March featuring notable women of history. Stuff 492 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:40,000 Speaker 1: you Missed in History Class has been an amazing source 493 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:43,120 Speaker 1: of inspiration, information and entertainment. So as a thank you, 494 00:28:43,160 --> 00:28:45,960 Speaker 1: I've included two drawings from the series, one for each 495 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:49,760 Speaker 1: of you. For Holly previous podcast subject Lilian Bland, you 496 00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:52,400 Speaker 1: have her hutzpah, her creativity, and her zest for life. 497 00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:56,200 Speaker 1: For Tracy previous podcast mentioned to moy goes In, you 498 00:28:56,200 --> 00:28:59,479 Speaker 1: have her drive, resilience and courage. Enjoy and if you're interested, 499 00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:02,320 Speaker 1: check out the full series at Rebecca Robbie dot my 500 00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:05,320 Speaker 1: portfolio dot com. Keep up the amazing work. You are 501 00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:08,800 Speaker 1: very much appreciated, Oh Tracy, these are beautiful. So this 502 00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:10,920 Speaker 1: is yet another time where I get to reveal a 503 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:14,360 Speaker 1: thing to Tracy. I want to do it carefully because her, 504 00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:20,719 Speaker 1: Rebecca is astonishingly talented. Well, and while you carefully do that, 505 00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:23,360 Speaker 1: I want to say that was an incredibly flattering and 506 00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:28,160 Speaker 1: kind email. Thank you really was so um. I want 507 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:30,560 Speaker 1: to put this in a place you can see it. What. 508 00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:36,320 Speaker 1: It's beautiful, beautiful. Her work is gorgeous. I am in 509 00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:38,560 Speaker 1: love with it. So I'm excited because I'm actually kind 510 00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:41,840 Speaker 1: of redoing my bathroom right now to be a lady's room, 511 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:44,280 Speaker 1: so it's just filled with framed pieces of art of 512 00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:48,240 Speaker 1: cool ladies. Nice. Um. So that's going to be a 513 00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:51,520 Speaker 1: perfect and prominent piece of that. So thank you so much, Rebecca. 514 00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:54,880 Speaker 1: I am touched and delighted in it is. As Tracy said, 515 00:29:55,320 --> 00:29:58,400 Speaker 1: such an amazingly lovely note to get. So if you 516 00:29:58,400 --> 00:29:59,840 Speaker 1: would like to write to us, you could do so 517 00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:02,840 Speaker 1: at History Podcast at Houston Works dot com. You can 518 00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:06,160 Speaker 1: find us all over social media as Missed in History 519 00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:09,120 Speaker 1: and Missed in History dot com is how you find 520 00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:12,360 Speaker 1: us on the Worldwide Web, and there you'll find episodes 521 00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:14,200 Speaker 1: all the way back to the beginning of the podcast 522 00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:16,600 Speaker 1: before Tracy and I were ever involved, as well as 523 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:18,560 Speaker 1: show notes on the podcast that Tracy and I have 524 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:22,520 Speaker 1: worked on together, and occasional other little goodies. So come 525 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:30,480 Speaker 1: and visit us at missed in history dot com. For 526 00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:33,120 Speaker 1: more on this and thousands of other topics, visit how 527 00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:42,400 Speaker 1: staff works dot com.