So that’s what makes tea taste how it does (not to mention energise its drinkers). But why do these melanges of molecules mean so much to British people? And what does your preference, in terms of tea type and how you drink it, mean about you?

人类学家凯特•福克斯（Kate Fox）在其专著《瞧这些英国人／英国人的言行潜规则》（Watching the English）一书中写道，不论何时，英国人泡茶的举动都在明确地传递出一些信息。她发现，一般来说，工人阶级喝的都是最浓烈的红茶，它所含的这些分子的剂量是最大的。而随着一个人所处社会阶层的提升，其所饮用的茶也逐渐变得清淡。

Anthropologist Kate Fox writes in her book Watching the English that there are several clear messages sent whenever a Brit makes a cuppa. She observes that the strongest brews of black tea – with the largest doses of these molecules – are typically drunk by the working class. The brew gets progressively weaker as one goes up the social ladder.

饮茶时牛奶和糖的使用，有它们自身的阶级惯例。她写道：“许多人把往茶里加糖视为一种明确无误的下层阶级的行为标志。即便只加了一匙糖，也足以令人对你的出身产生一丝怀疑（除非你生在约1955年之前）；如果加了不止一匙糖，那你充其量只是个中产阶级中的下层人士；超过两匙，那你绝对属于工人阶级。”另外，如果有牛奶的话，还有一些关于何时加牛奶以及怎样加牛奶的行为准则。福克斯指出，品味热气缭绕的不加糖不加奶的正山小种红茶，俨然已成为中产人士对于自身阶级充满焦虑的一种象征。无论是这种喝法，还是加糖加奶、浓烈强劲、简单实用的“建筑工人茶（Builder’s tea）”，都穷尽了所有可能的选择。

Milk and sweetener have their own codes. “Taking sugar in your tea is regarded by many as an infallible lower-class indicator: even one spoonful is a bit suspect (unless you were born before about 1955); more than one and you are lower-middle at best; more than two and you are 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 of class anxiety in the middle class, Fox suggests: it’s as far as possible as one can get from sweet, strong, milky mugs of the no-nonsense ‘builder’s tea’.

除了奇妙的化学特性，饮茶还是一种绝对可靠的社交手段。

As for why the British drink an infusion of imported dried leaves at all, there are historical reasons aplenty for why tea came to wash up on Britain’s shores. And one could come up with any number of rationales for why the current state of affairs was inevitable (boiling water to make tea, for instance, made it less likely to give you a stomach bug).

许多历史缘故足以解释为何大量茶叶登陆不列颠海岸，英国人得以享用浸泡进口干燥茶叶所得到的饮品。人们可以想出许多理由来解释，为什么英国人对茶的钟爱是不可避免的（例如，沸水烹茶可以降低你罹患胃病的可能性）。

A food scientist I once corresponded with pointed out something that seems to apply here. “In my opinion, food choices are driven by one’s environment – the context,” he wrote. You like what you like not necessarily because of any intrinsic quality, though obviously one can develop a taste for almost anything. A food or drink’s real importance in your life may be because of everything the surrounds it – the culture of it.

我曾拜访过的一位食品科学家所提出的某些观点适用于此。他写道：“在我看来，一个人选择什么食物是由他的环境，亦即生活背景所决定的。”你喜欢你所喜爱的事物，这并不一定取决于该事物的任何内在质量。显而易见，人对于几乎所有事物都能发展出喜爱之情。一种食物或者一种饮品在你生活中的真实的重要性很可能取决于其周边的事物，即其自身的文化。

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 feel awkward or uncomfortable in a social situation (that is, almost all the time), they make tea.”

福克斯注意到，除了奇妙的化学特性，饮茶实际上还是一种绝对可靠的社交手段。在详细指出不同的茶叶制备方法所蕴含的文化意味后，福克斯写道：“泡茶时一种完美的转移注意力的活动。每当英国人在社交场合中觉得尴尬或者不自在（也就是，几乎所有时间），他们就会沏茶。”

It’s also interesting to note that some of the molecules involved in the flavour of teas likely evolved as defenses against being eaten by birds, insects and other creatures. That is somewhat ironic, given how vigorously we humans seek it out – and how many social meanings we’ve attached to it.

同样有趣的是，与茶香有关的某些分子很可能是因为为了茶叶免于被鸟类、昆虫和其他生物吃掉而进化而来的。再想想我们人类苦苦探索茶叶使人精力充沛的原因，以及我们给品茶所赋予的诸多社交意味，这多少带有几分讽刺意味。