International Tea Day – Transcript for the podcast dated 24 May 2024

Hello, everyone, and welcome again to another Teacher Joseph podcast. 

International Tea Day is observed every year on May 21st and it aims to raise awareness of the long history and deep cultural and economic significance of Tea around the world. The idea is to promote and to somehow Implement activities in favour of promoting everything related to tea.

 International Tea Day has been celebrated for quite some time. It started off on December 15th in countries like India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Vietnam, Indonesia and others across Africa such as Malaysia and Tanzania. The idea is to draw global attention to tea and to the global tea trade.

It has also been  linked to wanting more support to keep the cost of tea down. In 2015, the Indian Government proposed expanding the observance of International Tea today  by having some kind of intergovernmental group to discuss tea. They created something which led to big efforts to support the world’s tea economy and in 2015, they had a big meeting in Milan to discuss the idea of an international Tea Day.  It then went to the United Nations. And that’s how We managed to get International Tea Day on the 21st of May. Here’s some very interesting facts about tea here in the UK:

The average British person drinks 876 cups of tea every single year. So, that’s well over two cups a day if my calculations are right.

 And, apparently, for centuries, it was used only as a medicine. 

Tea was first introduced to Britain almost 400 years ago and was described, described as a Chinese drink because it first came from China.

A cup of tea has become native to British culture. It’s the number one choice for British people and herbal teas are also very popular these days. 

Historically, milk with poured into the cup, only to protect the cup itself. So, the idea was that if you used black tea or tea without milk, It would get a little bit dirty and the cup would be harder to clean. We used to drink tea from very delicate cups made from bone China. So, to avoid breaking the cup, while we were cleaning them because it needed really hot water and a bit of force. We added milk to ensure. that the teacup would remain clean. Now I didn’t know this… a student told me this last week and then I Googled it and it’s true. And I just came across this again today while researching International Tea Day. 

Did you know that even though British people love tea, the country where most tea is drunk per person is actually in Turkey.

And tea isn’t just about drinking. Cold tea is also very good for taking the sting  out of sunburn, if you accidentally stay too long in the sun. I remember when I was a little boy, I used to struggle with conjunctivitis  in my eyes. That’s when your eyes are very red and they get inflamed very quickly.

My grandmother’s remedy worked very well and that was simply to take two tea bags and put them over your eyes. Not only does it brighten your eyes, but It completely cures you of conjunctivitis. And by the way, I’m not a doctor. So this is just some general advice. Of course, if you have eye trouble you should. Medical advice. Yes.  Tea here is also a great social drink. 80 percent of office workers say they find out the gossip by drinking tea with their colleagues. It is true  that tea in the past was a really big deal for British people. The Aristocrats would ceremoniously drink tea, around the table, to welcome the guests of Honour.

But tea also went across different classes of people. In fact, we all drank it in different ways. All the way up until around the year 2000, perhaps a little bit earlier. When American coffee chains started to come in.

 When I was a little boy, I still remember tea rooms being around the UK. They weren’t  rooms that I would use personally and when American coffee chains came, the American style of informality, sitting around and drinking a coffee with your friend and while paying a high price for that became the norm. These days coffee shops are everywhere. They dominate our shopping malls, our high Street and tea rooms are a thing of the past.

As I’ve often told you though, coffee wasn’t always the most popular drink here. In fact, we used to have many people protesting because they didn’t want coffee in our shops. My grandparents were members of the anti-coffee society. For them, whisky was fine, but coffee was seen as some kind of drug.

So, if you’re having your tea today, spare a thought for its history. International tea day is a UN United Nations Festival all across the world. But no one really remembers it here in the UK. And I’m not sure about the future of tea. Because I think our younger people would much rather reach out for a coffee. At least I know I would.

 I think in the old days coffee was much stronger and it was almost certainly viewed as some kind of drug. Religious people especially, really didn’t like coffee and even today here in the UK with some religious people and also with some religious groups, some churches, they still don’t like coffee very much because those churches started in times when coffee was not really so popular.

 So, you need to be careful here. Not everyone likes coffee but  everyone, for sure would take tea. Everything changes though. And already tea drinking is down and would you like a coffee is usually what you’re offered if you go to visit a friend. 

Well, that’s it from me today. I hope you’ve enjoyed this. And if you are looking for a reason to celebrate tea, The 21st of May is a very good day to choose. And why not make a month of it and continue into June experimenting with different teas.

See you.

Bye.