1. Cosy With A Kick

Exciting and enterprising, bloody and brutal.

Sathnam Sanghera tells the story of our national drink and its imperial past.

Punjabi cha, served from a saucepan to the whole family every morning, is the drink of Sathnam’s childhood. But he’s also noticed that tea is a Forrest Gump-type figure, appearing at all sorts of key moments in global history.

Tea arrived in Britain as an exotic product for the elite. How and why did it then become a drink for the masses?

Discover the story of how Britain's national drink and its imperial background helped shape the modern world.

Producer: Paul Martin

A BBC Audio Wales production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in December 2023.