Christina here. Despite being half British, I’ve never been much of a tea drinker. I don’t mind it, but it’s not my favourite beverage. It doesn’t work on me as a panacea or cure-all either, the way most British people seem to see it. If I have a cold or the weather is chilly and damp as now, however, I do occasionally enjoy a cup of Twinings English Breakfast with lots of milk and sugar. It’s cosy and yes, quite comforting. And we all take for granted how cheap and easy it is to buy it – but that wasn’t always the case!
Although nowadays we can buy tea bags of every variety in the supermarket, or loose weight tea in specialist shops without any problems, in the 18th century it was a luxury commodity. Housewives kept the tea in lockable tea caddies so that only they could dispense it. And there was a reason for that – importing it was quite an undertaking. While doing the research for my first historical novel, Trade Winds, I read about the journey an East India merchant ship had to make in 1731/32 order to go to Canton in China to buy tea and other goods to bring back to Europe. I couldn’t believe how complicated and hazardous it all was!
First of all, you had to have a ship, of course, and capital from investors to buy trade goods to take with you on the outward journey. In England, that was probably usually provided by the East India Company, but in other countries such as Sweden the money was raised by subscription. If the venture succeeded, the investor stood to gain an enormous profit – but the ships didn’t always make it back, in which case you lost everything. The sailing time was approximately five to seven months to get there, a four-month stay in Canton while buying merchandise, and then another seven or eight months to return home. Profits were therefore slow in materialising so you had to think long term.
There wasn’t much in the way of trade goods that the Chinese wanted from the Europeans, so often whatever they brought was sold in other countries along the way, particularly Spain. In the port of Cadiz, merchandise could be sold in exchange for Spanish silver piastres or other silver currency – this was the preferred payment in China. The ship I researched had 73 chests of silver or 400,000 piastres, quite a treasure! (I assume they must have been fairly small chests though).
Conditions on board were cramped to say the least – the captain and other important people slept in cabins, but the rest of the seamen had their hammocks below deck where they would never have been alone for a moment. If the weather was bad, they didn’t get any rest at all, but had to work around the clock. The food was boring and sometimes downright bad, as was the fresh water supply, and illness was rife. As much as a third of the crew might not make it home again. But despite these risks, and although the salary was poor, they had the added incentive of being allowed to bring some trade goods back for themselves, which made it worth it for many.
The route took them past the Canary Islands, round the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, then across the Indian Ocean up towards Java. They went slowly through the Sunda Strait (between Sumatra and Java) and Banka Strait, followed by a crossing of the China Sea, which could be very treacherous depending on the time of year. On the coast of China at last, they headed for the Bocca Tigris – the “Tiger’s Mouth”, which is what the Portuguese called the opening of the Pearl River. Going upriver towards Canton could be challenging, as the current was strong, and the crew must have been extremely relieved when they finally dropped anchor off the island of Whampoa, just south of Canton. Most of them stayed there the whole time, while the supercargo (the man in charge of trade) and a few others were rowed to Canton itself, where they were to conduct business.
Canton was a city of three parts – a walled inner city, the suburbs outside the walls and a floating city (houseboats). Europeans were not allowed inside the walls but each country rented its own so called ‘factory’ (a building with living quarters and storage) near the river. They also had to pay various taxes to the Chinese authorities, who were very strict. The surrounding streets contained Chinese merchants and each street specialised in one type of goods, like silk, lacquerware and porcelain. And then there was the tea.
Tea was the most important product and it was measured in peculs. There were several harvests a year: one in February/March (new leaves which were the best), one at the beginning of April (also good) and a third halfway through May (not so good). Black tea, Bohea, was considered the best, but there were others like Pekoe and Souchong as well. The most difficult thing for a supercargo was to determine whether the tea they were given was of the quality they had ordered – they didn’t want to be cheated. They could refuse any tea they thought sub-standard so the packing could take ages while fresh baskets were fetched and inspected. Eventually, they ended up with hundreds of chests to take back.
It was all extremely complicated as prices fluctuated from day to day. And the way the tea was packed was of the utmost importance so that it wouldn’t be ruined before it even reached Europe. You had to protect it against humidity at all costs. It was put into tea chests that had first been dried in the sun, then lined with lead on the inside. (I have some modern-day tea chests bought in Japan which are still lined with lead – see photos. Some of them are turned into pretty storage chests by being lacquered like this black one). A paper lining was added, and the tea, which was brought in baskets, was placed in the chests and stamped on for half an hour by two men. The tea was allowed to ‘rest’ for another half an hour before a piece of cotton material was put on top and the lid nailed shut. Before the return journey, the whole chest was also wrapped in oiled paper. Throughout, the supercargo had to keep checking so that it was the right type of tea and there was no cheating. He must have been exhausted!
The chests could never be allowed to rest directly on the ground but stood on top of planks. While in Canton, they were left outside in the sun during the day but brought indoors every night. You also couldn’t store anything spicy or with a strong scent next to them in case it ruined the tea’s flavour.
Loading the ship for the return journey could take as long as three months – porcelain went in first, then tea, followed by things like silk and spices, and at the top, provisions. Finally, the ship had to make its way back to Europe through storms and other dangers. No wonder the cargo was sold for an enormous profit after all that and it was considered a luxury item!
Are you a tea-drinker? And if so, what is your favourite type and how do you take it?