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Lately, I've switched from coffee to a nice, soothing cup of tea.
(files.mastodon.social)
Source: https://mastodon.social/@Daojoan/111990672465208834
Edit: pu'er, black, green, white tea. Love it all and drink it more than I drink coffee. No need to start a culture war; taste is as individual as humour.
I didn't understand why tea is so hated in America then I went there are it was by far the worst tea I have ever had. Like worse than I could make at home if I tried to make a shit tea. Worse than I thought possible.
I used to disagree with the death penatlity in America but if they dragged the Liptons board of directors out and shot them it wouldn't be undeserved.
But how its brewed, how it's served, what it's served with, what the tea is it is all shit. I talked to a friend when I was there and he said "yea I know I brought a 50 pack with me from home. I've been here before" haha. The only place you can get a passable tea in America is on a BA flight out of the country. Even then it's a shitty airline tea but it's much better than any cafe, restaurant or pub in the country.
I don't get me started in the fucking Guinness.
I tried tea in the UK and didn't think it was very good either tho. I think I just don't like tea that much.
Ironically the best coffee I ever had was a cappuccino in London. Which I paired with a full English. Still one of the best breakfasts in my life, that shit was dank
Some day I'll get to have a full English breakfast I've always wanted to try.
There are regional differences. Chinese tea is completely different. Indian tea has some differences, as well.
If you are in a cosmopolitan area there’s plenty of access to tea houses serving loose leaf Japanese and Chinese tea that would satisfy the most demanding tea enthusiast. That doesn’t begin to count the non-traditional items like boba, tisanes, etc.
The USA doesn’t have much of a British style tea tradition, but that’s mostly because it’s a diverse nation and British tea and food is mostly crap to begin with. Why would the US drink British tea when there are so many alternatives that are actually good?
You can straight up buy loose leaf Chinese tea like oolong in the US from basically any Asian/international grocery store. I don't like tea very much, but that's the best tea I've had including the English black tea I've tried, which wasn't that good imo.
What's some good tea to look out for?
Yorkshire tea is in my opinion the best. Nothing difficult needs to be done just follow the instructions add full fat milk, you can check colours online to see how much milk to add and add sugar if you wish.
PG tips and Tetley are also good. Weirdly tea I've had with "English breakfast" hardly ever tastes like British tea.
Green tea is super hit or miss. (No milk in this one) Sometimes it's too weak and other times it's a bit bitter. But I don't really have a brand in mind for that.
A mid range Jasmine tea is probably the best for consistency, in terms of a no milk green tea.
Oolong is also good. Actually thinking about the best place to get green tea in America would be at a Chinese restaurant or Chinese store.
Oh and don't microwave water. No idea why, it tastes weird. Also heat the water then add it to the cup, don't heat cold water with tea in it.
I'm pretty sure that the idea of looking at a chart to determine the correct amount of milk for tea is causing something to short out in my head.
I think you need to clean your microwave...
No microwaved water is just wrong.
There is actually zero difference. I promise you won't be able to blind pick the microwaved cup better than chance, assuming all other prep is the same.
Exactly. I usually microwave a cup and then throw in the teabag. If gas stoves were not so inefficient I wpuld heat it on there but it takes about 5 times as long as in a microwave and tastes the same.
Get an electric kettle. Tea should be brewed at an appropriate temperature for its style, and microwaving the water is inaccurate. Electric kettle will get you the right temp every time nearly as fast.
Hey man, use a kettle, I got no problem with using a purpose made tool. I just hate the immediate, blind snobbery towards microwaves as if they somehow taint the tea, and not the brewers lack of care.
You can fuck right off with your electric kettle elitism. I won't buy something that will get used 2 times per month if I have everything I need to make myself tea already.
🤷🏻♀️ Needlessly aggressive but ok. I use my electric kettle once a day minimum and I use it for things other than tea as well. My husband uses it for his French press coffee, we use it for hot choccy or ramen or even rice sometimes. It's just an easier way to heat up water to specific temperatures, no elitism here.
The fact the water is boiling will also get you the right temp.
... No? 212° F water is not the same thing as 170°F for a more delicate tea. And, ok, you could let it cool down before adding the tea, but are you going to put a thermometer in it? How will you know when it's the right temperature? Why not just... get it to the right temperature the first time?
Tea in America is fine. There are plenty of brands to buy and orange pekoe is perfectly okay, as long as it's not Lipton. Bigelow and Celestial Seasonings are both America brands of tea that are perfectly fine and have large offerings.
I mean, if you're that particular, just buy some PG Tips or Yorkshire Gold in the grocery store and brew it yourself.
As a massive tea drinker... I don't think I've ever seen PG Tips or YG in the grocery store. I have to order them online. The best we get in store near me is Bigelow and Tazo, both of which are pretty mid.
I think the problem is that practically every place that serves tea serves Lipton, which does suck. You have to go out of your way to get quality black tea in the US. We just don't care about tea at all here, unless it's sweet tea, which is basically sugar water
I do believe it all started with the Boston Tea Party. Drinking coffee as an alternative was hip and it just kinda stuck around.
Coffee in the US (outside of specialty shops) is always piss poor and IME thin cups of dark-ish water without much actual coffee flavour.
That's the case everywhere. Starbucks is ubiquitous. You can either complain about it, or walk across the street and get some good coffee, which is also ubiquitous.
That's not my experience at all..."Cafeteria coffee", or diner drip-coffee if you will, in the US is always thin watery coffee compared to the same type anywhere else I've been (mostly limited European countries though).
First thing I do after moving is locate the spots with the good coffee. I've never run into trouble and I typically find several spots.
But if I want a cup of coffee I typically brew it myself and I use beans from local roasters. If you're in the middle of nowhere with no roasters around, SWroaster out of Indiana delivers anywhere in the US.
I'd like to invite your thoughts on the sweet tea they make in the South
It tastes like something a child would make and give to there mum on motherday and the mum would have to drink it because the kid is really proud that he used 10 spoonfuls of sugar.
That's not a drink for adults. Why you guys so scared of water?
I wish i loved water but it's just so boring :( . I drink from a stainless steel container now, that adds a bit of zest at least.