The Tea Thief

The world's first black tea was born in the Wuyi Mountains, and then stolen by a Scot, and transplanted all the way to British India. The man who stole tea from China was Robert Fortune. He had a license to pluck. In the 1800s, Britain was obsessed with tea. China was the only supplier, dominating the tea business. So the British East India Company sent in a spy. Robert Fortune shaved his head, wore a fake wig, dressed like a Qing merchant, and secretly slipped into the Wuyi mountains. He didn't just take seeds. He took over 20,000 live tea plants and seedlings. He put them in sealed cases and smuggled them out of China. More importantly, he stole the knowledge on how to produce tea, as well as the complete method of making black tea. Back in India, the British East India Company then started planting tea. Darjeeling black tea is well-known as the champagne of tea. China's global tea dominance was broken. Robert Fortune is remembered as the pioneer who introduced tea to Europe.