Cuppa tea?

The tea, after water, is the most widely consumed beverage in the world and what I´m going to talk about is the way in which Great Britain and United States consume it. Tea is not only a beverage but also includes aspects of arts, ceremony, society, history, health and education.

First of all, why this beverage is called tea? Well, there are some theories but the most widely accepted is that in Chinese dialects, pronunciation of "tea" is divided into two classes based on phonetic similarity. In mandarin, "tea" is "CHA"; in XiaMenese, "tea" is "TAY".

It dated back to the 5th century that CHA went beyond the Chinese border. Japanese simply use the Chinese character of tea (Left picture). In Persia, tea was CHA and then later evolved into CHAI in Arabic, CHAY in Turkish and CHAI in Russian. Tea was also brought to India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Bangladesh where it's called CHA.TAY started spreading later than CHA but had reached much further than CHA did. Near the end of the Ming Dynasty, AD 1644, British merchants set up trading posts in XiaMen and came into contact with Chinese tea. What the XiaMen people called TAY, the British spelled as TEA. "Tea" then later has become wildly accepted by the English-speaking world.

Tea is commonly consumed at social events, and many cultures have created formal ceremonies for these events. Western examples of these are afternoon tea and the tea parties.

Different regions also favor different varieties of tea and use different flavourings, such as milk, sugar or herbs. The temperature and strength of the tea likewise varies widely.

In the United Kingdom, The British are the second largest per capita tea consumers in the world (the first one is China), with each person consuming on average 2.1 kg per year. The popularity of tea dates back to the 19th century when India was part of the British Empire, and British interests controlled tea production in the subcontinent. It was, however, first introduced in Britain by the Portuguese Catherine of Braganza queen consort of Charles II of England in the 1660s. As tea spread throughout the United Kingdom people started to have tea gardens and tea dances. The tea gardens lost value after World War II but tea dances are still held today in the United Kingdom.

Much of the time in the United Kingdom, tea drinking is not the delicate, refined cultural expression that the rest of the world imagines—a cup or a mug of tea is something drunk often, with some people drinking as many as 15-20 cups of tea a day, although the average is around 5. This is not to say that the British do not have a more formal tea ceremony, but for the working class of the United Kingdom, tea breaks are an essential part of any day. Employers generally allow breaks for tea., The British concept of a 'tea break' during working hours is a term used almost uniformly across the working environment, regardless of whether any tea is actually consumed. The term is often simply shortened to 'tea', essentially indicating a break.

In the UK Tea is not only the name of the beverage, but also the name of a meal. Even more confusing is that the kind of meal that a person means when talking about tea depends very much on their social background and where they live.

Anna Russell, Duchess of Bedford creates the idea of taking tea accompanied by cake, buns, scones or sandwiches between lunch (served between 12 and 2 pm) and dinner (usually served after 7pm) at the beginning of the 19^th century. The tradition continues to this day. The slang term "cuppa" (as in a "cup of tea"), is used in the United Kingdom possibly to counteract this confusion, but is more likely just an abbreviation.

The Republic of Ireland has, for a long time, been one of the biggest per-capita consumers of tea in the world. The national average is four cups per person per day, with many people drinking six cups or more. As with the United Kingdom, tea in the Republic of Ireland is usually taken with milk and/or sugar and is slightly spicier and stronger than the traditional English Blend.

Some scholars suggest that tea played a role in the British Industrial Revolution. Afternoon tea possibly became a way to increase the number of hours labourers could work in factories; the stimulants in the tea, accompanied by sugary snacks, would give workers energy to finish out the day's work.

In the United States, tea can typically be served at all meals as an alternative to coffee, when served hot, or soda, when served iced. Afternoon tea, the meal done in the English tradition, is rarely served in the United States, although it remains romanticized by small children; it is usually reserved for special occasions like tea parties. Rather than drinking tea hot, many Americans prefer tea served with ice. Iced tea has become an iconic symbol of the southern United States and southern hospitality, often appearing alongside summer barbecue cooking or grilled foods. Iced tea is often made as sweet tea, which is simply iced tea with copious amounts of sugar or sweetener.Many restaurants dispense iced tea brewed throughout the day from upright containers. In the United States, about 80% of the tea consumed is served cold, or "iced".

Summering up, tea has a huge importance in these countries because it is a healthy beverage and also because it helps people to socialize or even take a break.