Most US homes and hotels have microwaves which will boil water. What part of the process is still not available?
OP stays in hotels. The only heating device is the coffee pot, which tastes strongly of coffee, which he despises. Solution: my previous post.
A microwave is a fiddly way of boiling water. Kettles turn themselves off automatically when the water is boiled, and the click alerts you to the fact that it’s ready. Almost everybody has a microwave, in the tea-drinking lands under discussion, but they all have kettles too. There must be a reason for that.
Edit: I accidentally linked to a immersion heater that plugs into a car’s electrical jack (how is THAT safe?) You want one that plugs into a wall outlet, I imagine. Here:
Because a microwave is a shit way to boil water for tea. Related column:
Microwave for boiling water is not the best option when you have access to a full range of options but I didn’t suggest it was. I just suggested that under less than perfect conditions, in an area where most people don’t want/need to boil water in a hotel room, it should be a better option than lukewarm water or water with a residual coffee taste.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a microwave in a hotel room, other than the “extended stay” types that are really small apartments.
Perhaps it is regional or the level of chain but in the mid-Atlantic region, staying in mid-level chains (Hampton Inn, Comfort Inn) almost all have a microwave either in the room or in lobby. This would be true for any place that offers a continental breakfast.
What’s wrong by making tea with kettle-water boiled on the stovetop? While I admit I do drink Celestial Seasonings (I have a bad stomach and can’t abide really strong tea, or coffee, as it upsets my workings) I DO know enough to get a good hot boil on my water, put the teabag in the mug, and then pour the water over it and leave it a minute or two to steep before sweetening.
An electric kettle may be more convenient time-wise, but what’s wrong with using the stovetop? 
I completely agree with Candyman. The problem with tea in this country is that you have to make it yourself.
Lipton’s is pretty much the bottom of the barrel as far as tea goes in this country, but I drink it twice a day. If you use boiling water and pull the teabag out after it’s done steeping, you get a decent enough cup.
Hotels here don’t have kettles, only coffee makers. When traveling, I carry my own Lipton’s teabags (only so I don’t have to leave the room to get any). In a pinch, I’ll use the coffee maker, but the water doesn’t get hot enough. The other problem is that good tea needs milk and in a hotel room, the only thing usually available is powdered whitener, which is absolutely foul in a cup of tea. If you’re lucky, there will be some tubs of half-and-half, but even that tends to overpower the tea. Lowfat or nonfat milk is what you need and it’s exactly what you don’t get in a hotel.
But I stay in a lot of crappy motels, and I’d say 75 percent of them have a microwave a mini-fridge as well as a coffee maker, so you can bring your own milk and use the microwave to boil the water.
I suspect that Candyman stays in fancier hotels and that’s the problem.
I was born in this country and have lived my whole life here and only now have I gotten to the point where I can choke down iced tea if there’s absolutely no other option, preferably with a ton of sugar. It’s still foul, horrible stuff, and I suspect that on this point my thinking aligns with the British.
I attend a lot of conferences and somehow iced tea has become the standard beverage for conference luncheons. I have no idea how that happened, but I usually trade my iced tea with the next person so that I can have two glasses of water and he or she can have two of those foul iced teas.
I’ve not seen a microwave in a hotel room. Not saying the don’t exist, but I don’t tend to come across them.
A microwave in the lobby is no help at all! That turns a quick relaxing cup of tea into too much hassle to be worth it. Part of the point of the cuppa is that it’s so damn quick and easy to make.
I don’t understand the dread of not having the drink at the same time that going to the lobby is too much trouble.
Sounds almost like the real complaint is that the US is not the UK.
The dread is that it’s not already at hand.
I was converted to a tea-drinker by a good friend of mine, who grew up in Dublin. She gave me an electric kettle, which I have in my office (not much of a solution for the traveling Candyman74, unfortunately). I usually make myself a cuppa every morning, using Twinings Irish Breakfast Tea, and a little skim milk.
I happen to like unsweetened iced tea but I suspect that your problem is that you are only getting unsweet tea. Have you ever tried sweet tea? Despite my southern parentage I think it’s gross, but hundreds of southerners including my mother and grandparents love the stuff. Seek out some sweet tea, or make it at home if you are willing to try the experiment. How to make proper sweet tea is probably a subject for another thread, but it’s not the same as just adding sugar to iced tea. You might like it.
Quick version that I am sure I will be told is wrong:
You can make a passable version with Lipton if you already have that on hand. You want to boil about 3 cups of water and steep about 5 teabags in that for about 5 minutes. You then want to dissolve about 2 cups of sugar in about 5 cups of boiling water. Fill a gallon container with ice and pour first the tea and then the sugar water over the ice. Top up with cold water and refrigerate.
It’s a southern tradition, give it a shot.
Quoth Feyrat:
I don’t know about their proper tea (do they even make one?), but Celestial Seasonings makes some absolutely wonderful herbals.
Ascenray, why do you use Lipton’s, if you recognize it as low quality? Yeah, the better brands are more expensive, but it’s still only a dime or two for a cup-- Much cheaper than any beverage you’d buy ready-made.
Since I nominally live in the South now, I have had sweet tea. Heck, even McDonald’s sells it. I still would never choose it over any other beverage. I’d prefer plain water.
(And that’s the other thing. I always have to keep track of which restaurants routinely serve water with lemon. No lemon, please! I don’t want my water to smell like dish detergent!)
Fair enough. I hate sweet tea myself. Disgusting stuff, but there are some things you put up with for family.
I do usually have some Twinings or Stash on hand, but, when it comes right down to it, Lipton’s might be bad, but it’s still good enough.
I grew up with Lipton’s and our office pantry is stocked with Lipton’s. Every restaurant or motel has Lipton’s. Lipton’s is so readily at hand, it’s usually not worth the trouble to avoid it.
I generally drink Twinnings tea. I like either Earl Grey or English breakfast. I do brew my tea with boiling water, but the very idea of adding milk and/or sugar to it sounds awful.
So, no "cuppa"for me I guess.