For All The Tea

I've been reading an intriguing book -- For All the Tea in China: How England Stole the World's Favorite Drink and Changed History -- about the espionage that went into getting tea plants from China to India back in the 1800s during the days of the British Raj.

It is quite the pot boiler of a read, I have to say, filed with plant knowledge and costume trickery and all sorts of cultural misunderstandings involved in sneaking a valuable commodity and the workers who had the knowledge to process the tea out from under the nose of the Emperor of China.


The venerable "John Company," who ran tea and other commodities (including opium) back and forth between the Indian subcontinent and China provided almost half of the taxation revenues to Victoria's coffers back in the day, and their methods in ensuring business success are as jaw-droppingly brazen as they are instructive.

This is a fascinating read, and one I would highly recommend. 

(YouTube is Michael Hoppe's Renouncement, from his album Solace. Photos are the work of E.O. Hoppe.  It's a lovely piece.)