Britain's love affair with coffee - 6 Minute English

Hello.

This is 6 Minute English

from BBC Learning English.

I'm Sam.

And I'm Neil.

Did you have a cup of coffee

this morning, Neil?

Oh yes, I can't start the

day without my morning cup

of coffee...

or two... or three!

And what do you like about

coffee so much?

Well, that lovely smell

for one thing!

And,

of course, it wakes me up

and gets me ready to

face the world.

Ah, you mean the

caffeine hit - the effect

of caffeine, which is a

natural stimulant, on your

brain making you feel

more awake.

Do you think,

maybe, you're...

addicted to coffee?

It's not just me, Sam.

Have

you seen how busy coffee shops

are nowadays?!

Full of people

enjoying delicious coffee

from all around the world!

Well, it wasn't always like

that, Neil.

The first coffee

to reach Britain in the

17th century took months to

arrive by sea.

It was made

by boiling raw coffee beans,

and apparently tasted awful!

In this programme, we'll be

looking into the history of

coffee in Britain, and

as usual, we'll be learning

some related vocabulary too.

But before that, I have a

question for you.

The earliest coffee to

arrive in Britain took its

name from the port in

Yemen it was shipped from.

So, what was it called?

Was it:

a) Cappuccino?

b) Mocha?

or

c) Latte?

I'll say b) Mocha.

OK.

I'll reveal the answer

later in the programme.

Britain's love affair with

coffee started with the

opening of London's first

coffee shop in 1652.

People loved the effect -

coffee made them more

talkative and brighter, it

kept them awake for longer,

and the drink became more

and more popular.

Within a

decade over eighty new

coffee shops had opened in

the City of London alone.

By the 1800s, though, tea

had replaced coffee as the

most fashionable drink,

partly because it was drunk

by Queen Victoria.

Listen as

Judith Hawley, an expert on

18th century literature,

takes up the story with BBC

Radio 4 programme, In Our Time.

It became more of a working-class

drink.

So, there were coffee

shacks and carts like these

sort of little street carts

that you get still in London,

and you get all over New York,

that is a cheap, quick drinks

to perk you up.

And the

Temperance Movement sponsored

coffee taverns to try to wean

working men off going to

the pub for lunch.

So, it moved.

It declined seriously and has

never fully recovered even

in the current coffee boom.

In the 17th century there was

a coffee boom - an increase

in its popularity.

One of

the reasons was that coffee

perks you up - gives you more

energy and makes

you more active.

Drinking coffee was also

supported by a social group

called the Temperance Movement,

who campaigned to make alcohol

illegal.

They used coffee to

wean men off alcohol - make

them gradually stop using

something they had

become addicted to.

Coffee changed British society

and continues to do so today.

Here's Professor Judith Hawley

again, talking to BBC Radio 4's,

In Our Time, about the

situation today.

I think if we look at the way

coffee consumption is going

today it seems to me to set out

two quite radical alternatives

for the world.

One is the

world of corporate coffee, the

coffee chains existing on a

low wage economy.

So, you have

that kind of mass coffee market

on the one hand.

One the other

hand you have these microlot

estates, Fairtrade coffee, the

sort of hipster coffee which

is as varied and as

interesting as fine wines and

is made in an artisanal way.

Many customers today are

turning away from large coffee

chains like Starbucks, in

search of a more responsibly

sourced cup of coffee.

One example of this is

Fairtrade, an ethical standards

scheme which guarantees a

fair price for coffee producers

in South America, Africa and Asia.

Another recent development is

the use of microlots - small plots

of land which grow specialised

coffee beans prized for their

high quality and unique flavour.

Fairtrade and microlot coffee

are part of a shift in focus

towards quality, artisanal

coffee - coffee made by hand,

in the traditional way by

skilled growers.

It's

artisanal coffee that's often

sold in smaller, independent

coffee shops preferred

by trendy hipsters.

So, coffee in Britain has come

a long way from the days it

travelled for months by sea

from faraway places like

Ethiopia and Java - which

reminds me, Sam, what was the

answer to your question.

I asked Neil which city gave

its name to the first coffee

to arrive in Britain

in the 1600s.

I guessed it was b) Mocha,

which happens to be

my favourite drink.

Well, you guessed right

because that was the correct

answer!

You certainly know

your coffee, Neil.

Right, let's recap the

vocabulary we've used in

this programme on the

history of coffee, a drink

which can perk you up -

give you more energy

and make you feel awake.

Many people drink coffee

for the caffeine hit - the

way caffeine, which is

contained in coffee, stimulates

your body and mind.

The effect

can be so strong you might

have to wean yourself

off it - gradually stop using

something which is bad for you.

Fairtrade coffee refers to a

scheme which ensures that coffee

farmers receive a fair price

for growing their product,

while a microlot is a small

plot of land specialising in

coffee beans of a very high

quality or unique flavour.

Finally, artisanal describes

something made by artisans -

skilled workers who make things

by hand in a traditional way.

Once again, our six minutes up.

I'm off to get myself a

hot steamy mocha.

Bye for now!

Goodbye!