Britain and Tea

Britain and Tea

Tea was brought to England in the late seventeenth century. The drink became a national drink replacing the gin. Gin was bought for so cheep, but was a disgrace to the English people. People turned to black tea. The expensive tea was more preferred and was bought for its taste, and its essential virtue. The good tea cost at least 60S a pound. The cheapest sort one could legally buy cost 7s a pound. That is about the amount of money one made in a week worth of wages. Just across the Channel or the North Sea the cost was 2s a pound and the inferior for much less. The free traders made a profit of 350 per cent and they weren’t slow to begin this sort of game with other people. This resulted in publicized tea as nothing else could have done, and the illegal sale of the tea flourished and accounted for two-thirds of the tea drunk in England had been smuggled. (The great tea venture, 29-3

John Company and China

John Company and China

There was a monopoly of trade into China for tea. This monopoly was by the company John Company. There was one port that China had opened the door to trade, this port was Canton. The John Company was the Honorable East India company, which was granted a monopoly of Oriental trade in the 1600. It was during the late seventeenth century and throughout the eighteenth consolidated and built up its position until it was the biggest organization of any foreign power. This was the greatest trade monopolies in the world.

The growing army of private traders persuaded Parliament that it should not be renewed for China after year 1833. The John Company lost its monopoly on China in 1813. (The great tea venture, 44)

Early Chinese Tea

Early Chinese Tea

Accounts of when the tea tree was found has two contradicting accounts. One says that it was found during the reign of Emperor Shin Nong, three thousand years before Christian era. Though people doubt the discovery of the tea has been around that long, or at least the western historians doubt that. They mostly believe that the plant was discovered in the fourth century A.D. This from a historical reference written down to the acknowledgement of drinking the drink.

Like the Japanese, the Chinese drank the drink for its healing properties, and for its popularity for its flavor. Soon the government put a tax on the drink, for it became so popular that the government tried to levy a heavy tax on the drink. (The history of the Indian Tea Industry, 4)