In article >,
Mack A. Damia > wrote:

> By the mid-19th century, Britain was an almost unchallenged empire. It
> controlled about a fifth of the world's surface, and yet its weakness
> had everything to do with tiny leaves soaked in hot water. By 1800,
> tea was easily the most popular drink in the country. The problem? All
> the tea in the world came from China, and Britain couldn't control the
> quality or the price. So around 1850, a group of British businessmen
> set out to create a tea industry in a place they did control: India.

And India got its self a nice little industry.

Cheers!