![]() ![]() In the 19th c entury the British started to grow tea in India in order to compete with Chinese tea production. Which brings me back to what we were talking about earlier. And they've been drinking tea for thousands of years! Well we British may love a good cup of tea – but we haven’t been brewing it for nearly so long as the Chinese.īut remember that tea actually grows in China, Alice. Apparently the Chinese started drinking tea because of its medicinal – or healing – qualities. Professor Ellis says tea has a sanative effect – making you feel better – so I might try munching a few leaves later on.Īlright then. Professor Markman Ellis tells us that people in Ancient China consumed – or ate – leaves from the tea plant and it had an interesting effect on them. And that effect could be thought of as medicinal or it could be thought of as just kind of sanative – making you feel a bit better than you used to feel. Tea is a shrub that grows naturally in the mountainous areas of China and several thousand years ago, no one knows how exactly, there… I mean… there are stories… it became clear that if you consumed the leaves of this plant especially the younger leaves, then it had an interesting effect on you. Professor Markman Ellis, historian, Queen Mary, University of London He's a historian at Queen Mary, University of London. Let's listen now to Professor Markman Ellis talking about the Chinese tea plant. Well, we'll find out if you chose the right answer later on. I buy a lot of teabags but I don't know their history. Where was the teabag invented? Was it in … This is very interesting… I'm proud of our habit of having tea all the time and teabags are great! A marvellous little invention! I quite fancy a cup of chai now.ĭid you know that it was the British who introduced tea to India? They drink chai – a strong black tea served with lots of milk, sugar and spices. And Neil, I think you'd like the way they serve tea in India. Well, make it yourself next time! And when you brew a cup of tea, by the way, you add boiling water to tea leaves or a teabag and allow the flavour to develop. ![]() Oh, I can't drink that! You didn’t let the tea brew for long enough. Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript Living in the moment and forgetting about the past and future Transcript (in this context) add boiling water to tea and allow the flavour to developĪ small group of people in society who have money and power You can hear the right answer at the end of the programme. Listen to Alice and Neil discussing how this Asian leaf conquered the world and became the second most consumed drink after water. Tea comes in different forms – milky, sweet and spicy for those in India. ![]()
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