Podcast 18 - B1/B2 IELTS 6 A Nice Cup of Tea

Vocabulary about having tea

teapot and cups

Hello. And today I’m going to talk to you about the British national drink – tea. Teatime.

I distinctly remember - that means I remember very well, I distinctly remember a scene from the film, The Queen. It was 5 o'clock in the afternoon in Buckingham Palace and the maid, that is a girl who works and helps in a house, the maid, brought tea for the Queen and her husband Prince Philip. Prince Philip poured the tea into a cup and gave it to the Queen.

"Your tea, dear", he said. Then the telephone rang. "Don’t answer that," said Prince Philip, "it’s teatime!"

But the Queen picked up the telephone. It was Tony Blair, the British prime minister at that time. Then, there was a long argument between the Queen and Tony Blair about what to do about Lady Diana’s funeral. At the end of the conversation, the Queen put down the telephone and she was very upset, she was very worried and sad - upset. Then, Prince Philip came to where the Queen was sitting and picked up her teacup,

"And now your tea’s gone cold!" he said. For some people, teatime is very, very important.

Tea is a very important drink for the British. George Orwell, the author of the novel, 1984, wrote an essay called A Nice Cup of Tea. He said that thanks to tea, Britain had a civilization. And did you know that every day the British drink a hundred and sixty-five million cups of tea?!

In the seventeenth century, green tea was brought from China and served for the first time in a well-known coffeehouse in London. Coffeehouses were only for the wealthy people, people with a lot of money - wealthy. But nobody knew what tea was. So, a notice was put up- A sign with writing on it - a notice.

"That excellent drink from China, recommended by doctors, that the Chinese call char and we call tea."

And still, today, the British [sometimes] use that Chinese word - char.

"Would you like a cup of char?" we say.

In 1706 a man called Thomas Twining opened the first tea shop in London at 216 The Strand, which is a famous street in the centre of London. That tea shop is still there today. Stephen Twining, who is the owner today, is the tenth generation.

Then in the eighteenth century, black tea became more popular. And more and more wealthy people went to coffeehouses or teahouses to drink tea and eat chocolates. They paid one penny to go in and for one penny they could drink one cup of tea free.

Some people say that tea was very important during the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain. Tea was given to the factory workers, the people who worked in the factory - factory workers - in the afternoon. Now, tea has a stimulant and the workers were given snacks with sugar. So, now, the workers could go back to the factory and work more hours. Also, the boiled water, used to make tea, killed the germs and bacteria that caused terrible diseases like dysentery, cholera, and typhoid. The great British teatime had started. And it is true that tea is now drunk by all classes in British society.

Well, after all that talking, I feel like a nice cup of tea. But how do you make a nice cup of tea or how do you brew tea? That means to put hot water onto leaves to make a drink. That’s spelt B-R-E-W. Well, tea can be drunk in a cup or a mug. A mug is a very large cup. First you must boil the water in a kettle. Then you pour a little water into the teapot. The hot water warms the teapot. Then you pour the water out. Then you put some tea into the teapot. One teaspoon of tea for each person and one for the teapot. Boil the water again and pour the water into the teapot. Put on the lid and put a tea cosy on the teapot. A tea cosy is a little warm coat that keeps the tea nice and warm. Then let the tea brew for two to five minutes…

"Well, Fiona, how was the weather in Manchester?"

"Well, very nice, really, for the time of year. It rained a little in the mornings but then brightened up in the afternoons...."

Ah! Tea’s ready, I think. So, then put a tea strainer on top of the cup. A tea strainer stops the tea leaves going into the cup. Finally, your guests can add milk or lemon and / or sugar.

"There we are, Fiona!"

Ah! Now, that’s what I call a nice cup of tea!

Test time on tea words - answers.

a mug

pour the tea

boil the water

a kettle

a teapot

a tea cosy

a tea strainer

a teaspoon