The Tea History Podcast

Documentarian and podcaster James Harper of Filter Stories has joined up with history professor Jonathan Morris to produce a nice, short but sweet, six-part series that looks at the history of this aromatic psychoactive seed that, like tea, played no small part in changing the world.

If you liked the Tea History Podcast, I warmly welcome you to go check this one out from James and Jonathan that examines the impact of the coffee trade on world history. 

Behind that goodness that many of us enjoy once or several times daily, there’s a centuries-long history that is both fascinating and at times, quite dark. Like with the history of tea, many people in the first links of the coffee supply chain faced all manners of little-known human suffering.

I invite you to listen. Only six episodes. Enjoy it with your morning cuppa. Did you know coffee is also produced in China? Yeah, the PRC is one of the top 20 producers in the world. Almost all the coffee in China is overwhelmingly grown in Yunnan Province, the same place where the original tea gardens existed thousands and thousands of years ago. You can learn all about this too in A History of Coffee. Links to the show can be found in the episode show notes.

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As Porky Pig used to say, "That's all folks". But only for this Chinese tea history series. There's more coming rest assured. Please stay subscribed so that you won't miss any new episodes. I'm already working on the next episode, one that's guaranteed to please. I thank you all for listening. Please consider checking out the other two Teacup Media Shows: The China History Podcast and The Chinese Sayings Podcast.

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We continue on with a tour of the provinces, looking at some of the more renowned teas each place has to offer. Teas such as Dancong, Tieguanyin, Jinjunmei, and Da Hong Pao are introduced. Various teas from Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Hubei, and Hunan are discussed.

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Today's THP episode will go from province to province and look at a variety of famous teas such as Longjing, Gunpowder, Huangshan Maofeng, Lu'an Guapian, Xinyang Maojian, Taiping Houkui and a few others. All of the teas to be introduced began their brilliant careers as tribute teas sent annually to the emperor. You too can savor these teas fit for an emperor by purchasing them online at any number of online (and offline) tea sellers.

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In this episode, we focus on the category of tea that is most admired by many tea experts the world over. Pu-Erh tea was introduced sometime during the Ming Dynasty and in time, became the oft-called "King of Teas" for its rich and unique flavor, wholly unlike any other tea produced in China.

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After enjoying a monopoly that lasted for 45 centuries, China's secrets of how they turned Camellia sinensis leaves into tea are shared with the world (but not by the Chinese). This time we see how the tea seeds, plants, tools, and experts are secreted out of China and successfully brought to the Indian highlands. There a British dream team of botanists and horticulturalists take over the job begun by Robert Fortune and launch the tea industry in India. We also look at James Taylor's efforts to plant tea in Ceylon and how his business savvy partner in this venture brought tea to the world. This partner was Thomas J. Lipton, the one who brought us the ubiquitous Lipton Tea. What a character he was!

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The hero who ensured Robert Fortune's success, Dr. Nathanial Bagshaw Ward is introduced in this episode. Ward's invention of the terrarium was the one thing that provided the breakthrough for Robert Fortune. We see how Fortune went into China, scored plants and tea seeds from Zhejiang, Anhui and Fujian and got everything safely loaded onto a vessel for transport to India.

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The mid 19th Century brought a sea change to the tea industry. Demand continued to grow all over Europe. China's artisanal tea growers and the general unreliability of the China market due to all the well-known political and social disasters happening in China raise concerns. The idea to make a go at growing tea in India is seriously discussed. We meet Charles Bruce, the Father of India's Tea Industry. The botanist, horticulturist, and man of adventure Robert Fortune is also introduced. We close the episode with the exploits of Fortune's first China trip and his discovery that green and black teas both come from the exact same species of plant, Camellia sinensis. With all the well-known mid-19th Century headaches facing China's Manchu Qing rulers, the loss of the European tea market will soon be added to their woes.

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Midway through the Qing Dynasty trouble is brewing along with the tens of millions of pounds of tea being imported into Britain. The Qianlong Emperor rebuffs Britain's envoy and puts a major damper on the prospects of China trade. Britain finds the perfect commodity to trade for tea, Patna Opium from India. This ultimately leads to conflict culminating in the Opium Wars. Why this war is misnamed is also explained. This was the age of the China Clipper ships and imperialism at its worst. New black teas are also discussed, including Lapsang Souchong and the one black tea that local Chinese didn't turn their nose up to: Keemun.

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In this episode we move to the other side of the world to look at some tea history in the British Colonies. The tea trade by now has transformeded into an entire industry and becomes the most important traded commodity of the British East India Company. Twining's emerges onto the scene along with coffeehouse culture where tea was also to be had. Over in the American colonies, the Yanks embrace tea as much as the Brits. Milk and sugar with tea become all the rage. And when the Her Majesty's government starts hitting up the American colonists with the Indemnity Acts of 1767, the Townshend Acts in 1770, and finally, the Tea Act of 1773, it leads to the Boston Tea Party and an eventual "parting of ways" between the colonists and their British masters.

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