"what could be more domestic, more unremarkable, more british, than a nice cup of tea? you could of course put the question the other way round and ask what could be less british than a cup of tea, given that tea is made from plants grown in india or china and often sweetened by sugar from the caribbean. it is one of the ironies of british national identity – or perhaps it says everything about our national identity – that the drink which has become the worldwide caricature of britishness has nothing indigenous about it, but is the result of centuries of global trade and a complex imperial history."