Ep. 17 | The Secret Gets Out

After enjoying a monopoly that lasted for 45 centuries, China's secrets of how they turned Camellia sinensis leaves into tea are shared with the world (but not by the Chinese). This time we see how the tea seeds, plants, tools, and experts are secreted out of China and successfully brought to the Indian highlands. There a British dream team of botanists and horticulturalists take over the job begun by Robert Fortune and launch the tea industry in India. We also look at James Taylor's efforts to plant tea in Ceylon and how his business savvy partner in this venture brought tea to the world. This partner was Thomas J. Lipton, the one who brought us the ubiquitous Lipton Tea. What a character he was!

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