h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Nearly two years later, I'm replying to this for two reasons.

One: because I forgot about this website and just recently rediscovered it and

Two: I have something new to add.

Nearly a year ago, I moved to England and was suprised how many people drink coffee instead of tea. My husband (who is English) can't stand tea, but loves coffee. I really thought I was going to be spoiled for choice here but it turns out I have the choice between Starbucks and PG Tips.

I'm not really complaining too much though, because a month ago I went back to the states and made the mistake of asking for tea...they brought me iced tea. When I asked for hot, they brought me what I can only describe as incredibly untasty dirty dishwater.

Now I know what the British complain about when they talk about Americans and their tea.

Tea is still very popular in Scotland - most people I know prefer a good cup of tea to coffee, myself included of course In fact, many a World of Warcraft raid has ground to a halt so the Brits can go for a 'tea break'!

Frito: Try finding a Whittard's. They usually have a pretty good variety of teas and as far as I can remember they're quite common in large-ish English towns.

I suppose it's rather ironic to go to a British website, go through all the trouble of registering, and then start insulting their culture.

I have discovered Whittards within a few weeks of living here. It's a fantastic place and I am a regular customer. It's nice to go to work in this country and have plenty of stock of tea available. It's nice not having to bring my own.

As an American and a self-proclaimed Anglophile, I make a hard-to-beat Cuppa. I have several tea-pots, all ceramic, and most of them made in England. I frankly love tea. I love it made from bags, from loose-leaf, practically any way I can get it...so long as it's English (or Scottish, or Irish).

I've taken great pains to make certain that I make my tea in the "proper" way. I spent weeks researching methods before firing up the kettle for the first time a few years ago. I grew up with herbal tea brewed in cup from water heated in the microwave. I look back on that now and shake my head in bewilderment. Practically everyone I know couldn't make a good cup of tea to save their lives. I no longer order tea in restaurants because I grew weary of the disappointment.

I do not buy tea unless it was at least blended in the UK. I recently switched to PG Tips because my local grocer has stopped carrying loose leaf Twinings. If I want very good tea, I have to make the three hour (there and back) trip to Seattle.

Most American Black Teas are repellent, with Lipton in the lead of that category. My advice for any Britons visiting America: pass Lipton by. Refuse it if someone offers it to you. Just look for the "Ethnic" food section and you might find some PG Tips. Also, a brand called "Stash" makes disgusting Earl Grey that tastes of Blueberries.

I apologise if this post seems overly long or self-congratulatory, but I just wanted to point out that there are Americans who care enough to seek out good, UK brand teas and to make a decent cup every time. I religiously follow the steps outlined in this article to ensure that the tea I make is traditional and delicious; even half-delirious in the mornings, I warm the pot. I always add the milk first, and two lumps if I feel like it.

I would also like to say that anyone who says they don't like tea has never had a good cup and doesn't know what they are missing. Tea is the best drink in the world, hands down. How else could it be the second most popular drink in the world, water being the first?

Hear, hear! Let's hear it for the !

Lipton is vile. You can get Lipton Ice Tea here and it's just disgusting; I think iced tea is plain wrong anyway. I gather that in the US tea is a minority drink?

Tea certainly is the minority drink here. Very few people drink it on a regular basis, and even fewer know how to make it well. My cousin, who claims to love tea, makes it in the microwave, and doesn't take milk with it.

And on the subject of iced tea, yes, it is in every way disgusting. Iced tea isn't tea, anyone who says it is is lying to themselves.

I would like to speak up in defence of iced tea, please. Not the disgusting Liptons stuff and its fellows, which have probably never seen a tea plant, but the perfectly acceptable kind, which is made the same way as normal tea but put in a fridge.

It's my experience (as a Canadian living in the states) that most Americans don't so much pick 'what they like best' as 'what's most familiar and comfortable and easy'. Every American I know actually does indeed own a kettle, most of them own teapots as well and quite a lot of those own more than one. I even know one who owns and operates a tea shop in Seattle.

got robbed in 7seattle once

I am an American and I really love my tea. I do usually drink it straight without milk or sugar and I do it to enjoy the flavors of my loose teas. I have not found a good tea store in the states yet but I will usually drive to Canada to a great tea shop. I cannot stand the taste of coffee. I find that many of the restaurants and hotels discriminate against tea drinkers by only providing the same orange pekoe which is usually below par.

Whenever I've been abroad I've struggled to get decent tea. In Australia I found Tetley tea - it was something at least!