A Brief History Of Tea… a.k.a A Tale Of Botanical Espionage

Author Sarah Rose tells the remarkable tale of botanical imperialism and espionage in her recent book, For All the Tea in China. The story centers on the perilous adventures of Scottish plant hunter Robert Fortune, who disguised himself as a Chinese merchant and entered the depths of the then uncharted inland China to discover the country’s long guarded tea secrets.

At the time England, China, and British Colonial India were bound in deeply dependant trade triangle centered around two plants – the Opium Poppy and Camellia Sinensis, commonly known as, the tea plant.
Through “botanical espionage,” Fortune tipped the scales in the Queen’s favor and brought the knowledge of tea (planting to production) to the world.

Fortune can also list the Kumquat and the aptly named Fortunes Double Yellow Rose to his contributions to England’s complex botanical legacy. However for a country obsessed with Tea, it was his discoveries with Camellia Sinensis that solidified his place in plant history.

See the video below for a primer on the subject or stream the BBC’s serialization of For All The Tea In China here.

 

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