# Only in Canada, you say? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 9, 2003, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-in-canada-you-say/180673 "2003-06-09T17:20:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-in-canada-you-say/180673/1 "2003-06-09T17:20:25Z")
Well, this just beggars belief. On the _front page_ of _The Globe and Mail_ today, there’s [an article about how some folks are up-in-arms over their favourite Red Rose tea being discontinued.](http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20030609/UTEAAN/TPFront/TopStories) > [@](#): > > “I poured the tea and before I even tasted it I smelled it and I knew something was up – it was different,” the 29-year-old Parks Canada employee from Wellington, PEI, recalled in an interview. What he smelled and tasted was the end of an era – the passing of a unique strong-flavoured blend called Red Rose Classic that had been sold only in Atlantic Canada for more than a century. For those who haven’t sampled this product, it’s not just your run-of-the-mill Orange Pekoe. Imagine your run-of-the-mill Orange Pekoe misted with uremic acid and allowed to sit in the open air for about six months. It’s putrid. It was advertised for years with a horrible commercial which depicted a group of nitwits do insulting caracatures of posh english folk, sipping the stuff, complete with elegant tea service and a nose-in-the-air butler, naturally. After they’ve all tried it, one particular muttonchop utters their tagline “Only in Canada, you say? Pity…” One suspects there was a judicious edit before “…those poor frozen sods.” The _“Classic”_ blend is particularly vile-- full of china-staining red dye, and so bitter and acidic that it’s not surprising that its popularity is mostly limited to life-long smokers. Well, the end of an era, I suppose. Now, as soon as the doughheads wake up and realize that Tim Horton’s coffee tastes like dishwater, there may be hope for caffeinated refreshments in Canada, after all. (_Hooray!_ I’ve met my “mundane and pointless” quota for the entire week!) ---
**Author:** ![SexyHamster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SexyHamster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SexyHamster)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-in-canada-you-say/180673/2 "2003-06-09T19:26:59Z")
I’ve never tried the Classic blend, since we only seem to have the premium blend over here. The polish scientist I work with really enjoys the stuff and keeps a box here at the office. It’s not my favourite drink, but I’ll drink it if nothing else is close at hand. The attraction, as far as I can tell, is not the taste, but rather watching other people respond to it. When I offer it to people they often react as if I am offering them a form of nerve toxin – the colour drains from their skin as their face twists into an expression of horror as they utter in disbelief, ‘You drink **that?** ’. I suppose now I’ll never have a chance to sample the classic blend. Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-in-canada-you-say/180673/3 "2003-06-09T21:46:27Z")
“Nerve toxin…” That made me laugh out loud. (I’m honoured, by the way, that someone who’s ordinarily so laconic would post in my pitiful thread. Maybe I could get a few pointers from ya on that whole “quality vs quantity” conundrum.) ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-in-canada-you-say/180673/4 "2003-06-10T02:30:37Z")
Mom sent me a box of Red Rose, after I mis-remembered the name of a tea at home we can’t get here. I prefer the store-brand tea, to say the least. ---
**Author:** ![SexyHamster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SexyHamster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SexyHamster)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-in-canada-you-say/180673/5 "2003-06-10T11:03:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Larry Mudd \* > \*\* > Maybe I could get a few pointers from ya on that whole “quality vs quantity” conundrum. \*\* Oh sure, I’m all about quality vs quantity. Well, mostly. I’ll let you know just as soon as I figure out that _quality_ part. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-in-canada-you-say/180673/6 "2003-06-10T12:56:44Z")
I did a happy dance at work when I read the article. Luckily nobody had a web cam going or there would be fansites about _the Red Rose Guy_. Red rose. 😛