Is this your cup?

Coffee cups: Do you use your own?

Most takeaway coffee cups are not recyclable because they're lined with plastic. One big coffee shop chain has introduced a 5p levy for using a disposable cup to encourage people to bring their own; another one pledged to recycle as many disposable coffee cups as they produce by 2020. Neil and Rob discuss if this is enough to encourage coffee drinkers to behave in a more environmentally-friendly way. And they teach you related vocabulary.

Vocabulary

Disposable: designed to be thrown away after a short time

Reusable: designed to be used many times

rolling out: gradually introducing something new to a business

infrastructure: buildings or structures that are needed for something to work.

a nudge: a gentle push

to fight (something) tooth and nail: to make a strong effort against something

Neil: Hello, and welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Neil.

Rob: And I'm Rob.

Neil: Now Rob, we’ve talked before on this programme about our love of coffee.

Rob: Oh yes, indeed. I couldn’t function without it.

Neil: But have you ever thought about the environmental consequences of all those disposable coffee cups?

Rob: Oh yes, indeed. I always carry a reusable cup with me so I don’t have to throw one away.

Neil: So if a disposable cup is one you throw away, a reusable one is one that you can use again and again.

Rob: Yes, there is a big problem with disposable cups in that many of them can’t be recycled, so there is a lot of waste for something we only use for a short time.

Neil: What are the big coffee shop chains doing about this problem? We’ll find out a little bit more shortly, but first, a quiz for you. Which country drinks the most coffee per capita – so not the total amount of coffee but the average per person. Is it:
a) Japan
b) Kenya, or
c) Finland
What do you think, Rob?

Rob: Ooh, tricky. I don’t think the Japanese are big coffee drinkers and I know they produce a lot of coffee in Kenya. I’m surprised the USA isn’t on the list but I’m going to go with Finland. Just because.

Neil: Well, we'll see if you're right later in the programme. On a recent BBC You and Yours radio programme they discussed the topic of coffee cups. Some of the big chains are now charging customers more for a disposable cup and giving discounts if people bring their own reusable. However not all of the shops actually collect old cups and sort them for recycling in the shop itself. Here’s Jaz Rabadia from Starbucks, Is the store only interested in facilities inside their shops?

Jaz Rabadia 
It is something that we are in the process of rolling out and it will be

in all of our stores. It's also not just our stores in which these cups end up. So we're doing a lot of work outside of our store environment to ensure that paper cups can be recycled on the go. We're working with our environmental charity partner Hubbub to increase recycling infrastructure outside of our stores because that too is where a lot of our cups will end up.

Neil
: So are they just working in their stores at improving recycling?

Rob: Well no, after all most people take their coffee out of the stores, so they are working on recycling infrastructure outside as well. This will be things like bins and collection points which are clearly marked for coffee cups.

Neil: And what about enabling recycling cups in store?

Rob: Well she said that was something they are rolling out to all stores. Rolling out here means introducing over a period of time. So it’s starting to happen, but is not finished yet.

Neil:Let’s listen again.

Jaz Rabadia
It is something that we are in the process of rolling out and it will be in all of our stores. It's also not just our stores in which these cups end up. So we're doing a lot of work outside of our store environment to ensure that paper cups can be recycled on the go. We're working with our environmental charity partner hubbub to increase recycling infrastructure outside of our stores because that too is where a lot of our cups will end up.

Neil: Not everyone, however, believes that the coffee chains are doing everything that they can. This is Mary Creagh, a member of the British parliament. She compares the situation to that of the plastic bag charge. This was a law brought in to force shops to charge customers for plastic bags, which previously had been free.

Mary Creagh MP
If you think you’re having to pay extra for something, as we saw with the plastic bags, we think a similar psychological measure is needed, a nudge measure, to encourage people to remember to bring their reusable cup with them and of course this is something that the coffee shops have been fighting tooth and nail.

Neil: She thinks that we consumers need a nudge to help us remember our reusable cups.

Rob: Yes, we need a nudge, which is a little push, a reason. In this case, she is thinking of a law to make them charge more. But she says the coffee chains really don’t want this, they are, she says, fighting it tooth and nail. If you fight something tooth and nail you are against it completely and try to stop it.

Neil: Let's hear MP Mary Creagh again. 

Mary Creagh MP
If you think you’re having to pay extra for something, as we saw with the plastic bags, we think a similar psychological measure is needed, a nudge measure, to encourage people to remember to bring their reusable cup with them and of course this is something that the coffee shops have been fighting tooth and nail. 

Neil
: Time to review our vocabulary, but first, let’s have the answer to the quiz question. Which country drinks the most coffee per capita? Is it:
a) Japan
b) Kenya, or
c) Finland
What did you think, Rob? 

Rob: I took a bit of a guess at Finland. 

Neil: Well, congratulations, your guess was correct. The Finns on average get through an amazing 12kg of coffee a year, each. Now, onto the vocabulary.

Rob: We had a couple of related but opposite words. Something disposable is designed to be used once or a few times and then thrown away and a reusable is designed to be used again and again. 

Neil: We then had rolling out which in a business sense is the process of gradually introducing something new. This could be a new system, new product, new technology or even a new way of doing things. 

Rob: New ideas often need new infrastructure. This is usually physical structures that are needed to make something work, for example rail infrastructure includes tracks, stations and signals. 

Neil: A nudge is a small push, to encourage us to do something. You don’t need a nudge to carry a reusable coffee cup, do you? 

Rob : Oh, no, I’m all for it. In fact I’d fight tooth and nail to keep hold of my reusable. Which is quite a coincidence as that was our last expression today. To fight tooth and nail means to make a strong effort to try to stop something or achieve something. 

Neil: Well, that’s all from us. We look forward to your company next time. Until then, you can find us in all the usual places on social media, online and on our app. Just search for 'BBC Learning English'. Goodbye! 

Rob: Goodbye!

Why does coffee smell so good?

Is there more to coffee than just drinking it? Experts say that the smell of the beans is just as important. Neil and Catherine discuss the science behind why coffee often smells better than it tastes and teach some new vocabulary along the way.

Vocabulary

Vital: very important

Key: essential, necessary

a physiological response : a reaction your body has to something, like a smell

to be baffled by something: to be confused by something, to not understand it

a chain: a group of shops from the same company, all the shops have the same design and sell the same or very similar products

weird: unusual, strange

Neil: Catherine, I'm going to start this programme with a quick test, just for you.

Catherine : Ooo, I love tests!

Neil: Complete this phrase:  Wake up and smell the...

Catherine: Coffee Neil! It's coffee. I have to say, I love coffee, it's great.

Neil: OK, so do you drink much?

Catherine: Well, just a couple of cups, you know.

Neil : Every day?

Catherine: No, every hour! I love coffee, don't you like coffee, Neil?

Neil: I do but maybe not as much as you! What's the best thing about it?

Catherine: It's the smell. It's got to be the smell. You know, when you open the packet, it's great, isn't it?

Neil: Yes, but it never quite tastes as good as it smells, does it?

Catherine: Well no, not really. It's always a little disappointing.  I live in hope, another cup, I think it will be better. I might change brands actually and try a different one.

Neil: OK, you've had quite a lot of coffee today, haven't you!

Catherine: Just the usual six cups.

Neil: Well, our topic today is the smell of coffee and coffee is also the subject of today's question. The world's biggest producer of coffee is...

Catherine: Brazil! Brazil!

Neil: Yes, but that's not the question. The question is, Brazil is the biggest coffee producer, which is the second largest coffee producing country? Is it:

a: Colombia  
b: Vietnam
c: Ethiopia

Catherine: Right, so it's not Brazil but I bet it's another South American country, so I'm going to go for Columbia. Columbia, is that right?

Neil: We'll have the answer later in the programme by which time, maybe the caffeine will have left your body Catherine. Tim Hayward is a coffee shop owner. He appeared in the BBC Radio 4 programme The Kitchen Cabinet. How important does he say the smell of coffee is?

Tim Hayward, Coffee shop owner
It's absolutely vital, it's the key thing. When you walk in to the coffee shop in the morning and that smell hits you, you're getting physiological responses.

Neil: So how important is it?

Catherine: I'm feeling a bit calmer now. Tim Hayward says the smell of coffee is vital. That means it's very important, it's perhaps the most important thing. And he backs this up by saying that it's the key thing. Something that's key is something that is essential, it's really important.

Neil: And he says that when you experience the smell, when the smell hits you, you get a physiological response. This phrase means your body has a reaction to the smell of coffee. Perhaps your mouth begins to water in anticipation. Catherine, when you get a coffee, do you normally have it there or take it away?

Catherine: Well, I usually take it away, although if I'm feeling really in need of a coffee hit, I might have one there and then get another one and take with me.

Neil: Can you describe the container you are given when you have a coffee to go?

Catherine
Yes, it's in a tall paper cup with a lid. And the lid has a hole in it so that I can drink that lovely coffee.

Neil: Don't you think that's a problem? I mean, we know how important the smell is, so what is the effect of the lid on that experience?

Catherine: The effect of the lid?

Neil: Yes. Well here's Tim Hayward again talking about coffee being served with lids.

Tim Hayward
What baffles me is that how many of the large coffee chains actually sell a product in a cup that removes the smell. So you walk into the coffee shop, you get the smell, but when you actually take the drink out you are drinking it from something that is designed to deliver the hot liquid directly past your tongue but stop any smell coming up to your nose. That's just weird.

Neil: So what is he describing there?

Catherine: I see now, yes, He's talking about the big coffee chains. A chain is a company that has lots of its stores in towns and cities sometimes around the world. I think we can all think of a few well-known coffee chains. He says that by putting a lid on take away cups, you're actually blocking the smell - that smell that is really important to the coffee experience.

Neil: Yes, and he says that he finds that weird, which is a way of saying he finds it unusual, thinks it's strange, odd. So much so that he says it baffles him. If you are baffled by something, you find it confusing, you can't really understand it. Here's Tim Hayward again.

Tim Hayward
What baffles me is that how many of the large coffee chains actually sell a product in a cup that removes the smell. So you walk into the coffee shop, you get the smell, but when you actually take the drink out you are drinking it from something that is designed to deliver the hot liquid directly past your tongue but stop any smell coming up to your nose. That's just weird.

Neil
That was coffee shop owner Tim Hayward. Right before we have another cup of this week's vocabulary, let's get the answer to the question. After Brazil, which country produces most coffee? Is it:

a: Colombia
b: Vietnam
c: Ethiopia

Catherine, you said?

Catherine: I said it was a: Colombia.

Neil: Ah, sorry, no extra coffee for you today! The answer is Vietnam. And now on to the vocabulary we looked at. Take it away Catherine.

Catherine: So the first word was vital, which is an adjective that means very important. And another word with a very similar meaning was key, meaning essential.

Neil: Next we had the phrase physiological responses. Physiological refers to what our bodies do and a response is a reaction.So a physiological response is a reaction your body has to something, like the smell of coffee.

Catherine: Something that baffles you, confuses you, you don't understand it.

Neil: You might find something that baffles you to be weird. This adjective means unusual or strange.

Catherine: And finally, a chain is a group of shops from the same company with the same name.

Neil: Well that is the end of our programe. For more from us, check out Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and our App and of course the website bbclearningenglish.com. See you soon, bye.

Catherine: Bye! Fancy a coffee?

Neil:  I think you've had too much!

How do you your coffee?

How different are cafes of the 21st century from the very first coffee houses? Cafes have become free wifi hotspots. Has the internet replaced the lively debate and intellectual discussions that used to be their main feature in the past? Rob and Catherine discuss this over a coffee and teach you new vocabulary.

Vocabulary 

Debate: a discussion that a lot of people take part in

Stimulating: encouraging new ideas and enthusiasm

Consume: eat or drink, (also) use

vibe : the mood or atmosphere in a place

squatter: someone who lives in an empty building without paying rent

hog: use all or most of something in a selfish way

Catherine : Hello, I'm Catherine. Welcome to Six Minute English where we engage in some lively debate and discuss six stimulating items of vocabulary! And let's start. Here's your cup of coffee, Rob.

Rob: Thanks! But what took you so long, Catherine?

Catherine: Sorry Rob. I bumped into somebody I knew in the café and stopped for a chat.

Rob: OK, well, that fits well with today's show where we're talking about cafés or coffee houses. Did you know, Catherine, that coffee houses were originally a meeting place for lively debate and intellectual discussion?

Catherine: Really. I didn't know that, Rob. A debate, by the way, means a discussion that a lot of people take part in. So how long ago was this debating society?

Rob: The first coffee house was set up in Oxford in 1650. But they quickly became popular and soon they were all over London too. You paid a penny to get in, and this included access to newspapers – and stimulating conversation!

Catherine: If something is stimulating it encourages ideas and enthusiasm. I expect the coffee helped with that a bit did it?

Rob: It certainly helps me first thing in the morning.

Catherine: Which brings me on to today's question, Rob! How many cups of coffee do we consume in coffee shops or stores in the UK every year? Consume, by the way, is another word for eat or drink. Is it…
a) 2.3 million
b) 23 million or
c) 23 billion?

Rob: Oh I don't know but it's got to be a lot so I'm going to go for c) 23 billion? That sounds like a lot of coffee, but I buy several cups a week – and I expect you do too, Catherine?

Catherine: I do indeed. But I have to say, while I was getting our coffee earlier, there was nobody else in the café talking except me and my friend. Everybody was sitting on their own, tapping away on their laptops. Let's listen now to Douglas Fraser, BBC Scotland's Business and Economy Editor, describing the vibe – or atmosphere – in a typical 21st-century café…

Douglas Fraser, BBC Scotland's Business and Economy Editor
Ten or so in the morning, the café has five people at tables with their backs to the wall, each staring into a screen, plugged in, ears plugged. The flow of bytes through this coffee shop's free wifi is transporting these customers to diverse destinations far from the person beside them. Collaborative working, a research grant application, a potential blockbuster novel, and inevitably, someone distracted by kitten pictures on social media.

Rob: So the spirit of those 17th-century coffee houses has disappeared then? No more lively debate and intellectual discussion?

Catherine: It seems so Rob. As Douglas Fraser says, many people sit alone plugged into their laptops – and they're all doing different things – working, writing, messing about on social media.

Rob: I think the café owners should turn off the free wifi and force these café squatters to move on! I don't think people should be allowed to sit all day using the internet – hogging tables – and not talking to anybody! Especially when some of them don't even buy a coffee!

Catherine: That's a bit extreme, Rob. Café owners need customers – and they encourage people to stay by having comfy sofas and newspapers to read and the free wifi ! A squatter, by the way, is someone who lives in an empty building without paying rent. And if you hog something you use most or all of it in a selfish way.

Rob: I suppose you're right. Now, how about telling us the answer to today's question then?

Catherine: I asked: How many cups of coffee do we consume in cafés or stores in the UK every year? Is it…

a) 2.3 million

b) 23 million or c) 23 billion?

Rob: I could sit in a cafe and use their free wifi to research the answer but I had a guess and said 23 billion.

Catherine: Well you didn't need that free wifi Rob because you were absolutely right! 23 billion coffees per year works out on average as 45 cups per adult in the UK.

Rob: OK, I think it's time we looked back at the words we learned today. Our first word is 'debate' – a discussion that a lot of people take part in.

Catherine: For example, 'I took part in a number of stimulating debates at school.' Number two – if something is 'stimulating', it encourages new ideas and enthusiasm. For example, 'It's hard to have a stimulating conversation with someone who's looking at their phone all the time.'

Rob: That's very true – let me just slide my phone into my pocket… there! Our next word is 'consume' – another word for eating or drinking – but it can also mean 'to use'. For example, 'My car consumes a lot of petrol.'

Catherine: Or, 'How do I calculate my car's fuel consumption?' So 'consumption' there is the noun.Number four is – 'vibe' – which means the mood or atmosphere in a place. For example, 'Oxford is a city but it has a small-town vibe.'

Rob: I'm getting bad vibes from our next word – which is 'squatter' – that's someone who lives in an empty building without paying rent. The building is called a 'squat' so for example, 'I lived in a squat for two years.'

Catherine: Really? You squatted in a squat, Rob?

Rob: No, it was just an example. I'm not a squatter.

Catherine: You've never squatted?

Rob: No I haven't. Look we're wasting time here! We need to move on to our final word – hog. If you 'hog' something, you use all or most of it in a selfish way.

Catherine: For example, 'Rob! You've hogged the only comfy chair! That is so selfish!'

Rob: I admit it, Catherine. I'm a chair hog. That's the noun. OK, before we head off for another cup of coffee please remember to check out our Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages.

Catherine/Rob: Bye!

Learn vocabulary to order coffee

Here is some vocabulary about the well-known drinks tea and coffee:

Coffee

• coffee beans: seeds from a coffee bush (which are ground or crushed to make coffee grinds which are used to make the drink coffee)

• white coffee: coffee with milk

• black coffee : coffee without milk

• skinny coffee: coffee with skimmed (or low-fat) milk

• espresso: a small measure of strong, dark coffee

• latte: one measure of espresso and milk

• cappuccino
  one measure of espresso and hot, frothy milk (milk which is whipped until it forms lots of tiny bubbles) and often powdered chocolate on the top

• filter coffee: coffee made by slowly pouring boiling water through crushed coffee beans in a coffee filter (thin paper which allows only the liquid to flow through, not the beans or the powder)

• instant coffee: coffee made by adding boiling water to coffee powder (it is made very quickly because you don't need to filter the coffee)

• caffeine (uncountable): a chemical, found in coffee (and tea), which is a stimulant (something which makes people more active)

• decaffeinated coffee / decaf coffee: coffee that has been treated so that the caffeine (a chemical substance in coffee or tea) has been removed

• strong / weak: two adjectives used to describe coffee with a full flavour / lacking in flavour

  

Tea

• ordinary tea / plain tea / builders' tea: dark tea that is commonly drunk in Britain (and Europe), made from leaves of the tea plant

• green tea: lighter-coloured tea that is commonly drunk in China and Japan, made from leaves of the tea plant

• herbal tea: tea made from dried or fresh flowers or leaves (usually this kind of tea has no caffeine in it)

• decaffeinated tea: tea that has been treated so that the caffeine (a chemical substance in tea and coffee) has been removed

• Coffee verbs

• Brew: make a cup or pot of coffee (or tea)

• grind: put coffee beans through a machine that crushes them into powder which can be used to make filter coffee, espresso, etc.

• I've got that straight: I understand that now

• He's on easy street: He's got an easy life with no difficulties or worries

• get my head around: understand

• jargon: special words and phrases which are used by particular groups of people, especially to do with their work

Is your coffee ethical?

It's one of the most popular drinks on the planet and something many people have for breakfast. Coffee is a widely exported product. However, how much of that money does the coffee farmer actually see? And is there a way to make things a little fairer for everyone? A new report from the UN suggests so. Dan and Catherine discuss the issue and teach you six items of vocabulary.

Vocabulary

Dash: a small amount of something, usually a liquid

aficionado: someone who is very interested in or enthusiastic about a subject

as cheap as chips: very cheap

ethical: morally right

roasted: cooked in an oven

premium: larger than usual payment, usually for better quality service

Dan: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Dan and joining me today is Catherine. Hey Catherine.

Catherine: Hey Dan.

Dan: So Catherine, do you prefer a brew or a cup of joe in the morning?

Catherine: Well, if you are referring to whether I prefer a cup of tea, which we sometimes call ‘a brew’, or a cup of coffee, sometimes called ‘a cup of joe’, I prefer my coffee in the morning.

Dan
I only drink coffee when I really need to wake up quickly.  

Catherine: And, why are you asking, Dan?

Dan: Because it’s part of this 6 Minute English.

Catherine: Coffee. I see. So how do you take it then, Dan?

Dan: Well, I’m an instant coffee kind of guy. And I like mine with a dash of milk. How about you?

Catherine: A dash of something is a small amount of something, especially liquid. Personally, I prefer freshly-ground coffee beans, and I like my coffee dark and strong -  preferably Colombian or maybe Brazilian.

Dan:Wow. A coffee aficionado, eh?

Catherine: An aficionado is a person who’s very enthusiastic about, or interested in, a particular subject.

Dan: Well, let me test your knowledge with this week’s quiz question. The specialty coffee, Kopi luwak, is made from coffee beans which have already passed through an animal’s digestive system. But which animal?

a)    an elephant

b)    a cat

c)    a weasel

Catherine: I’m always going to answer b) a cat. Did you say this coffee actually goes through the animal? As in, it eats it and then it comes out the other end, and that’s what we use for the coffee?

Dan: Well, yes. It is actually one of the most expensive coffees in the world. Anyway, we’ll find out if you’re right or not later on. So, talking of expensive, do you tend to pay more for your coffee or are you happy with the cheap as chips stuff?

Catherine: Cheap as chips means very cheap. And personally, I do actually like a quality product, and I am willing to pay a bit more for it.

Dan: Would you be willing to pay even more than you already do if it meant that the farmer who grew the beans was getting a fairer price?

Catherine: I would because I think that that sort of thing is important.

Dan: And you aren’t alone.  There is a growing trend among many Western customers of artisan cafes to be willing to pay more for ethically produced coffee.

Catherine: Ethical means morally right. So, Dan, why is this trend happening at the moment? 

Dan: Well, it’s probably been going on for a while, but a new report from the UN’s World Intellectual Property Organisation has observed the effect that smarter processing, branding and marketing has had on the farmers and their communities.

Catherine: And because of this, coffee drinkers are better able to choose ethically produced coffee that puts more money in the hands of the farmers. But, Dan, do the farmers actually see any of this money?

Dan: Well, it’s complicated. The price of the coffee is relatively cheap until it’s been roasted – or cooked in an oven. As a result, roasters take most of the profits. But there is still a difference. I’ll let Johnathan Josephs, a business reporter for the BBC News explain.

INSERT
Jonathan Josephs , Business reporter, BBC News
For a pound of coffee beans that end up in the instants (section) sold in supermarkets, the roaster can get over $4. But the export price is just $1.45. The farmer gets most of that. But when the new wave of socially-aware customer pays a premium for higher standards, the roaster can get $17.45, but the export price also rises to $5.14.

Catherine: A premium is an amount that’s more than usual. So the farmer makes three-and-a-half times as much money.

Dan: Which means a better quality of life for the farmer, their family and their community.

Catherine: That’s good news! I will definitely look for the ethically produced coffee from now on. As long as, Dan, it doesn’t come out of some animal!

Dan: Yes, actually that reminds me. Our quiz question. I asked you which animal the speciality coffee Kopi luwak comes from.

a)    an elephant

b)    a cat

c)    a weasel

Catherine: And I said a cat.

Dan: And you are wrong I’m afraid. Kopi luwak comes from a type of weasel.

Catherine
I’m kind of relieved about that.

Dan: Let’s try not to think about it, and have a look at the vocabulary instead.

Catherine: OK. So, first we had dash. A dash of something is a small amount of something, usually a liquid. Where might we talk about a dash of something, Dan?

Dan: Well, I like my tea with a dash of milk. My gin with a dash of tonic, and my soup with a dash of salt. Then we had aficionado. An aficionado is someone who is very interested or enthusiastic about a subject. What are you an aficionado of?

Catherine:I’m working on becoming a bit of an accordion aficionado actually, Dan.

Dan :Wow, cool!

Catherine:Yeah! After that, we had as cheap as chips. Is something as cheap as chips? Then it is very cheap indeed.

Dan: Like my shoes! I bought them at a market for next to nothing. They were as cheap as chips. Then we had ethical. Something which is ethical is morally right. Do you consider yourself to be an ethical person, Catherine?

Catherine: Well, I try, Dan. I don’t always get it right, but I do attempt to be. After that we heard roasted. Roasted means cooked in an oven. Like our coffee beans!

Dan: And of course our very famous English roast. Finally, we had a premium. If you pay a premium, you pay more than usual - usually for a better quality or service. Can you think of an example?

Catherine: If you’re going to the cinema, you might pay a premium to get more comfortable seats.

Dan: And that’s the end of this 6 Minute English. Don’t forget to check out our YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages, and we’ll see you next time.Goodbye.

Catherine: Bye!