All language subtitles for A.History.of.the.World.in.Six.Glasses.S01E05.720p.WEB.h264-BAE_track3_[eng]

Welcome to my new career.

We're here today with.

My special co-host.

My dancing partner.
And look who.

We welcome to the bar,
the beloved. John roberts.

Next five
is universally beloved.

I mean,
there were so many snl players.

You know, we liked him.
We didn't like him.

So there's
some didn't like each other.

But everyone loved john loved.

And by the way, we ship it mr.

Destiny with me.

And he played my brother
and my stepmother.

That's right. Too.

And who can forget his is actor.

Who I was honored to work
with both of you and grateful.

Well, I think the.

Actor character
would be most appropriate

For today's subject as we go.

Around the world.

Studying the history of this
great planet in six classes.

One of the most important
and complex in history

And very influential is t0g.

It was c. G. G. You know g.

This wonderful series
we're doing

Is going to enlighten
a lot of people on the beverages

That drove the world.

Beer, wine, spirits,
tea, coffee and soda, coca.

Cola and crystal head vodka.

Well, there's not even no plugs.

No plugs. Where is it?

It shouldn't
be on the barbecue explorer

Or the t.

One of the most influential
fluids in our history.

The fuel of the british empire
was grown

And exported
from india and africa.

Political change came around.

Well after the american.
Revolution.

The american revolution.

It was the drink of imperial
china and japan.

Dan, you're
one of the smartest people.

Do you just know
everything about everything?

How do I put this to him?

Yes. Yes, I do, in fact.

But he clearly doesn't
believe it.

So here's tom standage,
the author of

A history of the world
in six glasses.

To pretty much say
what I was going to say.

I'm tom standage
and the author of this book

About the history of drinking.
And because I'm

An english gentleman,
of course I drink tea.

Tea is basically leaves
stuck in water, right?

I mean, obviously

You do it, you dry it and so on,
but you can make tea

In quite a simple way.

So in that sense, it's
the simplest drink. Tea

Is the most widely drunk liquid
on the planet after water.

The plants that actually gives
us tea is exclusively

The camellia bush.

So these were grown

Thousands of years
or at least 6000 years in china.

They've been making
tea from camellia sinensis.

Black tea, green tea, white tea.

They're all
from the same tea plant.

And that grew wild
in ancient china.

And it's not clear exactly
when there's myths around it.

But at some point

We know that people moved
from drinking the wild tea plant

And cultivating it specifically
to make the beverage.

What did I tell you?

Leaves in hot water.

But this simple drink caused
an enormous amount of trouble.

Okay, so this story comes under
the heading of maybe true.

But what we know is that tea,
like a lot of drinks

We talk about here, first
became popular as medicine.

And we also know

That a lot of people claim
credit for the discovery.

The first cup of tea,
according to chinese tradition,

Was brewed about 5000 years ago
by the emperor shen. No.

And one day he's
boiling some water to drink

And some leaves from a wild tea
bush blow into it.

He then later writes a treatise

About that wonderful
medicinal properties of tea.

Emperor xiang none clearly had
the news media in his pocket.

They also credited him

With inventing the plow,
the ox water wells

And the chinese calendar
and lots more.

Hashtag fake news.

Got to ask you guys, are you tea
drinkers or coffee drinkers?

I never like coffee.

Yes of. I'll drink tea.

Coffee gets you jacked up.
Yeah. Tea.

They go. You want camomile?

It makes you sleepy or mint tea.

But green tea has
a lot of caffeine, does it not?

I don't know.

The answer to
this question is yes.

And also no.

And also sort of green tea.

White tea, black tea.
It's all from the same plant.

It just depends
how long the leaves sit around.

So they all have
caffeine in them.

Not as much as coffee,
but you still feel the lift.

In fact,
that's how this drink started.

In prehistoric
times, people in southwest

China would chew the leaves
to get a little caffeine buzz,

To feel the lift
and energy the tea can give.

But before tea was

Leaves in hot water,
it was just leaves.

Someone did

Mix the leaves
with some hot water

And eventually the practice

Of making a cup of tea
spread all over china,

Just like wine and beer
and distilled

Spirits were popularized
by monks in europe.

In the middle ages,
it was buddhist monks

Who were the first tea
influencers in asia.

Japan.

The history of tea drinking goes
back to around the year 750.

That's when it was thought

That the first tea plants were
brought to japan from china.

When a powerful japanese shogun
mini motos son of tomo

Fell ill.

It was a wandering buddhist

Monk named asai who cured him
with a cup of medicinal tea.

The elated shogun became
his biggest advocate in japan

And the monk,
we hope, got a little something

Extra in the paycheck that week,
but we all know how that goes.

Probably not.

Monks don't have much to do
but pray all day.

Well,
I guess that can be exhausting.

So they drank tea
for the same reason.

A lot of people still drink tea
at 4:00 in the afternoon.

It gives them a little left.

Tea leaves also have tannin,
which is an astringent

And acidic substance in tree
bark and grape skins.

Wine has a lot of tannin too,
and tannins are good for you.

They're antiseptic

And some people think they have
anti-cancer properties.

So tea leaves
have caffeine and tannins.

But the other part of the tea,
the hot water part

That's also important.

The great benefits
of having a tea based culture

Is that you're boiling the water
to make it.

And people
didn't know this at the time,

But boiling the water is killing

Pathogens,
killing bugs in the water.

Also, tea itself
is a natural antibacterial.

So by making tea
it really is a health drink.

Tea drinkers

Were healthier and back then
that was the key to prosperity.

Tea drinkers got rich.

Black tea was one of those
things that's so valuable

That you could use it
as a kind of money.

But the great thing about black
tea was

That not only was a valuable,
it was very light,

So you could use it as money
if you were a traveler

And it would be something

That people would value

And you could buy things
with it,

But it wouldn't
wear your flag down

Like a dope bulb
or something like that.

When you think of coffee and
tea, what's the fancier drink?

I say the word tea
and I sit up straighter.

It just makes you feel
very formal

And I'll have a cup of tea.

It's again one of these fluids
that brings conviviality

And brings a kind of a politics
to the garden.

It's a. Ritual also.

And I was in morocco
with a moroccan mint tea.

It was very every time
you met somebody,

Would you like some tea?

And it really did
kind of bring you together with

Your new gosh.

That's what makes tea different
from other drinks.

It's the rituals
associated with it.

It's not just that it's fancy.

It also comes

With a lot of specific manners
and behaviors,

Refined ones, and frankly,
really, really slow ones.

I mean, don't

Go to a tea ceremony if you're
looking for a quick cup.

So we know that when t came
historically from china

To japan,

There were a lot of rituals
involved in its preparation.

And then we start to see

Lineages develop of teaching
and styles of practice.

For a drink
that gives you a caffeine lift.

Tea rituals are all about
slowing down,

Taking time with friends
and family slowing down the day.

That's probably why tea rituals
were such a big part of chinese

And japanese history

Brewing tea, letting it steep,
following the established

Gestures.

All of this forced

People who are probably trying

To murder each other to slow
down, take a deep breath,

Sip some tea and put away
the samurai sword.

There are lots of different

Tea rituals around the world,
but they all kind of boil

Down to the same thing
as it were,

Which is that you get together,
you have this ritual of pouring

The water over the tea leaves,
then you share out the tea.

It's very ancient idea

That we're all drinking
from the same pot.

We're sharing the same liquid.

We are coming together
in this ritual,

This sort of high point of this
is the the japanese tea ritual.

There
are some very elegant rituals,

But I have one of my own.

I have a lake house in canada.

And in the summer I get together
with family and friends

And there's a lot of grilling
and canoeing and jet skis.

And I have a certain kind of key
I make for the crowd.

I call it camp tea, and that's
a little different from the tang

Dynasty tea ceremony,
but it's still a ritual for tea.

I'm going to do a tea
ceremony of my own.

It's called the camp
tea ceremony.

We have an island in the lake
that I live on in canada.

Yeah, a little thousand. Later,
right and.

Right. Yeah, I was there.
I spent the night.

It's a rough count.

Yeah, it's.

Hard, but the thing is
that after dinner, you know,

The sun is still up.
We want to take a swim.

We want to go in the jet
ski one, take a boat ride.

You want a little cup of tea?

But we don't have the time
to have a tea ceremony.

Such as you've seen.

For the japanese,

The art of drinking tea
is almost a religious ritual.

So here's the way
we do the camping.

And usually I do this in a large
jug a like that.

We're putting a whole bottle
of milk, half a jar of honey.

A cream together.

And then we get the father tea
guy bags when there are usually

About ten of them.

And they go, that's in there
right there.

Okay,
just let that set for a moment.

Then we have the water genie.

What do you do with the back
wall?

Right. Here we go.

Here we go. Okay.

We're making up a nice,
beautiful

Brewing up
a lovely cap to the campfire.

I already got my jetski.

Have a little fun at night.
We're by the fire.

We've just had a stupid,
stupid little guy. Let it steep.

We don't have time, right?

It's like
the stock market, right?

You guys have a heart
attack on the trading floor.

What we're going to do with that

Party,
we don't have time to die. No.

Here we go.

Wink, wink, wink.

Look it out. Beautiful.

There you go.

Yep. Campy. Everybody gets.

A well.

Yeah, yeah, well,
there's a half.

Hour to do a high tea ceremony.

I do it in under 2 minutes.

Okay, well, let's see what it.

Tastes like now, right?

Oh, gentlemen.

Captain, it

Is pretty good. Dear me.

Not too bad, huh?

Oh, it's got a lot of flavor,
is the sweet.

Well, I made it fast.

You did very good for me.

Email, connie. Bag water. Shake.

That's it.

That's american county.

Yes, that's canadian, actually.

Right?
Right. American, canadian.

I'm not the only one
with a special way

To make and drink tea
all over the world.

People drink tea in a certain
way and with certain people.

And if you ask them,
they'll tell you all about it.

I drink tea on a Sunday morning
with my mom.

That's my one tea of the week.

I do drink tea
sometimes in the evenings.

It's such an irish thing to have
a cup of tea in the evenings

With your parents or your
grandparents or your friends.

It's just such an irish thing
to do.

It's a traditional kenyan
masala tea.

So it's, you know, it's a strong
black tea with milk and sugar.

It's the only beverage you have
with sugar that's slow boil.

And I enjoy that with my mom
and I used to my grandmother's.

Well, every Sunday morning

When you bring
in the tea, you feel the

Harmony from the universe.

If you have anybody interesting
who can read tea leaves,

It's very interesting.

Well, I've got a good friend
and she

When you finish your coffee
and when you drink the tea,

You see the the
the tea leaves from a passion.

It's a bit psychic. You know.

Some people think you could see
the future

By reading the tea leaves.

And some people like that guy
clearly do not.

But that's one of tea's
historic qualities.

Sharing a tea ceremony helped
bring warring factions together.

Tea in asia was a diplomatic
drink

Really important?

Warlords and military

Figures were deeply involved
in japanese tea culture.

They would invite the enemy

And you were trying to win them
over to your side.

You could invite
them to a tea gathering.

So tea was all over

Asia, which meant it was just

A matter of time before
it found its way to europe.

In 1610, in the hold of a dutch
trading ship,

The first load of tea landed
in europe.

By 1630
it was in France by 1700.

It hit England,
where it quickly became

The quintessential
english drink.

I mean, you think of tea,
you think of England.

Or a nation of great tea
drinkers.

It's ironic that we were among
the last in europe

To first drink tea,

But when it came to britain,
it really caught on

In a way that it didn't
so much in europe.

When charles the second
got married to a

Portuguese princess, part of her
dowry was a chest full of tea.

So it became fashionable
at the court.

And then other people started
saying,

Well, actually
we'd like some of this too.

Previously, coffee had been

What everyone in london
was suddenly excited about.

That was the new caffeinated
drink

Starting in the 1650s,
and then it's displaced by tea.

Some coffeehouses
actually banned women

From going to them altogether.

Tea, on the other
hand, was regarded

As it was
something you drank at home

And women could invite

Their friends around
and have tea in the afternoon.

So you had this
very sort of gendered approach

To coffee for men
and tea for women

And the tea that you served,
you would choose your own tea,

You would have your own blend
made up.

It really said a lot about you

And you know how
well you made it and so forth.

It was very much
a sort of social signal.

And this gave rise

To the social institution
of having tea with your friends.

And additionally,
this was something

That very wealthy people did.

But by about 1800
tea was so widespread in britain

That even the poorest people

Were drinking
tea several times a day.

So do you think of tea
as being an english thing or.

I always thought it was
an english

Tea time, high
tea tea with the queen.

Did they always achieve
milk and sugar.

At that time?

The most entrepreneurial

And enterprising businessmen
were english,

And they soon figured out a way

To get this drink to the english
consumer in large quantities.

The captains of the ships

Are allowed to do a little bit

Of dealing themselves,
and they quickly realize

That tea is an absolutely
brilliant thing to do this way,

Because they were allowed
a certain amount of weight

That they can carry
on the ships.

So what they want is something
that's very, very light

But very, very valuable,
and that is tea.

It's actually worth its weight
in silver at this point.

I'm not an economist,
but I know what it takes

To create a boom economy.

You need a product
that everyone likes.

You need a way to get it to them

And you need some
I don't know what's the phrase?

All right.

Rapacious capitalist
to make it all fit together.

The east india company
was founded in 1600

Under a royal charter,

Which gave the company
a monopoly on all british trade

East of the cape of good hope

And west of the straits
of magellan.

In other words, all of the persi

In other words,

Everywhere they had something
the british wanted cotton, silk,

Indigo, sugar, salt, spices
and tea.

T has a sort of
outsized influence on history

Because of the importance of tea
drinking in britain.

And as a result,
the political power

That the east india company,
which had the monopoly

On bringing tea into britain,
had over the government.

This meant that british foreign
policy was really sort of bent

Out of shape by the interests
of that giant company.

And people

Talk about big corporations
today being it extremely wealthy

And influential and be able
to control what governments do.

But really,
the east india company

Was much, much bigger
than any of them, maybe compared

To the size of the governments
that it was dealing with.

It really was much bigger
than any modern corporation.

The problem with the tea trade,
though, was who

They were trading with.

The chinese didn't want european
goods.

They weren't interested

In trading anything
for their tea except money,

Money in the form of silver.

But that was getting expensive.

So it wasn't long
before the east india company

Had to figure out a way
to find teas somewhere else.

And if this story
sounds familiar, it kind of is.

Not much has changed
in this particular

Kind of trade since the 1800s.

The chinese are still
complicated trading partners.

They like to export things

But aren't all that interested
in importing things.

Our current trade
deficit with china

Is all about electronics
and consumer products,

But back then the trade
deficit was all about tea.

They spent too much money on

Buying tea
from china in the 19th century,

So they vigorously

Tried to find a way
to offset this deficits.

So they steal scenes from china

And then try to reprint it.

But they're over frail.

This is where the story of a
simple drink with leaves in hot

Water gets complicated.

Growing tea and importing
tea, trading tea, making tea.

It all seems simple, right?

But tea throughout its history

Has caused
an awful lot of trouble,

And that's been associated
with a lot of nasty things.

You can call this bad thing.

Number one, tea
in many ways is a drug, right?

It's caffeine.
It gives you a buzz.

So european tea traders

Ask themselves
this basic question

If we are buying a drug
from china,

Maybe they'll buy a drug
from us.

In one ways to sell opium

To china.

The east india company
just happened to control bengal,

Which is now india and pakistan.

And that just happens

To be a terrific place
to grow opium poppies.

So the plan was this grow opium,
take it to china

And trade it for tea
instead of silver.

Opium trading was technically
illegal in china,

But the east india company
was resourceful with the right

Kind of money laundering and
greasing the right officials,

Tea traders
could trade opium for tea.

So if you're counting the vices
that we can associate with tea,

We're up to
two drug running and bribery.

The thing about opium is that
you could grow it on plants.

So it's like money.

You could grow a plant
that you use it to buy tea

And then the people you gave it
to smoke it and it disappears.

So from the point of view
of the british,

This is much,
much better than silver

Because you don't
have to go and mine it.

You can just grow it
and you still get the tea.

At the end of the day.

The chinese imperial government

Eventually cracked down on this,

Which didn't make the europeans
very happy.

The result was the opium war
of 1839, which china lost badly.

The british took hong
kong and shanghai

And several other cities,

And the french were in there
too, of course.

And there's a bad feeling about
all of this even up to today.

So if you're keeping score
that's drug running, bribery,

War and military occupation,
all for you.

Got it leaves and hot water.

But business is business.

If you can't get your product
one way,

You have to get it another.

Britain was very dependent
on tea imports from china.

It was not happy about that

And started to look for ways
to diversify the supply.

The obvious thing to do
would be to get tea

Growing in india, another part
of the british empire.

So various attempts were made

To get tea plants growing
in india, none of which worked.

And then somebody discovered
that actually wild

Tea plants were already
growing in parts of india

That prove
that he could be grown in india.

And it meant that the beginnings

Of the cultivation of tea
outside china came about.

Tea was buzzy
and gave you a pep.

It was the original five hour
energy drink

And it was cheap, unlike coffee.

So if you had a factory
and you wanted people to work

Long hours, the best way to do
that was to give them tea.

You cannot overstate
how tea has affected

The british economy.

I mean, there's a theory
that the industrial revolution

Only happened because we started
drinking tea instead of beer.

You get the industrial
revolution starting in britain,

Just at the point
where tea is becoming popular.

And is this a coincidence?

I don't think it is.

When richard arkwright
invented the spinning mill,

Which was a steam powered mill,

It just came at the right time
where

They could win the workers off
beer.

They should drink
beer on a break

And drink beer in the morning.

And that caused people to be
drunk or dull or not active.

Yeah, bearded.

So when tea replaced beer, you
saw workers basically wake up.

Not only was it less alcohol
and more

Healthy tea,
but also it boiled to water.

So all the diseases
that were around at

The time were killed off
by that process.

Just like in china

Thousands of years
earlier, tea made people

Healthier, cities were becoming
denser,

Factories were crowded
and clean.

Water was important.

The other thing that tea does
is that it

Sharpens
your mind and keeps you alert.

And that is very important.

If you're working in a factory

And you've got machinery around
you and that of course, also

Gives us the institution
of the factory tea brake.

All of the industries
began to give tea breaks.

And even now today,
I mean, everyone.

Wait a minute.

You're saying they gave a tea
break to, like, re-energise

The world?

We are exactly
on the assembly lines.

And now that's why they did it.

You'll go to the sanitation
now. Wake them up. Yes.

And keep moving.

You know, you have a cup.

If you're a sanitation. Worker
in london, you're going.

To sit down at that
and even have a tea break.

And that's probably. Why newer.

Everywhere tea is absolutely.

Classless.

I mean, one time
I worked in England

And harrods department store
and they. Wait.

You worked at harrods in london?
Yeah. Oh, my god.

I had a boss, mr.

Brown, and they worked
for an hour and a half.

He goes, all right,
let's take a break,

Then work
for another hour lunch,

Then you work another 2 hours.

It'd be 4:00 t 8 hours.

They'd work six.

You guys don't work
that very american right now.

Our productivity goes up
when we have caffeine in.

It's such a fact.

We feel like
we want to do some work,

And that's thanks to a cup of
tea. How do you measure that?

So say, for instance, you're a
what's the phrase again?

Oh, right.

Rapacious capitalist

And say, you had a factory
that employed children.

Yeah.

Children that was really popular
in the 1800s.

Well,

How do you keep
the little urchins

Moving along the machinery
at a profitable clip?

T that's how for those of you
keeping score at home,

We're up

To five really terrible things
we can associate with t drug

Running, bribery, war,
military occupation.

Now child labor.

Yeah. Leaves in hot water.

And then over the next
400 years, it's become

Hugely popular.

And now,

You know, people drink

On average in this country about
five and a half cups per day.

Five and a half cups per day.

That's a lot of trips
to the bathroom.

Tea grows in the tropics
and hot and sunny places.

England is a cold, gray,
rainy place,

So it was crazy for the english
to try to grow tea there.

I mean,
it should not have worked,

But it did.

Which just proves that England
is filled with tea junkies.

They will do whatever it takes
to get their precious drink.

Tea has been growing in the uk
for several hundred years,

But in people's greenhouses
it was grown by retired

Tea planters.
That's what they're called.

And the british basically
took tea around the world

And established it in
all the big tea growing regions.

And when they retired
back to the uk,

They bring their very favorite
tea pushes back

And put them
in their greenhouses

And they would all send us
a letter saying

We've got this very lovely tea
bush we'd like to send to you.

And then we would turn them
here.

So we've ended up with
35 different kinds of tea from

All over the world.

So then, you know, the thing is,

After all this,
this wonderful show you put on,

It just doesn't
seem like an american trick.

I mean, remember,

We're the guys who tossed it
into the boston harbor.

We didn't
want to pay a tax on a drink.

We weren't even drinking anyway,
right?

Well, actually, we were along
with rum back then.

Americans
drank a whole lot of tea.

Jim forgets that until 1776
americans were british.

The chinese weren't
the only ones

Who resented
the east india company.

So did the american colonists.

They resented the british taxes,

Which had started coming in fast
and furious.

The stamp act in 1765,
then the townshend act in 1767,

Which were import
duties on paper,

Paint and glass and also tea.

And then the last straw,
the tea act of 1773,

Which was designed

To give the east india company

A monopoly on all the tea
sold in the colonies.

That reinforced
all the existing key taxes,

Forcing american colonists
to pay taxes

To a distant government
they were growing to hate

Just to protect
a powerful monopoly

Headquartered across the ocean.

We all know what happened next.

Maybe the most famous protest
in american history,

The boston tea party.

And the other day,
the folks around

Here were mad about that.

I told you so.

We went like indians dressed up
as they thought,

Just with axes.

It was the beginning of the end
of british rule in america,

And it was all about tea
and taxes.

It'd be hard to imagine
americans today

Getting that upset
about tea taxes.

On the other hand,
still a very sore subject.

Read my.

Lips, no new taxes.

They took their tea seriously.

They really did.

It's one of the most
consequential drinks ever.

And now americans
drink gallons of tea.

Which is. India, china, japan
or britain.

I don't buy that german.
How's that?

How do you like your tea? Iced
iced tea.

Dan cole calls the.

Definitive use of tea in america
is, of course, the iced tea.

Right.
You see that a lot in the south.

You see a lot of.
Sugar in there.

And a lot of sugar
at the bottom.

B, like an.

Interesting
I like it like yes, tea.

They surely do in the south.
That's a big thing.

Yeah.

Naturally they go
you want sweet tea

And they try it and it's
oh yeah.

Every day.

No much sugar low.

Need all the sugar,
high blood sugar junk.

The first

Recipe that was printed
was in 1908 and it was by a lady

Named marion tyree and it came
from a good housekeeping

Recipe book in virginia.

And that was the first
known recipe.

It really became popular
back in the prohibition times

Because they weren't
allowed to drink liquor,

But they had all these
fancy glasses

That they had bought
for liquor drinks.

And so then
they started printing to it.

So it was more men drinking
the sweet tea to begin with.

And then it kind of transition
whenever they were turning back

To liquor, then sweet tea became
more of a lady's thing.

It started something that you
would serve to a special company

Coming over, you know,

After church, socialite parties
and things like that.

The house we grew.

Up drinking kool-aid.

That's another southern
and southern tradition.

That kool-aid.

We all got. Sweet.

You went to grandmother's house.

That's what
we were made to feel special.

You know, sweet
tea is really a refreshing,

Especially when it's hot
outside.

It's a beverage
that you can't mess up.

It can't mess it up, you know,
so you.

Know what you're getting
when you order sweet tea.

Here at mary max,
we use two large tea bags.

We use a tea urn that holds
about two and a half gallons,

And we add approximately
six cups of sugar

To the two
and five gallons of tea.

We add the sugar in while
the tea is brewing,

So the tea is hot.

And then we poured over ice.

You have a dentist art that.

We should we should

We should definitely invest
in one.

Gentleman.

Meet an american classic.

Sweet tea ice.

Just like you likes it.

But it's tea. My friend's.

Simple tea party, the.

Chinese emperors, the indian
rajas and british royalty,

But just ruined. No.

Oh, god. Please. So

This is really
sweet, but I really like it.

You know, it's a standard.

It just needs one more thing.

Lemonade.

Lemonade. Danny, lemonade.

Arnold palmer, please.

You know what these are?

Tend to. Ever meet
arnold. Palmer.

I did.

I was on the golf course once.

He said, john,
can you teach me your swing?

And I said, no.

Figure it out yourself.

And then he won the masters
shorty.

To tea and to your great nation,

The most generous country
on earth.

You're welcome.

Non-americans have trouble
seeing the deliciousness.

That is sweet tea in general.

Tea experts have very strict
ideas

About
how to make the perfect cup.

Making it perfect cup of tea
is difficult to be precise

Because everyone
has their own cup of tea

And we have a saying
in this country

It wasn't their cup of tea.

In other words, it wasn't quite
how they like it.

So it's the most personal
drink of any of the drinks.

The way the british consume

Tea is adulterated
with milk and sugar

And honey
and all kinds of things.

And we have to

Make argentina stronger so that
the british cannot milk to it.

Not my cup of tea.

But what is your cup of tea?

Milk and sugar
is heavier than milk.

Coca-cola. That's how
they're supposed to drink it.

No sugar.

I put milk and sugar
in my teeth.

I put milk and

Cookies.

No sugar in snow.

White milk first.

Masala chai
is my favorite in the morning

And in the evening.

I love to have green tea
with holy basil.

I drink an occasional chai.

It's a little bit sweetened.

So for me, it's an afternoon.

Pick me up of some sort.
I drink it black.

I drink it
with just a dash of milk

Because I like my tea
quite strong.

But as I'm british, of course
I will put milk in my teeth.

Tea with milk and without sugar.

I can put some milk.

I don't using honey or sugar.

I drink my two whites
with some to contrast.

That is to say to as.

I like a nice arnold palmer

Or just some nice sweet tea,
make you extra sweet.

Some lemons in there?
Pretty good.

I like my tea with milk
and sugar.

I sometimes drink herbal tea.

I sometimes have green tea

Or herbal teas
to help me go to sleep.

At the end of the day,

So I'm not a purist about it
having to be property tea.

If I'm going for a pot,
I love to put my milk in first,

Which I know might be
controversial for some people,

But that's how I like it.

They are going to judge you.

Ruth in England, one of the ways

Snobbish aristocrats
put people down from the lower

Classes is to say
they're a little milk in first.

The english have a lot of ways
to be insufferable,

And I'm glad they don't rule
the world anymore.

Tea does
have some class connotations

And you do have a fancy tea
and you have what some people

Call builder's tea,
which is kind of basic tea.

But at the same time,
tea is really universal.

I think both billed as tea
and typekit savoy are sort of

Quintessentially british,

And this is a legacy
of the period from 1700 to 1800

Where in 1700 only
the rich are drinking tea, 1800.

The poorest people of
the country are drinking tea.

So that's the great thing
about tea.

It has this enormous range

And you can deploy it
in almost any social situation.

Who was someone that you
drank tea with that was notable?

I'm trying to think of other
than.

Maybe
it was the queen of England.

I did it with the queen.

What did you do with the queen?

Had tea with the queen?

Yeah.

I was outside buckingham
palace looking

And then a guard came and said,

The queen wants to invite you
in. She knows who you are.

We see you on the cameras.

And they invited me in
and I t the queen.

I think
what jim is forgetting here

Is that one of john's
most famous

Characters
is the liar character.

I mean, look at that face.

That's the face of a liar.

I wanted to have tea
with the queen.

I was presented to the queen
at the premiere of chaplin

And of course, I just wanted to
grab her and run away with her.

You know,
they wouldn't let that happen.

But you're not being like you're
canadian, for crying out loud.

I mean, aren't canadians
sort of english?

I mean, like english or english,
like.

Well,

We are citizens
of the commonwealth,

But we're not subjects
of the king anymore.

It seems like you're
not much of anything, though.

What?

You're kind of like the kid
who only wants around.

I don't think my country
like that.

I know one thing.

Canadians,

All the ones I've ever met,
they're all very, very nice

And they're all hard of hearing.

They're like, hey,

Why do they always say sorry?

I was there walking
and I said, stop.

You didn't. Do anything.

I think they say sorry
because I'm sorry that I come

From such a great country
that's far superior.

Oh, how are you?

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. Sorry.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

We own most of the world's
gold mines. I'm sorry.

We own a sixth of the office
space.

And I said I'm
sorry that we invented insulin.

I'm sorry.

I think we jump across this bar
and grab this canadian

And throw him on the ice,
you know.

And I would do very bad.

Hockey and maple sirup.

I put in sirup
and I can't skate.

I can't skate an inch.
But can we get back to tea?

More than any
other drink we're talking about?

Tea is the one that's simplest.

Oh, sure.

It's led to wars
and drug deals and child abuse,

But it starts out
so pleasantly out in the field.

Among the camellia
sinensis plants.

So these are tea bushes and

We call this a plucking table
and a good solid tea bush,

Which is about 5 to 10 years
old, should be strong enough

To literally treat as a table
stay.

I'll show you

How you can actually
then make tea from these leaves.

So pluck you some fresh leaves

And there are five steps,
basically pluck with a roll,

Oxidize and dry plucking is
what I've just done.

Withering is allowing those
leaves to wilt and get sloppy

And then step three is rolling.

So what we're doing is getting

Those juices of chemicals
to react with each other.

And then step four oxidation.

And this is where
the flavor develops.

So you'll start with a green tea

And that more time
it will become a new long

And then eventually a black tea.

And most people drink black tea,

So we give it lots of oxidation

And then the final stage
will be drying

Unless you drink it,
in which case make the tea.

You can do it
all in your kitchen at home.

If you've got the leaves

And you can be drinking the tea
within 36 hours.

But the drink that fueled
the industrial revolution

Eventually
got industrialized itself.

So what happens is that
the people picked affected.

He would send it to a factory
that would be small families

That we would buy from with ten,
15 acres. Yes.

And justice to
the factory is green.

Leaf is cut up to various sizes
and then it's trade.

It comes out in black

From the frying machines
in various sizes.

Then we take a sample
of that tea

And send it to me for testing.

When I buy that, I didn't
make it for certain blend.

So that's one part of the blend
that I knew I have.

And then I go

Looking for alternatives
that I want to make a blend of.

The consumer in actual fact,
is getting the same tea

We can we go

Even though there could be
different teas into blend.

That's the whole act.

In actual fact,
the boiling and tea blending.

For instance, tea went in two

The mass

Produced stuff
you can buy in the supermarket

And the special fancy stuff you
buy somewhere special and fancy

Usually for more money, often
from someone

Who will talk your ear off
about it.

Tea consumption over the last
20 years has changed a lot.

There has been a move towards
a decline

In black tea consumption,

Sort of black tea with milk,

A specialty tea has been
on the rise a lot as well.

People want to know
where their products come from

And they want to know
that it's being produced

With the right sort of ethics
and integrity.

Ethics and integrity,
as we've seen, aren't

Much in evidence
during teas, complicated,

But it's nice to know
that these days

You can buy tea
that's grown and made by people

Who are not also in
the opium trade.

Those were teas, awkward
teenage years,

I guess in our time, tea is all
grown up on its best behavior.

Which brings us
to one of the most popular

And lasting of all tea
ceremonies english high tea.

High tea.

That's the one
where they take leaves

In hot water and surround it
with cookies and cake and candy

And pastry and chocolate
and little sandwiches.

You can call
it high tea or you can call it

What it really is, type
two diabetes tea.

But boy, is it good.

We are going to be serving
high tea and our blends

Today will be royal air force
english breakfast,

A special blend name
for a world war two

British bomber navigator.

Imagine you're spitfire pilots.

You've just come back from
fighting over the skies of kent.

You're about to meet your
beautiful english girlfriend

Or high tea. Monika.

That's her name.

We have deborah from the london
hotel here in los angeles.

Hello, deborah.

No, you don't look anything
like veronica. No.

So you have your beautiful blend
of tea, you have your cups,

You have your stirring spoons,

Water, sugar, cream
and then a knife.

Why would we need an eye
for tea? Well.

High tea is not only tea,
gentlemen.

It consists of little snacks
and too little.

If you're going to have a.

Proper
high tea like at the london.

Or in.

London, you'd be served
along with the tea scones,

Which are our scottish
concoctions.

I like that.

Believe me,
you let that dry out.

It's a defensive weapon.

Oh, and.

We have a little parsley
and egg.

We have the salmon,
we have the roast beef and cream

Cheese, church
basement sandwich, you know,

And you get the key there.

And we have the french pastries
here, but.

Let's show some. Cheese.
All right.

So here we are.

You've just shot down
a heinkel bomber.

You're feeling
very good about it.

Yes. You're
meeting your girlfriend

And you want to really treat her
to a beautiful, beautiful

High tea.

Talking about brunch.

She deserves it. Believe me.

She's a royal air force
auxiliary.

She's working in the code room

At bletchley,
and she's crack the enigma.

And you want to reward her?

Tea at the savoy is essentially
the way that tea was originally

Conceived by high class women
when t was first introduced.

So they're having this sort of
let's get together and. Have.

Our fancy drink,

This exotic drink
brought in from far away

And expressing
their sophistication

Through that drink.

And I think having something

Like tea at the savoy
is very much in that tradition.

So there is high tea
and ridiculously high tea,

And then there's insanely
high tea,

Which is probably
what we're about to watch.

Welcome to the savoy hotel
in london, where afternoon tea

Is a serious thing and probably
a pretty great profit center.

So usually with our tea,
we keep our teaspoon

Just below the hand at 320,
as this is

The time that the queen
likes to enjoy her tea.

Okay, allow me to explain
your sandwiches, please.

So we have chicken coronation
with white bread and smoked

Salmon with lemon cream cheese.

Chives has peanuts, spreads
go cheese, caramelized.

We see chutney and brioche,
white crab,

Caviar and seerat, sir.

My pleasure.

Thank you.

When a guy has an accent

Like that, you know
it's going to be expensive.

We say save the best to last.

And I believe
that's the coronation

Chicken as that is a staple
in most afternoon teas.

Okay,
allow me to explain your case.

Savoy chocolate cake with

A 70% beater, chocolate glaze
and fudge sponge.

Then we have a seasonal

Apricot tart with a horny
whipped cream and us on ice,

And we have a strawberry crown
with strawberry glaze.

Then we have coconut mango
passionfruit it.

Sure raises scones,
plain scones.

Cornish clotted cream,
strawberry jam and lemon curd.

My pleasure.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

I think all we need now are
the emergency defibrillators.

As soon as we're done
here, just grease

Up those paddles
and give us a jump start.

And you thought the japanese tea
ceremony was complicated?

The english even have
a special way to eat a scone.

So how to eat a scone?

I will cut it in half.

Jam first.

The queen said to the argument

Simply because it's a lot easier
to spread across the scone.

So it makes it a good base

For me if I'm having the jam,

I will go for some clotted
cream on the top

And as it's now becoming
a lot more popular champagne

Afternoon teas, I would then end
with a glass of champagne and.

So we've
come full circle in a way.

The drink that helped the monks
stay awake

Kept the engine of prosperity
running.

That was responsible
for drug wars, and child labor

Has now been tamed and scrubbed
and turned into well

Into a tea party.

Now, three former colonists

Are going to take this piece

Of english fanciness and
we are going to desecrate it.

Oh, whoa, hey, whoa, oh. Oh.

Steve
ballmer is out of the cell.

The mad hatter key party here.

That's why I'm
not a professional tea server.

Would you like some sugar? Yes.

I never take two lemons
before dinner.

It ruins the appetite. Yes.

What is it about high tea
that makes you want to talk

In an english accent and pretend
you're on downton abbey?

I guess compared
to all of the other vices,

The tea is encouraged.

This one is
the least objectionable.

Have you seen veronica mars?

Yes, I'm
seeing her quite frequently.

You are?

Speaking of veronica.

She told me you were together
and your manhood shriveled.

He's.

She told me about
both your manhood.

They both shriveled.

The spoon dropped.

Ladies and gentlemen.

Okay.

Our tea
ceremony was a little different

From the ones in ancient china
or japan,

Or the one at the savoy,
for that matter.

But it would have been
understood by tea

Drinkers across the centuries
and around the globe.

Getting qi into the cup
has historically entailed war

And oppression and human misery.

But once it's in there it's all
graciousness and good manners.

Tea is like civilization itself.

It's what we use to cover up our
not so nice parts.

It does a lot for just leaves

And hot water.

I don't know. I'm
going to learn to do something.

That that's maybe

Maybe frowned on and great tea
ceremony circles and that is to.

Differ oh we can dip

It's found a upon
but very canadian.

I love the very canadian
english kit.

Sorry I'm sorry you ever dip
your donuts from tim hortons.

I'm sorry that we have
the greatest donut in the world.

Sorry about that, floyd.

You don't live in canada.

Hmm. So. Hmm.

High tea
in the traditional sense.

Oh, lovely.

Thank you so much to tea.

And to the great,
great nation of England

And all of its satellites and.