My Mate George: Ode to a cup of tea - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

Americans may need a cup of coffee to make it through the day. But in the Olympic host country Brits are fueled on tea.

"We've got a whole culture in this country built around tea," said Helen Herarty who owns Grays Court in York. "You meet somebody, you offer them a cup of tea. There's a crisis and you sit down with a cup of tea. You meet your friends and discuss things over afternoon tea, morning tea, and there are so many different blends of tea. You've got different times of the day. It's incredibly important to English culture," said Heraty.

Shropshire, England is home to the Rocke Cottage Tea Rooms, the 2011 Top Tea Place as awarded by the UK Tea Guild.

"We've always been a nation of tea drinkers for years and year and years, hundreds of years. It's our national drink. In times of trouble in England, people turn to a cup of tea. It relaxes you. It cheers you up. It refreshes you. It does everything," said owner Karin Clarke.

Shirley Biffen was seated inside a quaint room enjoying afternoon tea with a friend.

"We like to have tea in the afternoon with a piece of cake and have a bit of a chat. It's a place to get together and have a little gossip and it's just something that makes you feel very English," said Biffen.

WTHR Photographer Steve Rhodes met with England singer/songwriter My Mate George who wrote the song, "A Nice Cup of Tea" and to talk about the tradition of tea.

"Whenever anything happens, a happy thing or a sad thing or a traumatic thing, the automatic reaction is 'lets have a cup of tea. I'll put the kettle on,'" said George. "That's kind of what my song's about. It's kind of our reaction to anything emotional. Seems to be to put a kettle on," said George.

"It's an excuse to do nothing for a little awhile. It's kind of the opposite of coffee. Americans,

it seems to me are more into coffee than tea. That might go along with national stereotypes as well. There's kind of an American "I can't do anything until I've had my first cup of coffee in the morning. It's getting ready to do stuff. Whereas, tea is about stopping doing stuff for a bit. My cup of tea, is going to be too hot to drink for a little while. I've got to drink it very slow. That's the next 15 minutes," said George.

"I think English people tend to need a prop. We're a bit embarrassed socially. We tend to need a prop. Something to do with our hands or to busy ourselves with that isn't talking," said "My Mate George." "Whether it's a pint of beer or a pot of tea, it's default activity to avoid talking about stuff too much."

"If it's a nice sunny afternoon or you're in a garden then something like Darjeeling or Orange Pico would be the sort of tea to have. But without milk. But so long as it's a black tea, like English breakfast, but light. Most English people wouldn't get into that much detail about tea. Just put a tea bag in a cup than slosh it down. They're a little bit weird about tea."

"My music persona is My Mate George. I wrote a song about My Mate George. It's a song about Englishness. Everything English. I read a book about Englishness called "Watching the English."

I wanted to write a song about this sort of stuff in it. People want to celebrate St. George's day April 23, will get angry about it, the first line is he loves a cup of tea. There's got to be a song already about tea. There were a few I found on the internet but not many. I was kind of inspired by the idea that we go to tea in a crisis," said George.

"I was working at a place where they have counseling, and there were lots of volunteers. The biggest was tea. Everybody sat around the kitchen table and that's where most of the therapeutic stuff happened. I kind of wrote a song about the lady who set up that place. Something that everybody could sing along to. I also work with people with dementia. They like sing-a-longs. It's what they drink all the time. It seems to work," said George.

SONG LYRICS TO "A NICE CUP OF TEA"

A nice cup of tea, a nice cup of tea

It picks me up and it calms me down

I don't know where I'd be without a nice cup of tea, a nice cup of tea

Mug in hand, I'll handle anything that life has in store for me

Take a load off, sit awhile I'll put the kettle on

I can tell from looking at you, you've been working all day long

Everybody needs a break from all their sweat and toil

Wait there just a minute now, it's coming to a boil

A nice cup of tea, a nice cup of tea, it picks me up and it calms me down

I don't know where I'd be without a nice cup of tea, a nice cup of tea, mug in hand

I'll handle anything that life has in store for me