So that’s what makes tea taste how it does (not tomention energise its drinkers). But why do thesemelanges of molecules mean so much to Britishpeople? And what does your preference, in terms oftea type and how you drink it, mean about you?
人類學家凱特•福克斯(Kate Fox)在其專著《瞧這些英國人/英國人的言行潛規矩》(Watching the English)一書中寫道，豈論什麽時候，英國人沏茶的舉措都在明白地通報出一些信息。她發明，一樣平常來講，工人階層喝的都是最濃郁的紅茶，它所含的這些份子的劑量是最大的。而跟著一小我所處社會階級的晉升，其所飲用的茶也漸漸變得平淡。
Anthropologist Kate Fox writes in her book Watching the English that there are several clearmessages sent whenever a Brit makes a cuppa. She observes that the strongest brews of blacktea – with the largest doses of these molecules – are typically drunk by the working class. Thebrew gets progressively weaker as one goes up the social ladder.
吃茶品茗時牛奶和糖的應用，有它們本身的階層通例。她寫道：“很多人把往茶裏加糖視為一種明白無誤的基層階層的行動標記。即使只加了一匙糖，也足以使人對你的出生發生一絲疑惑(除非你生在約1955年以前);假如加了不止一匙糖，那你充其量只是其中產階層中的基層人士;跨越兩匙，那你絕對屬於工人階層。”別的，假如有牛奶的話，另有一些關於什麽時候加牛奶和如何加牛奶的行動準則。福克斯指出，咀嚼熱氣圍繞的不加糖不加奶的正山小種紅茶，儼然已成為中產人士對付本身階層充斥焦炙的一種意味。不管是這類喝法，照樣加糖加奶、濃郁強勁、簡略適用的“修建工人茶(Builder’s tea)”，都窮盡了全部大概的選取。
Milk and sweetener have their own codes. “Taking sugar in your tea is regarded by many as aninfallible lower-class indicator: even one spoonful is a bit suspect (unless you were bornbefore about 1955); more than one and you are lower-middle at best; more than two and youare definitely working class,” she writes. Other rules involve when and how milk is added, if any.Making a point of drinking smoky Lapsang Souchong with no sugar or milk can be a sign ofclass anxiety in the middle class, Fox suggests: it’s as far as possible as one can get fromsweet, strong, milky mugs of the no-nonsense ‘builder’s tea’.
除奧妙的化學特征，吃茶品茗照樣一種絕對靠得住的交際手腕。
As for why the British drink an infusion of imported dried leaves at all, there are historicalreasons aplenty for why tea came to wash up on Britain’s shores. And one could come up withany number of rationales for why the current state of affairs was inevitable (boiling water tomake tea, for instance, made it less likely to give you a stomach bug).
很多汗青原因足以說明為什麽大批茶葉上岸不列顛海岸，英國人得以享用浸泡入口幹燥茶葉所獲得的飲品。人們可以想出很多來由來說明，為何英國人對茶的鐘愛是弗成防止的(比方，滾水烹茶可以下降你罹患胃病的大概性)。
A food scientist I once corresponded with pointed out something that seems to apply here. “Inmy opinion, food choices are driven by one’s environment – the context,” he wrote. You likewhat you like not necessarily because of any intrinsic quality, though obviously one candevelop a taste for almost anything. A food or drink’s real importance in your life may bebecause of everything the surrounds it – the culture of it.
我曾訪問過的一名食物科學家所提出的某些概念實用於此。他寫道：“在我眼裏，一小我選取甚麽食品是由他的情況，亦即生存配景所決議的。”你愛好你所愛好的事物，這其實不必定取決於該事物的任何內涵質量。不言而喻，人對付險些全部事物都能成長出愛好之情。一種食品大概一種飲品在你生存中的真正的主要性極可能取決於其周邊的事物，即其本身的文化。
Fox observes that in truth, alongside its chemical properties, tea is an infallible social space-filler. After having detailed the cultural meanings behind different methods of tea preparation,Fox writes, “Tea-making is the perfect displacement activity: whenever the English feelawkward or uncomfortable in a social situation (that is, almost all the time), they make tea.”
福克斯留意到，除奧妙的化學特征，吃茶品茗現實上照樣一種絕對靠得住的交際手腕。在具體指出分歧的茶葉制備辦法所包含的文化象征後，福克斯寫道：“沏茶時一種完善的轉移留意力的運動。每當英國人在交際場所中認為為難大概不安閑(也便是，險些全部時光)，他們就會泡茶。”
It’s also interesting to note that some of the molecules involved in the flavour of teas likelyevolved as defenses against being eaten by birds, insects and other creatures. That issomewhat ironic, given how vigorously we humans seek it out – and how many socialmeanings we’ve attached to it.
一樣風趣的是，與茶香有關的某些份子很多是由於為了茶葉免於被鳥類、蟲豸和其他生物吃掉而進化而來的。再想一想咱們人類苦苦摸索茶葉令人精神抖擻的緣故原由，和咱們給品茶所付與的諸多交際象征，這若幹帶有幾分譏諷象征。
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