TEA AROUND THE WORLD

All around the world, people drink tea. Tea, however, does not mean the same thing to
everyone. In different countries people have very different ideas about drinking tea. Japanese, English
and Americans have widely varying tea-drinking habits.
Tea is an important part of Japanese culture. The Japanese have a special way of serving tea
called a tea ceremony. It is very old and full of meaning. Everything must be done a special way in the
ceremony. There is even a special room for it in Japanese homes.
Another tea-drinking country is England. In England the late afternoon is “teatime”. Almost
everyone has a cup of tea then. The English usually make tea in a teapot and drink it with cream and
sugar. They also eat cakes, cookies and little sandwiches at teatime.
In the United States people drink tea mostly for breakfast or after meals. Americans usually use
tea bags to make their tea. Tea bags are faster and easier than making tea in a teapot. In the summer,
many Americans drink cold tea, called “iced tea”. They sometimes drink iced tea from cans, like soda.
People from Japan, England and the United States have quite different ways of drinking tea.
But, they have one thing in common: they all love it!.