Sathnam Sanghera tells the story of our national drink and its imperial past.
Radio 4,·12 episodes
Why did tea take off when coffee didn’t?
How did a foreign plant become so British?
Did imperial tea really help Britain win the war?
How tea, in various forms, became India’s national drink.
Are the modern-day problems faced by tea workers a legacy of British imperialism?
How the introduction of tea plantations to India changed the trade forever.
How Britain’s sale of opium to buy tea changed China’s view of the west.
How imperial tea played a role in shaping Britain’s relationship with two superpowers.
From fuelling the industrial revolution to the mid-morning break.
Tea arrives in Britain as an exotic drink for the elite. But its tale is just beginning.
