Unit 154 A Nice Cup of Tea
M: Could I offer you a cup of tea?
W: Yes, thank you very much.
What kind do you have? M: I have Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Irish Breakfast, and Darjeeling.
W: Those are all black teas.
Do you have any green tea? M: I'm sorry, I don't really like green tea.
W: How could you not like green tea?
It's so much easier to drink than black tea. M: I just don't think green tea tastes as good as black tea.
Green tea has a simple flavor, but black tea has many kinds of flavors. W: Well I don't taste many flavors when I drink black tea.
It just tastes bitter to me. M: Then you should drink more black tea, because after drinking it for a while, you begin to appreciate its flavor.
W: Whatever its flavor, black tea can't be nearly as healthy as green tea.
I read about a study last week that showed people who drink green tea are less likely to get serious diseases, like cancer or heart disease. M: Well, history tells us that in the past, good black tea has been considered more valuable than gold.
Wars have been started over it. W: Really?
Which wars? M: The American Revolution.
W: The American Revolution had nothing to do with tea!
M: One of the things that started the Revolutionary War was an incident where a group of Americans dumped a British shipment of tea into the ocean in Boston.
This was called the Boston Tea Party, and it had nothing to do with green tea!