Script:
Ryan- Hi and welcome to “Leaf Juice”, I am your host Ryan Otto, and Today we have a very special guest Sir. Rupert Wallis Fittleworth the 3rd, who is going to talk about the history of tea. So please give him a warm welcome.
Ben- Thank you so much for having me.
Ryan- Could you just give us an overview of Britain’s relationship with China?
Ben- Of course. So China and Britain were really never the best of friends, Britain was really just using China to make money. China was always a very isolated country, so they were reluctant to allow trade with other nations such as Britain. But after the first Opium War Britain made China sign a treaty allowing for more extensive trade.
Ryan- You mentioned the Opium War and how it affected trade and China. Would you mind expounding upon this idea?
Ben- Certainly. In 1839 the Chinese government issued a ban on Opium which the British objected to. In order to preserve its lucrative trade arrangements with China, Britain resorted to military action. Their superior technology such as the musket resulted in a decisive victory, and Britain forced China to sign a treaty allowing for more extensive trade. This ensured that England had a steady supply of tea before it moved production to India.
Ryan- Why did Britain want to shift production of their tea?
Ben- Part of it was just that Britain wanted an independent source of tea. The other part was that the East India Company had lost its monopoly on China in 1834. The company knew that whoever managed to grow tea outside of China would have a huge market. With this in mind, the East India Company began to search for places in which they could cultivate tea of their own. They eventually found land in which they could cultivate on in Assam, India. As it turned out the Himalayas actually contained better conditions, such as climate and soil, in which created better tasting tea.
Ryan- What impact did this shift have on China?
Ben- Given the high number of tea farmers in China, it dealt a huge blow to China's already unstable economy. Just to provide some perspective on the issue, China sold Britain 31 tons of tea in 1859. In forty years, that figure fell to 7 thousand.
Ryan- how was Britain able to grow tea in India in the first place? Wasn't China very secretive about the process?
Ben- Yes, they were. The East India Company sent Robert Fortune to collect samples of tea and learn the processes behind it.
Ryan- Alright, looks like that's all the time we have for today. Let's all give a big hand to Sir Rupert Wallis Fittleworth III.
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