I knew a person who possessed [fine taste] in so great a perfection, that, after having tasted ten different kinds of tea, he would distinguish, without seeing the colour of it, the particular sort which was offered him; and not only so, but any two sorts of them that were mixed together in an equal proportion; nay, he has carried the experiment so far, as, upon tasting the composition of three different sorts, to name the parcels from whence the three several ingredients were taken. A man of fine taste in writing will discern, after the same manner, not only the general beauties and imperfections of an author, but discover the several ways of thinking and expressing himself, which diversify him from all other authors, with the several foreign infusions of thought and language, and the particular authors from whom they were borrowed.
(The Works of Joseph Addison, Vol 2, p. 135)
Welcome to the course webpage for the First Year Seminar “How Tea Conquered the World”!
Have the Chinese always drunk tea? Is the Japanese tea ceremony really centuries old? What happens when tea becomes a commodity, and is drunk around the world? And what about the adverts telling you how healthy tea is?
These are some of the questions we will be asking as we examine the relation between tea and history. We will read texts, watch videos and taste tea, to connect with the story of tea, and to trace the role of tea in the lives of many different people across the world and throughout history. And at the end of the course, you will be ready to tackle any other topic you put your mind to, with the skills you learned in this seminar: thinking and writing analytically.
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