Progress! I have supplied the tea. My new friend has proclaimed it to be good. His partner (my old friend) has accused him of betraying his cultural heritage, but he appears unrepentant. This is a good start. I shall pursue this advantage. He gets very absorbed in his work while wearing headphones so my plan is to sneak in and quietly place tea by his side unobserved so he will absentmindedly drink gallons of the stuff. By the time I leave, he will find that regular refills of tea are absolutely essential to his survival (as it should be) and my work will be done.