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  • 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