Empire of tea : the Asian leaf that conquered the world /
Ellis, Markman,
Empire of tea : the Asian leaf that conquered the world / Markman Ellis, Richard Coulton, Matthew Mauger. - 326 pages : illustrations (some color), maps ; 25 cm
Includes bibliographical references (pages 307-314) and index.
Early European Encounters with Tea -- Establishing the Taste for Tea in Britain -- The Tea Trade with China -- The Elevation of Tea -- The Natural Philosophy of Tea -- The Market for Tea in Britain -- The British Way of Tea -- Smuggling and Taxation -- The Democratization of Tea Drinking -- Tea in the Politics of Empire -- The National Drink of Victorian Britain -- Twentieth-century Tea -- Epilogue: Global Tea.
Tea has a rich and well-documented past. The beverage originated in Asia long before making its way to seventeenth-century London, where it became an exotic, highly sought after commodity. Over the subsequent two centuries, tea's powerful psychoactive properties seduced British society, becoming popular across the nation from castle to cottage. Now the world's most popular drink, tea was one of the first truly global products to find a mass market, with tea drinking now stereotypically associated with British identity. Imported by the East India Company in increasing quantities across the eighteenth century, tea inaugurated the first regular exchange between China and Britain, both commercial and cultural. While European scientists struggled to make sense of its natural history and medicinal properties, the delicate flavour profile and hot preparation of tea inspired poets, artists and satirists. Becoming central to everyday life, tea was embroiled in controversy, from the gossip of the domestic tea table to the civil disorder occasioned by smuggling, and the political scandal of the Boston Tea Party to the violent conflict of the Anglo- Chinese Opium War. Such stories shaped the contexts for the imperial tea industry that later developed across India and Sri Lanka.
9781780234403 1780234406
East India Company London
Association Trans Europe Experts
China
Tea--History.--Great Britain
Tea trade--History.--Great Britain
Tea--History.
GT2907.G7 / E45 2015
Empire of tea : the Asian leaf that conquered the world / Markman Ellis, Richard Coulton, Matthew Mauger. - 326 pages : illustrations (some color), maps ; 25 cm
Includes bibliographical references (pages 307-314) and index.
Early European Encounters with Tea -- Establishing the Taste for Tea in Britain -- The Tea Trade with China -- The Elevation of Tea -- The Natural Philosophy of Tea -- The Market for Tea in Britain -- The British Way of Tea -- Smuggling and Taxation -- The Democratization of Tea Drinking -- Tea in the Politics of Empire -- The National Drink of Victorian Britain -- Twentieth-century Tea -- Epilogue: Global Tea.
Tea has a rich and well-documented past. The beverage originated in Asia long before making its way to seventeenth-century London, where it became an exotic, highly sought after commodity. Over the subsequent two centuries, tea's powerful psychoactive properties seduced British society, becoming popular across the nation from castle to cottage. Now the world's most popular drink, tea was one of the first truly global products to find a mass market, with tea drinking now stereotypically associated with British identity. Imported by the East India Company in increasing quantities across the eighteenth century, tea inaugurated the first regular exchange between China and Britain, both commercial and cultural. While European scientists struggled to make sense of its natural history and medicinal properties, the delicate flavour profile and hot preparation of tea inspired poets, artists and satirists. Becoming central to everyday life, tea was embroiled in controversy, from the gossip of the domestic tea table to the civil disorder occasioned by smuggling, and the political scandal of the Boston Tea Party to the violent conflict of the Anglo- Chinese Opium War. Such stories shaped the contexts for the imperial tea industry that later developed across India and Sri Lanka.
9781780234403 1780234406
East India Company London
Association Trans Europe Experts
China
Tea--History.--Great Britain
Tea trade--History.--Great Britain
Tea--History.
GT2907.G7 / E45 2015