Tea Time|英式下午茶知多少

by Owain Mckimm

British tea culture has been going through some changes over the past few years.

It's never been a secret that the British love their tea. They drink it for breakfast, with lunch, after dinner, before bed, with friends, alone, or with a biscuit, a slice of cake, a sandwich, or simply on its own. In fact, Brits will find almost any _(1)_ to pour themselves a steaming hot cup of milky tea.

Contrary to popular _(2)_, British tea drinking is far less sophisticated than the popular image of aristocrats sitting on a lawn, watching cricket, sipping tea, and eating crumpets. Tea is Britain's drink of the people, and it is enjoyed by upper and lower classes _(3)_. The type mainly drunk in Britain is builder's tea, so called because of its links to the working class. This strong, low-priced tea is almost _(4)_ served in a mug with lots of milk and sugar and is the perfect thirst-quencher. Tea breaks _(5)_ throughout a normal day in Britain and give people the chance to drink their daily average of five cups.

Some, however, are _(6)_ with the modern decline in the elegance of British tea culture. There are those who see the common combination of a teabag and mug as something quite _(7)_. Now, they are making it their business to _(8)_ the sophistication of tea drinking in Britain. The Campaign for Civilized Tea Drinking is a movement _(9)_ by the British department store, Debenhams, in response to rapidly falling teapot sales over the past five years. Since 2007, the department store's teapot sales have _(10)_ by half, while the number of mugs sold has almost tripled. Mugs are now banned in all of Debenhams' caf and have been replaced by the more traditional teapot, cup, and saucer.

英式下午茶知多少

过去几年来，英式饮茶文化已经经历了一些改变。

英国人喜欢喝茶向来不是个秘密。他们照三餐喝、睡前喝、跟朋友一起喝，或一个人喝，他们搭配饼干、蛋糕、三明治喝，或者就是单喝茶。事实上，英国人几乎可以找到各种理由，替自己倒杯热腾腾的奶茶。

和一般普遍想法恰好相反，英式饮茶并非大众一般印象中，贵族坐在草坪上边观赏板球，边搭配煎饼喝着茶这般精致。茶是英国的大众饮品，上流社会和低下阶层都爱喝。大部分英国人喝的茶称为 builder's tea（建筑工人茶），之所以这么称呼是因为劳工阶级都喝这种茶。这种浓郁但价格低廉的茶几乎总是泡在马克杯中，加入大量的牛奶跟糖，是相当解渴的饮品。英国人平日总是会有几次饮茶休息时间，而他们每天平均要喝上 5 杯茶。

然而，有些人非常不满现今英国的饮茶文化失去了以往的优雅。有人把茶包与马克杯的常见组合视为不可饶恕。现在，他们把复兴英国的精致饮茶文化视为己任。『文明饮茶运动』由英国的 Debenhams 百货公司发起，这是为了因应过去 5 年以来茶壶的销售锐减。自 2007年起，这家百货公司茶壶的销售量下滑了一半，而马克杯的销售数量却成长了近乎 3 倍。现在 Debenhams 所有的咖啡店都禁用马克杯，而改以更传统的茶壶、茶杯和茶碟来取代。

答案：  1. (E)  2. (K)  3. (A)  4. (C)  5. (L)  

6. (G)  7. (J)  8. (D)  9. (F)  10. (I)

英国人喝下午茶的方式丰俭由人，由正式茶聚（tea party），到可以不喝茶只吃点心的餐饮（high tea），都可以称为下午茶。

随着时代发展，英国妇女逐渐拥有自己的事业，部分人视传统的下午茶为过时的习俗，因此现在不是所有英国人到了下午 3、4 点就一定会喝下午茶。

英式下午茶的专用红茶为产自印度的大吉岭红茶和伯爵茶，或锡兰高地红茶。此外，英国也有在下午茶时喝奶茶的习惯。随茶而来的还有切成薄片的柠檬及奶罐。随着时间演变，一些在早期上不得台面的加味茶也逐渐为人所接受，这令下午茶流传更广。

有时候，喝茶成为了配角，品尝蛋糕、三明治等各种点心反而变成最重要的部分。正式的下午茶点心一般被迭成『三层架』的形式：第一层放置各种口味的三明治（tea sandwich），第二层是英国的传统点心司康饼（scone），第三层则是小蛋糕和水果塔。这个三层架点心应先从下往上吃。除了这种必不可少的三层点心，一些牛角面包、葡萄干、鱼子酱等食品也会被摆上来迎合宾客的口味。（数据源：维基百科）