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

I am an American. I also like tea. I've never been to England, so I often wonder why they think that no American knows how to make proper tea.

I must confess that many Americans I know don't have a clue about tea, but then again, those same Americans are clueless about a lot of things that have absolutely nothing to do with hot beverages.

I like to make my Earl Grey just as it's described in the Tea article. I like mine with Milk, but I add sugar to mine as well. Helps me get going in the morning.

Thats because the vast majority of Americans think they hate tea. The reason being they never had it made right. Every person I offer a cup of tea to either says "I have never had tea before." or "No thanks I had to once and I hated it!" I give them the tea anyway, and I accept thier apology.

Well, the proper way to make it is without bags. I hate using bags personally. But I suppose if you're in a hurry or if it's all too confusing, bags are okay.

I never liked the Starbucks chain here because, even though they make their coffee well (I hate coffee), they are terrible makers of a proper cup of tea.

It's funny you should mention that, I used to work for Caribou Coffee for about two years. If you don't know what that is, it's exactly like Starbucks here in the midwest. We have Starbucks here also of course, but I happend to work for Caribou.

Anyway...

I also hate coffee, even though I tried my hardest to develop a taste for it. However, lucky for me Caribou's tea was all loose leaf! Yeah they had little throw away tea bags, and we would spoon fresh tea leaves into the bag, set it into the cup and give it to the costumers. And as an employee, I could take 1/4 of a pound of tea home a week for free. It was great, I drank tea while I worked, when I went home. Then one day, they decided it was much better and easier to control tea bags. So they switched to this crappy little tea bags. It was a sad day, and my first step to quitting. As it stand now, coffee shop tea bag tea is horrible.

I must live in an alternate American universe. Here in Seattle, tea is *always* offered after a dinner party. Coffee is less often offered, unless its a quite large party in which case a pot will probably be brewed. Since few people drink regular coffee in the evenings (most people drink their requisite 3 lattes a day before 5pm), one would offer decaf and that is insipid. Back to tea, usually a choice of herbal, green, black tea is offered, invariably in bags. And yep, just as described in the Salmon of Doubt, the mugs are all set out with bags and a kettle of hot water is brought to the table. Most people don't drink black tea with milk, but it won't ellicit a comment if you do ask for it. I have never seen tea properly made at a dinner party in Seattle. However, we do have quite a few excellent tea houses (like a coffee house, but only serves tea) and they make excellent proper tea. As for iced tea, they say that Americans drink 80% of their tea iced. What a vile concept. Where do all these people live? Not here. Oh, except Thai iced tea, now that's a different story...

I believe we do live in an Alternate American Universe. I've never heard such at thing. Even at family gatherings, people look at me like I've grown another arm when I ask for tea rather than a cup of hot coffee. When I go to a restaurant and ask them what kind of hot tea they have (yes, I do have to specify "hot"), they usually reply "the regular kind", which usually gets a sigh and a depressed head shake out of me.

Of course, you live in Seattle, and I live in Houston which are very different cities. The weather is completely different (except both cities get an awful lot of rain). While it can get quite cold up there, it's usually very hot down here, which is probably why most people down here drink their tea iced.

i admit that tea is the best thing when you're cold, traumatised, bored, depressed or just, i don't know, feeling a bit blah.

but the nicest hot tea-like drink i have ever tasted is chai. it's so yummy... try it.

Well, I live in the southern US (which I can see will probably cause me no small amount of trouble around here), so I was raised on cold, sugared-to-oblivion tea, and I love it. But it should be pointed out that I don't consider it the same thing at all as actual, authentic, hot, somewhat stereotypicaly British tea. For one, there are no kinds of iced tea. There's just tea. Bear in mind, this is the Soth: we're the land of restaurants named "EAT" and bars called "LIQUOR." Iced tea is iced tea. It's good, it's just not tea. If you gave it to any tea-loving British man and attempted to pass it of as tea*, he'd spit it back in your face. If you handed it to him in a glass and said "Drink this!", he might not object so strongly to it. He might like it. Just don't let him know it's supposed to be tea.

Granted, we're not as simple, as we may sound. Tea is tea to us, but if you go to a decent barbecue joint around here, you'll find out that there are just as many varieties of the basic meat + barbecue sauce equation as there are kinds of tea. It's just as varied and complicated a phenomenan as tea. People from diferent areas cook theirs in many different ways. Wars have nearly been fought over superior barbecue recipes. And we'll wash it all down with a glass of random, shoddy tea leaves, dried and powdered by the ton in a factory, copious amounts of sugar, and rather suspicious tap water, just as long as all of you are enjoying generic, crappy barbecue with your fine, sophisticated, gourmet tea. Sunrise, sunset.

* As I wrote this, I was suddenly overcome with the most bizarre feeling of deja vu.

Unfortunately, I am from the souther US as well. And man, it's all sugary iced tea. I love iced tea (sans sugar or lemon), but it doesn't beat hot tea. And it annoys me greatly because whenever I drink hot tea, if there's anyone else around me, they assume I'm being stuck up and throwing it in their face. I have no idea why.

In the UK it can be the same. There are more Coffee drinkers than Tea or so I'm told. I happen to love both.

Bit of trivia for you: It is said that the Teabag was invented because we Brits were so stingy that we would not waste the leaf dust. Therefore the dust was collected up, put into little linen bags and sold to the general public. That is why you find a lot of dust in your Tea bag caddie. The flavour thing is due to there being too little space for the Tea to brew. The bag is floppy so the leaves cannot move as freely. Buy loose Tea and a good quality Teapot for the best cuppa.

Loose tea is the best, but if you're prepared to spend a bit more and get some Twinings or Clipper the flavour's just as good

All English food is awful and bland or with horrible spices that are really hard to like unless you grew up with them. So, my theory is NOT that Americans are not making it right, but that tea sucks and english just don’t realize that its actually possible to drink something with (good/bold) flavor. They just like what they grew up with.

America being such a blending of all cultures, they get to experience everything and pick what they like the best.

I must say its not the same over here as it is over there, this is true.

I also must say I know a lot of tea drinker who like tea. I personally hate most hot beverages, but tea especially.

BTW no American has a freaken kettle or tea pot, I figured they haven’t existed since the 19th century, good lord. Plus, they're especially not going to have one if they're on vacation so i laugh HEARTILY at this entry. Heartily.

remember, America started with the British anyway.

'All English food is awful and bland or with horrible spices that are really hard to like unless you grew up with them.' I some how doubt you have eaten every English dish to be able make a comment like that. (This coming from the land of McDonald's)

You have never eaten a Cornish Pasty then. There are many areas In the States that can back me up because they can trace their ancestry back to Cornwall(i.e. Truro named after the capital, and well anywhere named after a Cornish town.) They also celebrate St Pierin's Day (The Patron Saint of Cornwall and Tin Miners.) With Pasties flown in from Cornwall along with Saffron buns and Clotted cream.

If you do not have a freaken kettle then how do you boil freaken water? Also there is no right or wrong way to have TEA. If you enjoy it the way you have it then that's the way to make it. I know a whole bunch of Americans who have a Tea pot and last time I checked it was the 21st Century.

Yes America started as a British Colony with British food and dare I say it Tea. So it is I who Laugh Heartily.

This is not a dig at you or America it is just a friendly reminder that the English are not all stiff upper lip, Knees up Mother Brown Cockneys nor Guy Richy Villains. There are some vile foods, Jellied eels for one and as I am a Vegetarian The thought of ever eating these make me feel sick.

Tea or Coffee just fill my cup

You obviously don't know anything about the English, or the British for that matter. One good thing that came out of the British and Roman Empires is the variety of food that we in Britain have today. I can go to the shops and find the ingredients to cook pretty much anything I damn well like - not just Asian, American on European foods, but even good old non-bland British food. Tea is not just a big deal in Britain either; the Japanese Tea Ceremony is a good example of this.

How dare you come along and slag our culture off with your fairy tale facts and finish your post off with "Remember, America started with the British anyway"? Go away and get your facts straight before opening your mouth.

Well said fords. We can all throw insults but let's not.

Time has a habit of distorting facts and as the saying goes. History is written by the victors. Some people here still think the French smell of Garlic and eat nothing but snails and frogs legs. It's not true but it's the same as you saying all English food is Bland.

Now back to topic.

"So, my theory is NOT that Americans are not making it right, but that tea sucks and english just don’t realize that its actually possible to drink something with (good/bold) flavor. They just like what they grew up with."


Okay, I can't stop laughing now.

I like Coffee as well. In fact I have 3 different coffee machines, Filter, Espresso and a pod type one. I just happen to like Tea also.

You have my sympathy Frito_McGee Very few restaurants can get Tea right in the UK either!

Pour warm water and wave Tea bag at it or so they think!

Indeed. When I make a pot of tea I like to do it the proper way