1: org.apache.tika.parser.CompositeParser.parse(InputStream, ContentHandler, Metadata, ParseContext) calls org.apache.tika.parser.CompositeParser.getParser(Metadata), not passing in its parser context, and the later makes a new one.
2: I have a somewhat odd classpath environment: I have embedded tomcat with the webapp class loader set to delegate to the parent in the normal way, instead of the webapp way. Tika-parsers are in the webapp classpath. Email falls off the parser map. When I add tika to the parent classpath, everything starts working.