Tea Blog

You could probably make a vocation out of studying the many historic texts on tea now freely available in digital form. Some of these works are dense and academic, while others are more engaging—and a few veer into decidedly unusual territory.

One such example is an 1870 work by Alexander Teetgen titled A Mistress and Her Servant: Dialogues on Trade in Tea and Sugar, Etc. Though calling it a full book may be generous—it runs only about 21 pages—it offers an interesting glimpse into 19th-century attitudes toward tea commerce.

Information on Teetgen himself is limited, though his writings extend beyond this work to include poetry and commentary on music. The text itself unfolds as a dialogue between a mistress and her servant, who begin their conversation in a domestic setting before launching into a detailed discussion of the tea trade.

The exchange covers topics such as the quality of tea available at the time—often criticized as “spurious”—and the responsibilities of reputable tea dealers. The style is highly formal and, at times, somewhat artificial, with extended speeches that feel more like essays than natural conversation.

Midway through the text, a new character, Mr. Love-a-cup, is introduced. With his arrival, the servant’s role diminishes while the discussion broadens to include subjects like trade practices and even social issues such as women’s suffrage before eventually returning to a discussion of sugar.

The result is a curious and unconventional presentation of tea-related topics, raising the question of why the author chose dialogue as the format for such detailed exposition.

If you would like to explore this unusual work yourself, you can view this free digital edition of Teetgen’s 1870 tea and sugar trade dialogues on Google Books.

See more of William I. Lengeman’s articles in this archive of tea-related writing by the author.

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