Story of Tea Part Two

We are now in the Bay of Bengal and it is time for part two in the story of tea. The Brits were not satisfied with correcting the trade balance. They wanted to know how to grow and process the tea leaves, secrets closely guarded by the Chinese. So they financed a spy, a renowned horticulturnist Robert Fortune. He was able to locate and gain access to the area growing green tea. He discovered the Chinese were adding gypsum and Prussian Blue (potential poisons) to green tea to make it green because they thought the Brits liked the greener color better. He was also able to smuggle out plants and seeds. None of these survived because an Indian port official left the terrariums carrying the plants open. Meanwhile he was searching for the source of plants for black tea. He discovered it and found out it was the same plant with different processing. This time he labeled the terrariums "Do Not Open." They made it successfully to the fields in India where tea thrived.Read more