Through the eyes of an ancient being who has witnessed centuries of change, this series explores how once-rare delicacies have become everyday staples. Today, we delve into tea—a drink that has evolved from sacred traditions to a global favourite, tracing its journey through time and across cultures.

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Eldrin’s journal entry: Year 1995, Date: 286

Dear Diary,

My memories are fading. I am not sure if this is because of my age or if I am reaching the end of my time. I feel like I only have another 200 good years left. I wish to travel to the moon in a passenger ship before I pass away.

I am old enough to know that even a seemingly common event can eventually change the course of history. Today, that event is about tea.

****

This was in the year 1668, and I was having tea with an old friend, Catherine of Braganza. She was now in London after her wedding to Charles II, the King of England. We sat around the tea table for a friendly evening conversation, and Catherine couldn’t help but boast about her accomplishment.

“I must say,” she began, a proud smile spreading across her face, “if it weren’t for me, England would still be drinking ale in the afternoons. I’ve practically transformed the court with this tea—no social gathering is complete without it.”

Tea had indeed become the drink of the highest order—the socialite’s choice. Because of this growing trend, the British East India Company was making enormous profits from transporting tea and its taxation, offsetting all their other losses.

“You see,” Catherine continued with a smirk, “the British East India Company should be grateful. I’ve filled their coffers. Without me, where would they be? I made tea the height of fashion here—everyone wants a taste of it now.”

She was quick to take credit for it all, claiming that by introducing tea to the English court, she had fuelled its popularity and, by extension, the company’s success.

I took a sip of the tea. It had a strong bitterness, balanced by the smoothness of milk. The strange brown colour was unlike the green-tinted, clear liquid I had enjoyed in China. A dear, departed friend of mine, once a trader, had mentioned how the Chinese struggled to preserve the integrity of green leaves over long journeys, which is why he had given up trading across far lands. Perhaps this roasted and fermented tea was the solution, they had been searching for.

The more I drank, the more addictive its taste became. Now, I find myself craving this hot, milky drink whenever the cold wind blows. I’m glad it’s no longer reserved for royalty alone

****

I decided to stay in Europe a while longer and by 1679, I had moved to Paris. There, I noticed tea becoming more of a household indulgence, though it remained quite expensive. At exclusive gatherings, I was also introduced to a peculiar powder called Mumia, which circulated among the elite. It was often served alongside tea, regarded as highly valuable due to its origins, with most of it reportedly imported from Egypt.

At one such gathering, Geneviève from Paris confided in me that Mumia was considered a miracle powder, believed to enhance longevity. It was made from ground-up mummies; the more prestigious the mummy, the more valuable the powder. In all my years, I had never once consumed human remains. I was appalled by how far humanity had fallen. This decadent fascination repelled me, and I distanced myself from those social circles thereafter.

****

During my explorations, I eventually found myself in the Netherlands by 1797. I was at a popular pub, unnamed but easily recognized by its logo of a bear. There, I met a man named Johan. Though wealthy, he carried an air of someone who had lost something important in life.

As I struck up a conversation with him, I realised he was a well-travelled gentleman. He had amassed his fortune through the tea trade.

“Tea?” I exclaimed in surprise.

“Yes, my lad. We Dutch have enjoyed the luxury of tea for over a century. But, the British only recently began to embrace it.”

“But I’ve had tea in Britain long before that,” I replied.

“You speak as though you are an old soul,” Johan smiled. “No, my child, I’m talking about fifteen years ago. The British levied so many taxes on tea that I made a killing by smuggling it into the mainland.”

Johan, like most humans, spoke freely, unaware of my true age and the centuries I had witnessed.

“Why did you have to smuggle tea? Why don’t you do it now?” I asked, curious.

He began recounting his story. “This precious tea comes all the way from China, and only two ships bring it—one Dutch and the other British. The British levied heavy taxes on tea; it started at 25% and went as high as 119%. This is where I came in. I had a team that could smuggle tea into Britain and the British colonies in the Americas. All my wealth came from this trade,” he said, leaning back in his chair and reminiscing.

“So, are you retired now?” I asked.

“No, I was forced to,” he replied. “First, it was the Americas. Some young men in America threw 32 crates of tea from a British ship into the sea as a form of protest. That act sparked a revolution and tea came to be considered as unpatriotic by the Americans,” he said with a sigh. “Um… this was in 1773,” he added after a moment’s thought.

“Since the British government faced heavy losses, they tried to compensate by increasing the tea tax further. It peaked to 119% five years after the war. During that time, my business was very lucrative. Then, I don’t know what got into their heads—the tax was slashed to 12.5% a decade ago” he said, his voice tinged with sadness. “Overnight, my business was rendered worthless.”

“Didn’t you try any other business?” I asked.

Johan replied with a smile, “No, I had seen the world enough. I had enough money for the next generations to thrive. I decided to settle down with my love back in my hometown. She was a beautiful lady who gave me the best ten years of my life. My only wish is to join her once I leave this earth. Life adventures are fun only when you have someone to share them with,” he said.

Not wanting to pry further into his past, I steered the conversation toward current affairs rather than his personal life. That day, I covered his tab for an entire year in exchange for his captivating tales.

****

I travelled east, crossing the high mountains of the Urals, traversing the vast Karakum Desert, and passing through the fertile Indus plains. I navigated the Hindukush Mountains and finally arrived in the Gangetic plains, eventually reaching the beautiful hillside station of Darjeeling in West Bengal in the year 1892.

The beautiful hillside of Darjeeling was a sight to behold. The last time I had visited West Bengal, it was covered in thick forests. Now, it had transformed into a breath taking landscape with tea estates sprawling across the lands. Beautiful terraced steps of vibrant green tea plants lined the hills, creating a stunning contrast against the misty mountains. The air was crisp and carried the faint aroma of fresh tea leaves, a reminder of how much this region had changed over time.

Time had taught me that beauty often comes at a cost. The cost here was the sacrifice made by the altruistic, while the greedy reaped the rewards. The natives who once roamed this land freely in their tribes were no longer to be seen. As I walked along the roads of Darjeeling, I visited a young British officer named Robert. He mentioned that he had once worked with a man named Archibald Campbell.

When I asked Robert about the beauty of Darjeeling, his eyes lit up, and he began to recount its history. “The real change began in 1858,” he said. “That’s when the commercial tea estates were first established. You see, China had started becoming hostile when it came to trading tea, and tea accounted for 10% of the British revenue. They couldn’t afford to give that up so easily.” He leaned in, lowering his voice slightly. “So, they smuggled tea seeds from China. Darjeeling, with its cool climate and high elevation, was chosen as the perfect place to experiment with the growth of these seeds. Once the plants thrived, commercial estates started popping up.”

Robert paused briefly, then continued with growing enthusiasm. “It didn’t stop there. Soon enough, they began crossbreeding the Chinese tea plants with the native Assamese tea that was found growing wild. That gave rise to different blends—the Darjeeling tea and the Assam tea. With each having its own distinct flavour.” He straightened up with a sense of pride. “And just three years ago, India became the largest exporter of tea, surpassing even China. For me, that means a bright career ahead. Tea is our future now, and I’m part of that story.”

“Well, it is definitely great to be a part of history,” I said, smiling at Robert’s enthusiasm. He nodded, his eyes bright with excitement, and continued speaking about his world.

“You know,” he said, “it’s not just tea. The entire region is changing. The railways are expanding, connecting these remote estates to the bustling ports. It’s all part of the Empire’s plan to secure its dominance in trade.” He glanced out the window, as if seeing the future unfold. “There’s something exhilarating about being on the front lines of it all. Seeing progress in motion, knowing that the world will never be the same.”

As he spoke, I couldn’t help but wonder if he realized the price of that progress—the cost borne by those who had lived here long before the tea estates, the railways, or the British ever arrived. But for that now, I let him tell his story, his view of the world, as it stood in this moment of change.

****

The world was soon thrown into chaos. Tensions began building in the early 1900s, and I found myself moving further away from the turmoil. I relocated to South America, and during those years, I moved around quite a lot. Brazil became my home for a significant time. Interestingly, Brazil had its own Chinese tea, cultivated locally with the help of Chinese farmers from Macau. It thrived in the warm, fertile lands of the country.

However, despite the availability of tea, I found myself drawn to something else—yerba mate. This bitter, herbal tea-like drink quickly became my favourite throughout the decades I spent in South America. There was something about its earthy, invigorating taste that resonated with me, more so than the traditional teas I had consumed for centuries. It was a different kind of ritual, shared among friends, and a part of the culture in a way that felt ancient, yet new to me.

As the chaos of the world finally subsided, a renewed sense of curiosity stirred within me. I felt compelled to travel once more, to explore the world anew. So much had changed, yet so much remained familiar. With time as my constant companion, I was eager to see how the world had evolved—how humanity had learned, rebuilt, and reimagined its future. The journey was never truly over; it was simply beginning again.

— The End —

Chronicle of Events:

• 2737 BCE: Tea was discovered by Emperor Shen Nung.
• 618-906 CE: During the Tang dynasty, tea became the national drink of China.
• 10th century CE onwards, Chinese traders began to export tea leaves to Japan, Korea, and countries in Southeast Asia
• 1610 CE: First commercial shipment of Tea was brought by the Dutch to Europe
• Late 1660s: Tea became a fashionable drink among Britain’s wealthy class.
• 1721 CE: To eliminate foreign competition British government passed an act that required colonists to import their tea only from Great Britain
• By the 1760s the East India Company was losing £400,000 per year to smugglers in Great Britain
• Till 1767 CE: All colonies and British East India Company was paying 25% in tea tax.
• From 1767 CE: British East India Company was exempt from tax.
• 1773 CE: A group of lads threw 270,000 kg of Tea into the Ocean. This landmark event was later called the Boston Tea Party.
• 1784 CE: The tax on tea was cut down to 12.5% from 119% across all of Britain and its colonies.
• 1823 CE: Robert Fortune stole tea plant seeds from China and transported them to Assam, India, starting the first tea plantation.
• 1838 CE: The Chinese tea was cross pollinated with an Assam wild tea plant. Thus the first chests of Assam tea were sold at auction in London
• 1841 CE: Tea was planted in Darjeeling by Archibald Campbell.
• 1856 CE: First commercial tea gardens were established in Darjeeling.
• 1858 CE: British government took over direct control of India from the East India Company.
• 1888 CE: British tea imports from India were for the first time greater than those from China.