What can tea tell us about how knowledge of the natural world moved
between China and Europe in the 18th century? Two contradictory stories
seem to exist. One is about naturalists failing to orchestrate planned
transfers of the tea bush. This species was only successfully re-located
in the early 19th century (and initially only within Asia), in spite of
multiple attempts to bring seeds and seedlings to Europe and the
Atlantic world. Meanwhile, however, there is another story about the
exponential growth in knowledge about different varieties and qualities
of tea as a consumer good in Europe, in response to the growing imports
of Chinese tea by the European East India Companies. In my paper I will
analyze the overlapping stories of how knowledge about the tea plant,
its cultivation and the different qualities of the finished product
moved between Asia and Europe in the 18th century.