Alice Loxton

And the point is, he's seriously unpopular in China today.

They view him as this terrible figure.

They see it as trickery.

He single-handedly kneecapped the economy.

And it's part of that great century of humiliation, which they still talk about today.

And they call it the Great Tea Heist.

That's how it's remembered.

Absolutely.

So it's quite a big change at this point.

They've exploited opium and employed some pretty brutal military tactics.

There's been a sprinkling of espionage and all of this broke China's monopoly on tea production and began to satisfy this raging demand for tea in Britain.

Chapter three, look for the bare necessities.

OK, so as the Opium Wars and tea espionage are playing out in the Far East, what's happening back in Britain?

Well, the Industrial Revolution is well underway and this is playing quite a big part in the demand for tea.

Can you tell me a bit about the Industrial Revolution, Ben?

I know it's your great favourite topic.

I can't imagine what that possibly could be.

So Charles Dickens, the great 19th century novelist, paints quite a vivid picture of the Industrial Revolution in many of his books, but also mentions tea quite a lot within that.

And what's interesting is it was used across classes at this point.

And it's really seen as this regular, homely drink.