Why Italians Don't Drink Tea and Are Surprised When Friends Drink Tea

Returning from trips to European countries, our tourists are sincerely surprised that there is almost no tea. Answering why this happened is not easy. But we know exactly where tea is drunk and where coffee beans are preferred.



Where do they drink tea? If you trust the infographics from the site indy100.com, then most of all, tea is loved. No, you didn't. Not in the UK. Ahead of the planet on this indicator was sunny Uzbekistan. Tea accounts for 99.6% of the country’s total hot drink consumption.

#Tea or #coffee? Based on where you live, this map guesses your favorite t.co/y9hKGF2vIq via @LouisAleDore pic.twitter.com/DTX1nbg3jD

— Rainforest Alliance UK (@RnfrstAll_UK) August 3, 2016



At the other extreme is Guatemala, where 99.6% of the population prefers coffee. The United Kingdom (78.4% for tea) is only 15th on the list. Russia is followed by Russia (77.5%).

#teagroup #bump #tea #chioptom pic.twitter.com/V2zqYt4Bo9

— First Tearoom (@1teacomp) September 19, 2017



In Belarus, the ratio is 59.7% in favor of those who prefer tea. In Ukraine, 67.6% of respondents drink tea. And in Latvia, surprisingly, tea lovers are even more – 71%. For comparison, in neighboring Estonia – 40%, in Sweden and Finland, respectively, 9 and 11%, in Italy – 21%, in Germany – 39%.

Why coffee and not tea? Italians, French, Spanish, Greeks prefer coffee, but sometimes they also drink tea. However, rather as a medicine. If you want to make tea, ask if you are sick.



On the shelves of stores in these countries, loose black tea is not always found. Same situation in cafes and restaurants. Tea is there, if served, only in bags. And we will try to find a few possible reasons for this.

1. Historically established tradition
   Every nation has its own eating habits, which we learn from early childhood. And to understand how they are formed is a challenge.
   
   
   
   Thus, historically developed love of tea drinking in Russia and England can be explained by its greater availability in comparison with coffee. In Russia because of the common border with China, and in the United Kingdom because of the success of the East India Company.
   
   Not the last role is played by the personality factor. For example, the tradition of the English five o’clock (evening tea) was personally started and fashioned by Anna, the 7th Duchess of Bedford. And since 1860, there is a tradition of tea parties in the park of Buckingham Palace, where monarchs freely communicate with guests.
   
   
   
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   In the spread of tea in Russia made a significant contribution Emperor Alexander I, who made a lot of efforts to sell it at a fixed price. Leo Tolstoy has repeatedly confessed his love for tea. And Joseph Stalin during the night meetings constantly drank tea with lemon.
   
   
2. Genetic predisposition There is evidence that a person's choice between coffee or tea may be due to a set of genes. “It’s very simple, if you have the genes that allow you to feel the full taste of caffeine, you choose coffee, if not tea,” says Australian geneticist Liang Da Hwan.
   
   
3. Properties of local water Tourists returning from Croatia say that if you brew tea in the local water, a thin whitish film forms on its surface. At the same time, the water is clean, but apparently has its own special composition of trace elements.
   
   
4. Popular local drinks
   Argentina is one of the leading countries in the cultivation and production of tea. At the same time, they hardly drink it here. The reason is a drink of mate from the leaves of the Paraguayan paduba. Argentines drink it all the time and prefer tea and coffee.
   
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5. Global trend
   Selling coffee is a fast growing business. And there is a global trend of increasing its consumption around the world. The Soviet Union was fenced off by an iron curtain. 673,40057
   
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   But today we're catching up. The Russian Association of Tea and Coffee Producers reports that over the past 10 years, coffee consumption in Russia has increased by 97%.
   
   

If you are surprised that tea is almost not drunk in Italy, look at how it is brewed in America.

I'm convinced America isn't a real country, this shit has to be a reality tv show pic.twitter.com/bFhEwqpXwp

— inabber (@iNabber69) March 5, 2020



Mom and daughter filmed the process on video. And as a result, users of social networks to them full of questions. "Now I'm convinced that America is not a real country, it can't be a reality, it's some kind of TV show," one writes.