Nonetheless, the grinding work of scrapping old laws and creating an open, commercial climate that attracts foreign investors cannot be completed overnight.

And the clock is ticking.

If current trends continue, by the time the I.M.F. rescue program runs its course in 2013, Greece will be burdened with a debt-to-G.D.P. ratio of close to 160 percent (second in the world, after Japan)  and a requirement to keep its deficit at just 3 percent of G.D.P.

Without a major restructuring of its debts, Greece can reduce this ratio rapidly only if the economy grows at a rate approaching the 4 percent it averaged before the crisis hit in 2008. Absent government pump-priming, though, Greece must rely on its moribund private sector.

Can Greece reinvent itself and become globally competitive?

The question goes to the heart of the euro’s future. Beyond the drama of debts and deficits, Greece’s growth prospects are indeed dim if it cannot offer high-quality, competitively priced goods and services. Much the same is true for Ireland, Portugal, Spain and even Italy.

In a recent report, Bank of America Merrill Lynch projects that Greece’s growth rate over the next five years will average 1 percent  a rate that could force the country to stop paying a portion of its debt.

In the meantime, the struggles of the Politopouloses continue. Sitting in an outdoor cafe on a rainy weekday afternoon in Athens earlier this month, Michael Politopoulos, the elder brother, considers the losses the family has absorbed because of the many years it took to bring Vergina to the market  to say nothing of the heartburn they have all endured.

Sipping from a glass of Chivas Regal  predictably, the establishment does not stock Vergina  he says he once considered giving up on the business entirely. Now, with visions of millions of bottles of green mountain tea dancing before him, he is ready to double-down in Greece  as soon as King Otto’s law is reversed, that is.

“The ills of the past are crumbling,” he continued.

“Greece has no choice but to rebuild  and the only way to do it is to roll up our sleeves and start over.”