# British & Irish people saying you can't get real tea in America--why? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 3, 2007, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-irish-people-saying-you-cant-get-real-tea-in-america-why/406619 "2007-06-03T22:43:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-irish-people-saying-you-cant-get-real-tea-in-america-why/406619/1 "2007-06-03T22:43:44Z")
One often hears this said, but what is meant by it? Is it the tea itself, or the way it’s prepared here? Or does it have more to do with the fact that you usually can’t get all the trappings of an afternoon tea here, with sandwiches and all the other food that goes with a traditional high tea? ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-irish-people-saying-you-cant-get-real-tea-in-america-why/406619/2 "2007-06-03T22:46:03Z")
I am a Canadian non-tea drinker, though I have family and friends who do. The complaint that they have had about getting tea in the US is that the water is not hot enough (boiling) to make proper tea. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-irish-people-saying-you-cant-get-real-tea-in-america-why/406619/3 "2007-06-03T22:47:51Z")
> [@](#): > > Is it the tea itself, or the way it’s prepared here? Or does it have more to do with the fact that you usually can’t get all the trappings of an afternoon tea here, with sandwiches and all the other food that goes with a traditional high tea? 😃 I’ve yet to meet _anybody_ who takes high tea. And yes, the usual complaint I hear is that the water isn’t boiling. To make a good cup of tea, the water **has** to be boiling. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-irish-people-saying-you-cant-get-real-tea-in-america-why/406619/4 "2007-06-03T22:48:29Z")
I’ve never heard this. Is this a complaint specifically about restaurant tea, or just all the tea–including the bags and leaves that you steep at home–in general? Edit: I guess it must be restaurant tea only, since it isn’t much more difficult to boil water in North America than it is in Britain. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-irish-people-saying-you-cant-get-real-tea-in-america-why/406619/5 "2007-06-03T22:49:48Z")
[A Nice Cup Of Tea](http://www.booksatoz.com/witsend/tea/orwell.htm) In restaurants if you order tea they’ll bring out a tiny pitcher of hot (not nearly boiling) water and a tea bag. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-irish-people-saying-you-cant-get-real-tea-in-america-why/406619/6 "2007-06-03T23:07:10Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] In restaurants if you order tea they’ll bring out a tiny pitcher of hot (not nearly boiling) water and a tea bag. [/QUOTE] Yep, this is a perfect example of the problem. It’s also likely to be some pathetic brand of tea which we’ve never heard of, and is far too weak. Milk is another problem. Note, milk. Not cream, not half-and-half. Whole or semi-skimmed milk is needed. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-irish-people-saying-you-cant-get-real-tea-in-america-why/406619/7 "2007-06-03T23:11:11Z")
Yeah, it’s restaurant tea. The two or three times I’ve had hot tea in, I believe it was IHOP, it was hot water from the tap that had scum on top, and a nondescript tea bag of dubious parentage…and I had to ask for milk. I drink Tetley tea, the same round bags as I used to get in Canada by way of England. But I can only get it from Tetley on the web; they don’t carry what they refer to as “British Blend” in stores down here. The few Americans for whom I’ve made a cup of decent tea are always surprised at how good it is, and how different from restaurant tea. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-irish-people-saying-you-cant-get-real-tea-in-america-why/406619/8 "2007-06-03T23:11:50Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > In restaurants if you order tea they’ll bring out a tiny pitcher of hot (not nearly boiling) water and a tea bag. [QUOTE=GorillaMan] Milk is another problem. Note, milk. Not cream, not half-and-half. Whole or semi-skimmed milk is needed. [/QUOTE] Based on my experiences of ordering tea in the US I’d agree with both of these comments. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-irish-people-saying-you-cant-get-real-tea-in-america-why/406619/9 "2007-06-03T23:15:00Z")
The tea itself we get in America is also vastly inferior to the product available in the British Isles, a fact that I (a lifelong tea drinker) didn’t realize until I visited Ireland a few years ago. The absolute top best tea available in America is almost as good as the tea we had every single day in Ireland. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-irish-people-saying-you-cant-get-real-tea-in-america-why/406619/10 "2007-06-03T23:15:37Z")
I suppose another part of the problem is that you can’t rely on a hotel room having (at the very least) a kettle, mugs, teabags and little cartons of milk. Having an at least half-decent cup of tea makes a huge difference on arriving after a long journey, or waking up with jetlag/hangover, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-irish-people-saying-you-cant-get-real-tea-in-america-why/406619/11 "2007-06-03T23:22:41Z")
The tea itself is horrid. When I was living in NYC all I could get at work or restaurants was Lipton’s lower grade stuff. Even if I could find some boiling water (which wasn’t too hard at work) it was still a bad blend. ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-irish-people-saying-you-cant-get-real-tea-in-america-why/406619/12 "2007-06-03T23:38:53Z")
Now let’s talk about how hard it is to get really _good_ French fries in France. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-irish-people-saying-you-cant-get-real-tea-in-america-why/406619/13 "2007-06-03T23:45:07Z")
What about the teas available for order from places like [uptontea.com](http://uptontea.com)? I’m no connoisseur, but everything I’ve had from them has seemed quite excellent to me. Of course, I also have one of their amazing little electric kettles - I don’t know what I used to do without it! ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-irish-people-saying-you-cant-get-real-tea-in-america-why/406619/14 "2007-06-04T04:32:32Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] The tea itself we get in America is also vastly inferior to the product available in the British Isles, a fact that I (a lifelong tea drinker) didn’t realize until I visited Ireland a few years ago. The absolute top best tea available in America is almost as good as the tea we had every single day in Ireland. [/QUOTE] OMG yes! My girlfriend just got back from a study abroad trip to Ireland, and she brought me back some tea (shhh, don’t tell customs Not sure if this was allowed). Outstanding I say! ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-irish-people-saying-you-cant-get-real-tea-in-america-why/406619/15 "2007-06-04T04:52:06Z")
[QUOTE=fishbicycle] I drink Tetley tea, the same round bags as I used to get in Canada by way of England. But I can only get it from Tetley on the web; they don’t carry what they refer to as “British Blend” in stores down here. [/QUOTE] Jiminy Christmas! I lived in the US for a little while, and although there was Tetley tea in the store, it just wasn’t the same. My mum and I used to make my dad bring Canadian Tetley back with him when he was in Canada on business trips. I drink tea at home and coffee in restaurants. The water has to be at a rolling boil, I like milk in my tea, not cream, and I like it made strong. I also don’t like tea made in anything other than a china teapot or a [brown Betty.](http://www.bellsofsuffolk.com/images/vintage/kitchenalia/V0147.jpg) . ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-irish-people-saying-you-cant-get-real-tea-in-america-why/406619/16 "2007-06-04T08:56:02Z")
All these are restaurant problems. There is perfectly good tea available in the US…it’s just sort of a speciality item and not as widely appreciated as it is in Britain or Ireland. If you’re in the Chicago area, I recommened Your Place for Tea, on Sheffield just north of Belmont. Very nice loose teas. I’ve also ordered good tea online from a tea shop in St. Paul, MN, but I’m blanking on its name at the moment. There’s a nice tea house in my hometown in California, too. Here in Bulgaria, people mostly only drink herbal tea, which is nice but I need some caffeine in the morning. Fortunately, I have discovered that more upscale grocery stores carry Twinings, which is, IMHO, pretty good for prepared tea bags. OTOH, I couldn’t find a tea pot here to save my life. A friend of mine who lives in Ireland came to visit me last month and I got her to bring me a teapot. Now that I can put my milk on the bottom, as god intended (why this is considered to be low-class by English people is a mystery to me, as it _tastes better that way_), my mornings are just a little bit brighter. ---
**Author:** ![scareyfaerie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scareyfaerie/32/3135_2.png) [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-irish-people-saying-you-cant-get-real-tea-in-america-why/406619/17 "2007-06-04T09:27:29Z")
In my experience, the problem was the strength of tea - if I ordered tea in a restaurant or similar place, I’d get a cup of hot water with a Lipton’s bag to dunk in it. Very European! Unfortunately Lipton’s tends to be quite weak in comparison with the kind of tea I buy in the UK, and of course I happen to like strong tea so I’d have to have that bag of Lipton’s in water for half an hour before it was anything like a respectable brew. My friends in the States immediately saw (and tasted) the difference when I took them some Tetley’s or Yorkshire Tea and made it the way I make it at home. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-irish-people-saying-you-cant-get-real-tea-in-america-why/406619/18 "2007-06-04T10:31:47Z")
I imagine that part of the problem is that it’s been stewing at the bottom of Boston harbour for a few hundred years. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-irish-people-saying-you-cant-get-real-tea-in-america-why/406619/19 "2007-06-04T10:35:30Z")
…that, and are teas are racially segregated. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-irish-people-saying-you-cant-get-real-tea-in-america-why/406619/20 "2007-06-04T12:35:06Z")
I think that secretly Americans can probably make tea of the first quality but when theres a Brit about they deliberately dish up the lukewarm weak stuff to ,well you know ,punish us for the taxation thing and to rub our noses in it that they’re no longer our colony. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-irish-people-saying-you-cant-get-real-tea-in-america-why/406619.md?page=2)