英国人为啥如此痴迷喝茶? 再把下午茶叫High Tea你就Low了！(视音频+中英全文)
乐活英伦昨天
2019年12月3日
论喝茶，中国茶文化绝对是源远流长，但英国茶文化讲究也毫不逊色。
中国人讲究的是一杯清茶在手，清风朗月，喝的就是那股清新芬芳气味；而英国人是茶奶相融，甜点佐味，喝的是那份搭配和调味！
大不列颠小岛每年要喝掉600亿杯茶，平均每人每天喝5杯！无论碰上任何问题，茶就是终极解决方案~
英国下午茶历史悠久，礼节繁复，别看只是午后消遣的小小一杯茶，诸如司康饼先用奶油还是果酱，应当先倒茶水还是先倒牛奶，端杯子小手指翘起来还是不翘起来等等问题却足足让英国人民争论了几百年。
在英式下午茶里，常有high tea（高茶）low tea（低茶）之说，令人困惑；甚至还有人会误把英式下午茶（Afternoon tea）叫做high tea。但其实，low tea才是传统下午茶之意。
英国人为啥如此爱喝茶？
下午茶竟然叫low tea？
High tea是给工人喝的？
喝最好的茶，做最精致优雅的英国人，请听英国小姐姐为你讲述：走近科学之"饮茶狂魔之谜"！
英国人为啥如此痴迷茶？来自乐活英伦00:0004:07
中英全文
Why are the Brits so obsessed with tea? Let's find out.
英国人为啥对茶如此着迷？咱们就来研究下。
Now one of the first things you'll be asked by most Brits is 'Would you like a cup of tea?' Yes, we're rather fond of our proper brew, which is what we call - a nice cup of tea and it's our go-to solution for almost any scenario.
当你碰上英国人，他们问你的第一句话大多都是："要不要来杯茶呀？"没错，英国人实在太喜欢沏好的热茶了，按咱们英式说法就是"来上一杯好茶吧"。无论碰上任何状况，一杯好茶就是终极解决办法。
Want an excuse to gossip with your friends? Invite them over for a cup of tea! Do you have a builder doing some work on your house? It would be offensive not to offer him a cuppa. Going through a personal drama? Yep, you guessed it, a cup of tea will make everyone feel better.
想跟盆友八卦闲聊，但苦于找不到好借口？邀请朋友来你家做客喝茶呀！建筑工人在你家帮忙干活儿，要是忘了邀他喝上一杯茶那就太不礼貌啦。个人生活出现某些状况？没错，你猜对了，喝上一杯茶会让所有人感觉舒服许多。
It's hardly surprising then that the UK race through a whopping 165 million cups of tea every day. Seriously, that is a lot of cup lifting, but it's how we stay in such great shape! But how have we become one of the biggest tea drinking nations per capita in the world? Here are a few interesting moments in history that helped make tea a quintessentially British affair.
其实这一点儿也不足为奇，因为腐国人民每天能喝掉1.65亿杯茶！讲真喝个茶举这么多次杯子也真心累人，这就是为啥咱英国人身材都保持得不错！那么问题来了，英国究竟是如何变成人均喝茶量超高的世界饮茶大国呢？下面就来讲讲英国历史中几个有趣的时刻，这也让喝茶成了英国文化生活中不可或缺的一部分。
Our love of tea goes back to the mid-1600s when the British East India Company dominated the tea imported to Britain. We had a constant and growing supply of tea, which was convenient as we had been excluded from the coffee exporting Mediterranean during our wars with France and Spain at the time, whilst our surrounding countries remained hooked on coffee, Britain became a tea drinking nation.
英国人对茶的热爱最早可追溯到17世纪中期。当时，东印度公司全面控制英国所有的茶叶进口，让英国拥有持续稳定而又源源不断的茶叶供应，这大大方便了英国人民，尤其是我们当时遭到排挤，无法享用咖啡，因为英国当年跟法国和西班牙争抢海上霸主，咖啡进口都得通过地中海，当我们周边的欧洲国家依然沉迷于咖啡的时候，英国已然变成了饮茶国度。
Tea hasn't always been the innocent drink we know and love today. During the 1700s, increasing tea prices saw a rise in both tea smuggling and fake teas, which were often used tea leaves mixed with other leaves and then dyed. These lower priced teas were sold to the working classes which meant that tea, even if it wasn't the best quality were no longer just for the rich.
英国人熟知并热爱的茶叶，其实以前并不是如此的天真无邪。18世纪茶叶价格上涨，造成茶叶造假和走私贩卖不断增加。假茶通常会将真茶叶与其他植物叶子混合，并进行染色，这些假茶会以低廉的价格售卖给工人阶层，这就意味着虽然并非高品质的优质茶叶，茶终于不再是英国富人的专属。
Afternoon tea, also known as 'low tea', due to the low tables it was served on. It came about in around 1841, thanks to the very hungry tummy of one woman, Anna Russell, the Duchess of Bedford, who took social convention into her own hands and began enjoying a pot of tea and a light snack to satisfy that sinking feeling in the late afternoon. Before long, afternoon tea became quite the social event.
英式下午茶，又名"低茶"，因为下午茶会在起居室的矮桌上享用。下午茶诞生于1841年左右，而下午茶的诞生都得归功于一位吃货女士，那就是贝德芙公爵夫人安娜·拉素尔，她常常在家举办各种社交聚会，慢慢就变成与宾客一起享用一壶好茶搭配精致点心，为满足意兴阑珊、百无聊赖的午后时光，没想到一时之间，下午茶在贵族社交圈内蔚然成风。
Queen Victoria, a friend of the Duchess's, formalised afternoon tea with her Buckingham Palace tea receptions. I think my invite may have got lost in the post. Today, afternoon tea is enjoyed at around 4 o'clock in the afternoon and is made up of a selection of finger sandwiches, scones, pastries and homemade cakes. Cream tea is a simpler version, with scones, clotted cream and jam, and of course, a pot of tea, and it's my personal favourite.
而维多利亚女王也是贝德芙公爵夫人的挚友，她在白金汉宫内举办茶会，更是让下午茶变得愈发正式优雅。他们寄给我的邀请函估计在邮寄过程中弄丢了吧。而如今，英国人通常在下午4点左右享用下午茶，一般会由迷你三明治、司康饼、各类酥饼和自制小蛋糕组成。奶油茶点，是下午茶的简易版本，只需司康饼搭配凝脂奶油和果酱，自然也少不了一壶英式红茶，这可是我最挚爱的下午茶点哦！
Not to be mistaken for afternoon tea, high tea, also known as meat tea, was in fact a hot meal of meat pies, vegetables and bread, eaten at the end of the day with a cup of tea by factory workers during the Industrial Revolution. It was called 'high tea' due to the high tables it was served on, but these were just regular-sized tables. Today, in many parts of the UK, the evening meal is often referred to as 'tea' which can be a tad confusing if you're expecting sandwiches and a slice of cake.
千万别把高茶和下午茶弄混啦！"高茶"，又叫"肉茶"，其实是指一顿热乎乎的正餐，比如肉类馅饼、蔬菜和面包，再配上一大杯热茶，通常在每日工作结束后享用。工业革命时期，"高茶"都是为工人们补充体力，之所以命名为"高茶"，是因为工人坐在饭厅较高的餐桌上享用，其实 也都是些普通大小的桌椅啦。而如今在英国的许多地方，吃晚餐也经常会被称作"喝茶"。如果你原本期待着享用几块三明治和小蛋糕的话，这估计会造成一点小困惑吧。
In the 1880s, tea rooms became fashionable with women as respectable places they could go to meet their friends for a discreet chat and even discuss politics. Eventually, tea rooms became an integral part of the women's liberation movement. Tea was also used as a morale booster to soldiers during the WWII, with the Prime Minister Winston Churchill stating ,"The tea is more important than bullets!" Hear! Hear!
19世纪80年代，茶室在英国女性中变得流行起来，优雅体面的环境，姑娘们可以在这里约见闺蜜好友，进行一番谨慎私密的谈话，甚至可以探讨政治。最终，茶室也逐步演变为妇女解放运动的组成部分。二战期间，茶甚至还被视作鼓舞英军士气的秘密武器。当年的首相丘吉尔曾高喊："茶比子弹更重要！"没错，确实如此！
Interestingly, 96 percent of tea consumed in Britain comes in the form of a tea bag, which just so happens to be an American invention. During the early 1900s, tea merchant Thomas Sullivan sent out tea samples to his customers in silicon sachets. Americans were naturally enthusiastic about these newfangled super convenient tea bags, but they didn't catch on in Britain until the 1950s. But boy, do we love them now!
有趣的是，英国人所饮用的茶有96%都是茶包的形式，而茶包却是美国人的发明。20世纪初，美国茶商托马斯·苏利文用丝袋将茶叶包裹，这样方便向顾客展示样品，美国人民对这种非常新奇又超级方便的茶包自然是爱不释手。不过直到20世纪50年代，茶包才在英国流行起来，天呐！可没想到咱们现在对茶包爱到何种程度。
So, there you are, just a few examples of how tea has become part of British culture and society.
就是这样啦，茶，就这样成为了英国文化和社会中不可或缺的一部分。
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