Today I reread parts of “A History of the World in Six Glasses” by Tom Standage. It is a fascinating read that looks at how human history has been influenced by beer, coffee, spirits, wine, cola and of course tea.
The chapter on tea relates the mythical origins of tea cultivation in China. Even more interesting to me is the highly unlikely adoption of tea by Europeans, particularly the British who make it a central part of their culture in little over a century after its introduction.
I am also intrigued by the British attempts to secure another source of tea by introducing tea to India. They experience many failures and then discover the plant growing wild. Hopefully our experiment of growing tea this summer will go better, since I don’t think there are any native tea plants hiding in our hedge.