To quench the growing thirst for tea the British East India Company had to import ever greater quantities of tea. To pay for these shipments the Chinese demanded gold, silver or copper because they had no desire for inferior western manufactured products. This led to an increasing trade deficit between the two nations. The British East India Company through third parties started dealing Indian opium in China. The opium trade while outlawed by the Chinese authorities was hugely profitable and provided the needed silver to obtain tea demanded by British subjects. In 1840, the Chinese authorities destroyed British opium warehouses that had been tacitly allowed to operate in China. The British responded by attacking and taking many major Chinese ports in the ensuing Opium War. The pursuit of tea brought about the forcible opening of China and the undermining of its empire.

The British thirst for tea also caused them to attempt to cultivate tea outside of China. India was seen as one possible place for cultivation where the British might be better able to control the entire tea production process. After several failed attempts to introduce Chinese tea plants to Assam, India, English botanists discovered a wild variety of tea that grew naturally in Assam. Thus, began cultivation of tea outside of China for the express purpose of feeding western demand. Western driven cultivation spread to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Africa and North Carolina.

Tea Today
After water, tea is the most consumed beverage on the planet. Most of this tea is black tea and is prepared in tea bags. India rather than China now produces the most tea. Further, India consumes more tea than anyone else. Even on a per capita basis the British have been surpassed in their tea consumption by both the Irish and the Germans.

Since the American Revolution, more than two hundred years ago the United States has had a rather tepid relationship with tea and has favored coffee and cola. The United States has always been the exception to the rule that English speaking nations drink tea. While it is unlikely to unseat coffee or cola, tea particularly “unfermented” or unoxidized green and white teas are growing in popularity in the US. The growth can be attributed to the growing western recognition of tea’s health benefits.

Originally published on TBDTea.com. Reproduced here with permission.

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