We Brits are blithely accepting of our national beverage. We consume tea at 60.2 billion cups a year, but don't give a thought to how it came to be so embedded in our society and national identity. 'Great' Britain's rapacious colonialism; the ruthless pursuit of wealth and power through the East India Company and its heirs; the commodification of Subcontinental and African black teas; and the subjugation and exploitation of plantation workers (an evil that stalks tea production to this day).