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British and American Habit of Drinking Tea

Tea has become one of the favorite beverages consumed by the world community because tea has a distinctive flavor and aroma. Many people believe tea has many health benefits such as preventing fats, cancer, and cholesterol so many of them were consuming it. 

Tea is usually enjoyed in leisure time to relaxing our mind and body or to gather with family and friends. This one drink has received worldwide attention, even in the UK and America, but there are differences in how the presentation, so the author challenged to find out what are the different ways of drinking tea in America and the UK. Therefore the authors write this paper to elaborate and give opinions on the difference of how to drink tea in the two countries.

Quoting The Economist, tea, the second most popular drink in the world after water, was popular with US citizens in the 1700s. However, the habit of drinking tea began to extinct after the Boston Tea Party. This is an event when a group of Americans throws away 324 British tea crates at Boston Harbor. This incident emerged as a response to the US denial of tea import tax policy by the UK.

However, it seems that Americans' desire to enjoy the aroma of tea seems to persist, they started consuming tea again, even Starbucks, an American coffee shop, opened Teavana's, the first tea shop, in Manhattan, New York, USA.  Teavana is a tea shop owned by Starbucks in November 2012 and here, Americans can enjoy a bar that serves a variety of teas.

Unlike most people, Americans prefer to drink tea in bed in the morning to relax their minds and bodies. Another habit, in summer they usually drink ice tea. Long summers usually make hot tea not taken by Americans, especially those from South America. Usually, they will make or order Ice Tea, tea with syrup, ice, and can also be added with lemon slices, or lemon tea.

In addition, there are also mate drinks that are popular in South America as a traditional beverage. It turns out this drink is rich in antioxidants that can prevent cancer. this traditional beverage began to famous even began favorites in the United States. Mate is a kind of brewed drink like tea made from dry leaves of yerba mate. In South America, mate is drunk from a dry pumpkin shell with a metal straw. Equipped with a filter called bombilla.

Outside Asia, Britain is the country with the most tea consumers in the world. Ever since Tea was introduced in England around 1652, the popularity of tea was amazing. The “tea time” motto appeared and became an important activity in British life. The price is very high because it is considered a noble drink.

From the English nobility, tea is known to some countries. Tea drinking habits in Britain are still ongoing. The tea ceremony in England is not as formal and complete as East Asians.

Generally, they just gather and enjoy tea while socializing. According to the British, drinking tea is more than a refreshing break; It is actually a social gathering. Friends and colleagues gather to relax and start a conversation while drinking tea.

The British are a famous maniac with tea. Even they have a tradition of drinking tea in the afternoon known as “afternoon tea”. The special thing about this event is the tea served with small snacks arranged on a high-tiered or three-tiered tray. "Afternoon Tea" is usually served on high-social occasions.

The tradition of afternoon tea has gone through a long history since the 1800s and was popular among the English nobility of the time. Since afternoon tea is more about lifestyle affairs, everything is so beautiful. Starting from tea equipment such as cups to tablecloths. This tradition is more like a meeting and social event. In addition, also as a pause fill the stomach between lunch and dinner hours.

After described earlier how Americans and British consumed tea, therefore the author here to describe the differences between these two countries enjoy tea, as we will see below:

1.    Clothing

In the UK, before enjoying afternoon tea, it is recommended to wear a 'smart casual' dress code. So no need to dress too formally. Should also avoid the use of clothes or sports shoes. While in America, we do not need to bother to dress because they usually consume tea at an unspecified time.

2.    The dessert

The 'Afternoon Tea' is traditionally a sandwich, scones and various cakes served with tea. In addition, dipping biscuits into the tea is prohibited in the afternoon tea and we should avoid dipping biscuits into tea when doing afternoon tea at a hotel or restaurant. Maybe this can be done while at home. Meanwhile, Americans are not so special with what they will eat and do with tea.

3.    How to stir the tea

There is a way of stirring in the afternoon tea,  that is stir the tea with a spoon toward the front and back, not a circle. Try stirring does not cause a twist due to a spoon in contact with the side of the cup. After stirring, do not leave the spoon in the cup. Lift the spoon, place it on the saucer plate on the side of the cup. In the United States is almost the same as that.

4.    Types of tea

There are hundreds of variants of tea. In afternoon tea it is recommended to use loose tea leaves, not tea bags. Actually, teabag from well-known brands is also qualified. But the loose tea leaves not only enhance the taste but also the perfect experience for afternoon tea. While in America there is no specific type of tea they use, but sometimes they use black tea. In the United States, there is also a traditional drink called mate which is a kind of tea that has a high antioxidant.

5.    Hold the cup of tea

How to properly hold a tea mat is to bring your thumb and forefinger on the side of the handle. While the middle finger holds the bottom of the cup handle. Should not connect the fingers in the handle. Some people also have a habit of exposing the little finger upward while holding a teacup. Although often a common mistake, this should not be done during English afternoon tea. While in America, they are free to determine how they drink.

6.    How to make

English people usually make tea with the addition of milk in it, while Americans prefer tea with syrup and ice and sometimes they provide variations such as adding baking soda, mint stem, or lemon slices in it.

According to the author, how the way these two countries enjoy drinking tea has advantages and disadvantages. It can be concluded that how to drink tea in English has many rules that they must obey to do afternoon tea, in contrary in American drinking tea habit is only done if they really want, because, in addition to tea, coffee is also popular here, so there are no specific rules for drinking tea in America.

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