“Tea is an addiction, but it different from all the others . . . Most unusually, it is good for the addict.”

Macfarlane & Macfarlane, p. 32

So begins the official narrative of The Empire of Tea: The Remarkable History of the Plant That Took Over the World, by Alan Macfarlane and Iris Macfarlane. If you’ve ever had a sip of tea and wondered where it might have come from, read on . . .

The Empire of Tea is not, strictly speaking, an academic history; it is a far more personal dive into the history of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis. The mother and son author team begin with personal reflections on having grown up on an Indian tea plantation, which frames their interest in tea. From there, the Macfarlanes trace the origin of Camellia sinensis in the Himalayas and its importance in Chinese culture to its “discovery” by the British and its rapid spread across the world. Along the way, we learn many interesting tidbits, like:

  • some of the earliest records of tea consumption actually refer to eating clumps of tea leaves rather than drinking a steamed beverage
  • “bricks” of tea were the preferred currency in many places along the Silk Road
  • the Europeans first treated tea much like warm beer, serving it to customers from a barrel

The authors do include chapter notes, an extensive bibliography, and an index, but all are neatly tucked away at the back of the book; the actual text reads like an uninterrupted conversation with someone very invested in tea. The final chapters on modern tea production and life on tea plantations is sobering, and takes on the tone of an expose: there are clearly improvements to be made to tea production! But though the authors clearly feel their cause deeply, they do end their narrative on a more hopeful–if still slightly jaded–note.

I personally love tea and drink it daily (I never did get used to the taste of coffee!). As such, I found this book and its anecdotes interesting. It’s accessible and eye-opening, especially for casual tea drinkers looking for context for the beverage they love.

Official Citation

Macfarlane, Alan, and Iris Macfarlane. The Empire of Tea: The Remarkable History of the Plant that Took Over the World. New York: The Overlook Press, 2004.

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