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Richard: For this week's podcastsinenglish.com we're talking about a very British drink: a nice cuppa [cup of] tea.
Jackie: Mmm. But of course tea is... is neither British, nor did we start drinking it first.
Richard: No, tea was first grown and drank in China and the Chinese started drinking tea almost 5,000 years ago.
Jackie: 5,000?
Richard: Yeah
Jackie: But the British? It was only, what, 350 years ago?
Richard: And that was thanks to the Portuguese.
Jackie: The Portuguese?
Richard: Yes. In the 17th century, in Britain, the British king, Charles 2nd married Catherine of Braganza who was Portuguese, and she loved tea, as they did in Portugal.
Jackie: Right
Richard: So then, tea became popular because of her, in Britain. Only amongst the wealthy people.
Jackie: Because am I right in saying that, at that time, tea was very, very expensive.
Richard: Yes. The world was a much bigger place then. Tea from China was very expensive.
Jackie: What's interesting Richard, that in China the word 'tea' can be pronounced in a number of different ways.
Richard: Yes
Jackie: And it's the, the Dutch, who first started trading in tea, they used the pronunciation, 'te' and the Portuguese, who first started drinking it in Asia, they used the pronunciation 'cha'.
Richard: Ah, that's interesting.
Jackie: And every single, nearly, every single language around the world, has for their word 'tea' either, a kind of 'te' or 'cha'.
Richard: Oh, right. And actually, we in Britain use both.
Jackie: We do, we can say a cuppa [cup of] tea.
Richard: Or, a slang term really, a cup of cha.
Jackie: A cuppa cha.
Richard: So tea's been drunk for quite some time. But it's just in the 20th century, there was another big change: the tea bag.
Jackie: The tea bag [both laugh]
Richard: And that was invented in the US and actually from the 1970s people in the UK began using tea bags.
Jackie: Well, it's so much easier, Richard, isn't it?
Richard: Mmm, not sure if it's tastier, mind you.
Jackie: Mmm
Richard: However, 96% of all cups of tea made in the UK are now made with tea bags.
Jackie: 96?
Richard: 96%. And even more people, 98%, have milk in their tea.
Jackie: So I'm in the 2% that don't.
Richard: Yes. And I'm in the 98% that do.
Jackie: What about sugar?
Richard: Neither of us take sugar and now, in the UK, only 30% of people take sugar.
Jackie: Oh, I'm surprised. So tea comes with milk or with sugar but it always comes with...
Richard: [laugh] In our house anyway, with a biscuit.
Jackie: Richard, put the kettle on!
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