Drinking Culture in The English-Speaking World

First and foremost, we must acknowledge the importance of drinking in society, not only
from a biological standpoint, but also from a socio-cultural one; drinking has played an
important part in human culture for ages and continues to do so, and today it even developed into
different subcultures, depending upon drink and place. These subcultures are widely known, but
people are not necessarily conscious about their existence. Although, people still follow the
etiquette and conform to the usual customs of these subcultures.
The social aspect is the one that inspired me to write about this, as I observed that people
are always keen on socializing while also having a drink, be it coffee, tea, beer or soda. It seems
that the two, socializing and the act of drinking, are intertwined; It represents a moment of
relaxation, a refuge from the fast-paced world, it serves as a opportunity for people to discuss in
peace, be it an important business or a mere gossip. It does not carry the complications of having
a meal with someone which takes time, it implies a decision, and it can also be more costly. On
the other hand, having a drink with someone is a straightforward, informal, careless act.
Thus, this social gathering for a drink became widely common because of its informality
and simplicity, it started to gather larger and larger communities, depending on the time, place
and drink. The wealthy gathered at the afternoon tea, becoming a distinguished British custom,
later spreading to the workers of England. Other than that, pubs became synonymous with social
drinking, their history going back hundreds of years. Today, British and Irish pubs have a great
popularity, becoming iconic in the pop culture of the world, along with the etiquette and usual
activities present in such a place.
At first, a simple activity like drinking does not seem to hold importance, people may
take it for granted, only the absence of it can enable them to understand its significance. Thus, I
believe it’s an important subject to reflect upon, to learn to appreciate the beneficial aspects and
to value the culture of usual things, trivial activities that although their simplicity, are most
valuable to our society.
Contents (draft)

1. The drinks
a. Tea
i. What is tea?
ii. History
iii. A revolution
b. Scotch
c. Beer
d. Moonshine
i. Origins
ii. Prohibition and Gangsters
2. The places
a. Irish and British Pubs
b. Afternoon Tea at Home
The drinks

The English speaking culture has many definitory drinks and beverages, some of them even
becoming synonymous with the history and customs of the place.
The following chapters will focus on several drink ranging from non-alcoholic and alcoholic, to
common or illegal. They represent their original culture and have a rich history that backs them,
and that makes them to continually shape and influence customs, stereotypes and day-to-day
lives.

Tea
When one thinks of Britain it’s almost impossible to imagine that the afternoon tea custom can
be forgot; it is a common practice for British people, but for foreigners it represents a
fashionable, classy and intriguing experience, as the “tea” is not only a beverage but also an
experience, as in the past it represented a distinguished “caste” of people, the high-class or the
nobility.

History
Tea as the product itself has origins in Asia, since ancient times. The earliest mentions of people
brewing tea as a drink were from China in the 3 rd millennium BC. It was only much later that the
Europeans were introduced to the beverage, more exactly, in the 16 th through the 18th century, it
was brought to Europe by Chinese merchants. Firstly, the Russians made use of the new
“chaw”/” chai”, then the Dutch, which introduced it to the Western Europe. The first record of
tea in English came from a letter written by Richard Wickham, who ran an East India Company
office in Japan, writing to a merchant in Macao requesting "the best sort of chaw" in 1615. Peter
Mundy, a traveler and merchant who came across tea in Fujian in 1637, wrote, "chaa – only
water with a kind of herb boiled in it". Tea was sold in a coffee house in London in 1657,
Samuel Pepys tasted tea in 1660, and Catherine of Braganza took the tea-drinking habit to the
English court when she married Charles II in 1662. Tea, however, was not widely consumed in
the British Isles until the 18th century and remained expensive until the latter part of that period.
English drinkers preferred to add sugar and milk to black tea, and black tea overtook green tea in
popularity in the 1720s. Tea smuggling during the 18th century led to the general public being
able to afford and consume tea. The British government removed the tax on tea, thereby
eliminating the smuggling trade, by 1785. In Britain and Ireland, tea was initially consumed as a
luxury item on special occasions, such as religious festivals, wakes, and domestic work
gatherings. This explains the share of fascination that it gets even nowadays. The price of tea in
Europe fell steadily during the 19th century, especially after Indian tea began to arrive in large
quantities; by the late 19th century tea had become an everyday beverage for all levels of society.
As tea spread throughout the United Kingdom and through the social classes, tea gardens and tea
dances developed. These would include watching fireworks or a dinner party and dance,
concluding with an evening tea. The tea gardens lost value after World War II but tea dances are
still held today in the UK.

Some scholars suggest that tea played a role in the Industrial Revolution. Afternoon tea possibly
became a way to increase the number of hours labourers could work in factories; the stimulants
in the tea, accompanied by sugary snacks, would give workers energy to finish out the day's
work. Further, tea helped alleviate some of the consequences of the urbanization that
accompanied the industrial revolution: drinking tea required boiling one's water, thereby killing
water-borne diseases like dysentery, cholera, and typhoid.