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Tea: A History of the Drink That Changed the World
A fascinating account of the world's favorite beverage from the son of Sir Percival Griffiths, author of the monumental and definitive tome The History of the Indian Tea Industry.
A study of the phenomenon as well as the commodity, this is a comprehensive survey of the drink that is imbibed daily by more than half the population of the world. After water, tea is the second most-consumed drink in the world. Almost every corner of the globe is addressed in this comprehensive look at 4,500 years of tea history. Tea has affected international relations, exposed divisions of class and race, shaped the ethics of business, and even led to significant advances in medicine. Thoroughly researched and captivating, this is a unique study of the little green leaf.
A study of the phenomenon as well as the commodity, this is a comprehensive survey of the drink that is imbibed daily by more than half the population of the world. After water, tea is the second most-consumed drink in the world. Almost every corner of the globe is addressed in this comprehensive look at 4,500 years of tea history. Tea has affected international relations, exposed divisions of class and race, shaped the ethics of business, and even led to significant advances in medicine. Thoroughly researched and captivating, this is a unique study of the little green leaf.
392 pages, Paperback
First published May 28, 2007
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364 people want to read
About the author
John Griffiths
208 books4 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 13, 2015
A more honest title for this book would be 'The Mostly Rich White Man's History of Tea', rather than claiming to be 'The History' of tea.
I should start with the positives. Confusingly enough, this book is very interesting to read. Although, going through, there are SO many problems littered throughout, it's engaging. There doesn't seem to be any reason to mistrust the solid facts that are presented to you, and it's different to the orthodox in historical writing. Like tea itself, it is refreshing. I enjoyed reading it, even if I do not believe that this is a good book.
But, now on to the more disapproving side. I have an extremely pressing moral issue with this book, in that it is extremely Imperialist. This is made so much worse from the fact that the author makes it throughout the book that he is from a family of Imperialists who ran tea plantations. Sensing the issue here?
Because of this, the book is constantly on the defense of tea planters. Phrases such as 'in defense of the tea planters' crop up a lot to defend the planters who were exploitative, violent and even murderous towards the native labourers who worked below them. The author stubbornly refuses to see the hugely problematic nature of empire. How Europe prospered by crushing the bones of those that we dominated. He also refers to the labourers as 'coolies', even though he openly admits this is a derogatory term? Ergo, engagement with casual racism.
He also uses his last few paragraphs to claim that tea is a British drink above all other countries. I'm sure that it takes just a pinch of common sense to realise that this is a huge stretch of the truth. Yes, this is his opinion. But when you consider that tea only came to England on the backs of Empire, where no interest was shown in it before the 17th century, how can this claim be made? Especially when you have other cultures that have cultivated and drunk it for thousands of years, and therefore have it deeply entrenched in their heritage. I think that is enough to propose that his claim is morally and factually incorrect.
Furthermore, the author is an insufferable tea snob, to use the colloquial vernacular (which, he actually constantly accuses various people of being, which is a great irony). He heavily looks down upon those who drink tea for convenience, anyone who uses teabags, and practically anyone who does not indulge in the finest leaf tea. Now, he is clearly a highly affluent man who can afford to drink very fine, loose leaf tea constantly, so it is incredibly insulting to hear these kind of denigration.
I also take massive issue with his condescension towards the teabag. Now, as I have previously mentioned he claims that tea is the drink of the British. There is NO way that tea could have reached the popularity it has done in Britain without the tea bag. Tea would have been much more expensive without it. It wouldn't be able to be drunk at the levels it is drunk in this country today, and would have probably been replaced by coffee. However, given his general patronising tone towards anything that isn't of the finest quality, I doubt his view of the 'British tea drinker' encompasses anyone that isn't of his social caste. Yes, it would be lovely to always be able to drink loose tea, very recently plucked that is of the finest quality, but that's an unobtainable expectation for the vast majority of us.
To sum up; this book is interesting and enjoyable, and I think he HAS done his research. But, the way the research is presented with a huge Imperial bias, massive pretensions and classism and with pepperings of cultural appropriation and slight amounts of racism. I would not recommend this to anyone, except perhaps if someone was doing a project on White Europeans who think that a culture stolen in Imperial days is solely theirs.
On a last note, this reminds me of an episode of The Simpsons where they go to a Korean BBQ, and the white (well, yellow - but that is The Simpsons form of white, I assume) people claim to have discovered Korean BBQ 'in this town'. When derided, they respond by saying 'they (the Koreans) cook it, but they don't get it'. It sounds ridiculous, but that is very similar to what this book claims about tea.
I should start with the positives. Confusingly enough, this book is very interesting to read. Although, going through, there are SO many problems littered throughout, it's engaging. There doesn't seem to be any reason to mistrust the solid facts that are presented to you, and it's different to the orthodox in historical writing. Like tea itself, it is refreshing. I enjoyed reading it, even if I do not believe that this is a good book.
But, now on to the more disapproving side. I have an extremely pressing moral issue with this book, in that it is extremely Imperialist. This is made so much worse from the fact that the author makes it throughout the book that he is from a family of Imperialists who ran tea plantations. Sensing the issue here?
Because of this, the book is constantly on the defense of tea planters. Phrases such as 'in defense of the tea planters' crop up a lot to defend the planters who were exploitative, violent and even murderous towards the native labourers who worked below them. The author stubbornly refuses to see the hugely problematic nature of empire. How Europe prospered by crushing the bones of those that we dominated. He also refers to the labourers as 'coolies', even though he openly admits this is a derogatory term? Ergo, engagement with casual racism.
He also uses his last few paragraphs to claim that tea is a British drink above all other countries. I'm sure that it takes just a pinch of common sense to realise that this is a huge stretch of the truth. Yes, this is his opinion. But when you consider that tea only came to England on the backs of Empire, where no interest was shown in it before the 17th century, how can this claim be made? Especially when you have other cultures that have cultivated and drunk it for thousands of years, and therefore have it deeply entrenched in their heritage. I think that is enough to propose that his claim is morally and factually incorrect.
Furthermore, the author is an insufferable tea snob, to use the colloquial vernacular (which, he actually constantly accuses various people of being, which is a great irony). He heavily looks down upon those who drink tea for convenience, anyone who uses teabags, and practically anyone who does not indulge in the finest leaf tea. Now, he is clearly a highly affluent man who can afford to drink very fine, loose leaf tea constantly, so it is incredibly insulting to hear these kind of denigration.
I also take massive issue with his condescension towards the teabag. Now, as I have previously mentioned he claims that tea is the drink of the British. There is NO way that tea could have reached the popularity it has done in Britain without the tea bag. Tea would have been much more expensive without it. It wouldn't be able to be drunk at the levels it is drunk in this country today, and would have probably been replaced by coffee. However, given his general patronising tone towards anything that isn't of the finest quality, I doubt his view of the 'British tea drinker' encompasses anyone that isn't of his social caste. Yes, it would be lovely to always be able to drink loose tea, very recently plucked that is of the finest quality, but that's an unobtainable expectation for the vast majority of us.
To sum up; this book is interesting and enjoyable, and I think he HAS done his research. But, the way the research is presented with a huge Imperial bias, massive pretensions and classism and with pepperings of cultural appropriation and slight amounts of racism. I would not recommend this to anyone, except perhaps if someone was doing a project on White Europeans who think that a culture stolen in Imperial days is solely theirs.
On a last note, this reminds me of an episode of The Simpsons where they go to a Korean BBQ, and the white (well, yellow - but that is The Simpsons form of white, I assume) people claim to have discovered Korean BBQ 'in this town'. When derided, they respond by saying 'they (the Koreans) cook it, but they don't get it'. It sounds ridiculous, but that is very similar to what this book claims about tea.
April 27, 2016
Crazy teatail about one of my favourite drinks and how it quite literally changed the world's histeary. The way the words flow is very nice, the detail not too steep but informative all the same. Oolong with this, there's multiple little interesting tidbits scattered throughout, to keep even the greenest tea drinkers leafing through. Never a strain to read. I always chai to give as fair rebrews of books as possible, but I am probably a little biased, as to me it's a brewteaful drink and I love it. The silver Twinings of this review is probably that you have come to the end of it, and no I shall not apologise, I am what Assam!
December 11, 2021
If you're looking for a "but colonialism wasn't so bad, right?" perspective of tea, then this is the book for you. It is a very British colonial perspective of the "history" of tea. The author is also apparently still miffed about the whole American Revolution thing.
September 25, 2017
I couldn't finish this book, the editing was appalling. I don't blame the author, they tried to do something good, I blame the editor for this disaster of incomprehensible sentences, divergent grammar and general awfulness that should never have been published in this state.
February 16, 2023
Quite the history
A well researched book. The history of tea consumption in Britain sourced from China, paid for with Opium, the proliferation of tea growing to India, Celyon, Indonesia, the impact of 2 world wars and independence of former colonies. A real eye opener for me.
A well researched book. The history of tea consumption in Britain sourced from China, paid for with Opium, the proliferation of tea growing to India, Celyon, Indonesia, the impact of 2 world wars and independence of former colonies. A real eye opener for me.
October 4, 2018
Abandoned on page 34 of 373. A load of random facts thrown together.
August 7, 2019
a must read for historians with a taste for tea..the struggle and patience that made tea come out of geographic limitations
July 25, 2020
A bit dense and difficult to follow at times. But, on the whole, a very interesting and good book.
August 25, 2025
they drink the tea in the end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 22, 2015
"There were 24 tea cars on the beach at Dunkirk and all were destroyed by enemy fire or abandoned. Their crews were lucky to get back whole to England, but no sooner had they done so then they joined their colleagues dispensing tea to the thousands of exhausted troops of the evacuation. In the course of those next few days the Tea Cars served some five thousand gallons of tea."
I believe in the sense of security and ability to be brave in the face of horrors that a simple comfort can rouse in us humans. I'm convinced now that the war was won by the powers of tea.
Combine this with use of the word flibbertigibbet, and a passage on the use of bitter tea & centipedes as an ulcer cure and I am well pleased with this volume. It's not for the simply curious though, there's some slogging through dry economic details as well.
I believe in the sense of security and ability to be brave in the face of horrors that a simple comfort can rouse in us humans. I'm convinced now that the war was won by the powers of tea.
Combine this with use of the word flibbertigibbet, and a passage on the use of bitter tea & centipedes as an ulcer cure and I am well pleased with this volume. It's not for the simply curious though, there's some slogging through dry economic details as well.
October 4, 2014
This is a book for the 'general' rather than academic reader. It is a bit 'overwritten' for my taste. It features richly mauve - if not purple - prose. However in understanding how and why tea is important and why it is popular, this is a solid book. For academics - look elsewhere for a cultural history. For general readers intrigued by tea, this book is interesting, rather than fascinating.
March 24, 2015
An interesting ramble through the history and influence of one of the world's most beloved beverage. Its an educational ramble, told with familiarity and fondness. Needless to say, best enjoyed with a cuppa.
May 19, 2016
It's interesting to learn how tea came to Europe and the difficulties scientists had when naming the different teas - botanically speaking. I didn't know the Chinese were always so secretive about their products and so mistrustful of foreigners.
August 21, 2011
Not bad. Strange writing style, more akin to a romance or travel writer.
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May 10, 2017I find this book really interesting and it provides me a lot of helpful acknowledge
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews