History | Teaconomics

Where Eagles Dare

After learning that Japanese beef was graded with a two dimensional system (A, B, C and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5), I had thought I could work on the reason behind the different grades in tea (the most known being in the former English colonies …

This post owns much to the work done by Dr Pim de Zwart from the Wageningen University and Research that published in 2016 a paper in The Journal of Economic History on globalization in the early modern era: new evidence from the Dutch-Asiatic trade between …

Light! More Light!

I think that Goethe’s last words are more than suited to this rather obscure topic that I teased last time, tea in French Indochina. But perhaps I should start with some explanations for those unfamiliar with the history/geography of the world at the beginning of …

Teaser…

You might remember (Or not, I won’t be offended) that I wrote things about tea in the French colonies. Just in case, here are the links: https://teaconomics.teatra.de/2015/07/28/for-you-little-gardener-and-lover-of-trees/ https://teaconomics.teatra.de/2012/08/28/france-its-colonies-and-tea/ I had completely forgotten this topic and while looking at online archives on maritime power and colonies, …

Curiosity killed the cat or didn’t

I am always looking for old books or old references to tea, both because I like history/books and because I like tea. I must confess that I am lucky to have a habit that allows to mix both (it would be nearly impossible I was …

You must unlearn what you have learned

Everyone knows that in Europe, tea is something English (or British if you prefer), that they invented everything regarding tea rituals and that they are at the core of everything related to tea. Well, I won’t tell you that everything in this common belief is …

Unsung hero

We all know about Robert Fortune and the British East India Company (for a really small summary, you can look there) in the spreading of tea from China to India (I will not go on the topic about the different Camellia sinensis varieties and their …

Every luxury must be paid for

I have what I would call a professional bias: when I read about prices from old times, I think about how much it would be today. You might not know it but for different reasons, prices are changing over time meaning that you can buy …

Winter is coming

Winter is coming and no, this has nothing to do with Game of Thrones or with the season. Yes, in both cases, winter is truly coming but in tea, you could say that. But first we need to take a step back in time and …

While follow eyes the steady keel

Those who follow me may have noticed that I have a soft spot for tea (obvious) and for history and when both are mixed, it is pure bliss. And this is what happened to me during my holidays. I had seen that there was a …

Teaconomics

The Economy of Tea

Category Archives: History