# Tea time and airport hotels in England **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 14, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-time-and-airport-hotels-in-england/539471 "2010-05-14T20:12:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![ivan732](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/aeb1de/32.png) [@ivan732](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan732)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-time-and-airport-hotels-in-england/539471/81 "2010-05-18T21:41:43Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Of course they’re available. I don’t think anyone’s seriously disputing that. However, we bought a Rival kettle at Wal\*Mart when we moved her in 1996, and were shocked to discover something when we got home: it _whistles_. Why does it whistle? Because it’s got no automatic shutoff, or, in fact, an on/off switch of any kind. You literally have to yank the plug out of the wall to shut it off. I looked up the electric kettles at the aforementioned Bed, Bath and Beyond’s site, and the descriptions say things like “featuring automatic cut-off”. That’s a feature? I have heard, although I’m not sure how credible this is, that these kind of high-powered portable electrical consumer devices are less widespread in the US because the mains voltage is lower. Whereas we are higher voltage, lower current. Things like electric lawnmowers are also not common there, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![put\_down\_the\_sabre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/da6949/32.png) [@put\_down\_the\_sabre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/put_down_the_sabre)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-time-and-airport-hotels-in-england/539471/82 "2010-05-18T22:14:56Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Turning liquid consumables into mass-market crap is an American art form. Oh no that’s not what I mean! I’d say the stuff we drink in the UK is mass-market acceptable crap. But the US has a peculiar need to transform it into ‘mass market crap’ and ‘gourmet’. Maybe I’m romanticising the UK here, but I can’t imagine anyone using the term gourmet unironically, or calling someone a ‘beer snob’ without a hint of derision. pdts ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-time-and-airport-hotels-in-england/539471/83 "2010-05-19T00:35:01Z")
> [@put\_down\_the\_sabre](#): > > In my experience (NC) teabags mostly come in little individual paper wrappers, not foil ones. The individual bags aren’t foil-wrapped - they tend to come in boxes of 60 or 90 or 120 or whatever, which are foil-wrapped in bulk (sometimes in two seperate smaller foil bags in the case of the bigger packs). Many people store them in an airtight tin once they open the foil, to keep them fresh. ---
**Author:** ![put\_down\_the\_sabre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/da6949/32.png) [@put\_down\_the\_sabre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/put_down_the_sabre)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-time-and-airport-hotels-in-england/539471/84 "2010-05-19T01:34:44Z")
> [@ivan732](#): > > I looked up the electric kettles at the aforementioned Bed, Bath and Beyond’s site, and the descriptions say things like “featuring automatic cut-off”. > That’s a feature? > > \ Actually I was burnt (not literally) the first time I used a kettle in America. It didn’t have an automatic shutoff! It boiled dry. This is also a risk for the stupid stovetop kettles they all use. Put the kettle on and forget about it? Or put the kettle on, have your tea and forget to turn the stove off? Hope you’re comfortable with the house burning down. Or at least a ruined kettle. pdts ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-time-and-airport-hotels-in-england/539471/85 "2010-05-19T06:20:30Z")
My daughter bought some Lipton’s tea bags in Switzerland and brought them back - they are absolutely dire. You need half a dozen for a decent cup of tea ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-time-and-airport-hotels-in-england/539471/86 "2010-05-19T09:07:43Z")
> [@put\_down\_the\_sabre](#): > > Actually I was burnt (not literally) the first time I used a kettle in America. It didn’t have an automatic shutoff! It boiled dry. > > This is also a risk for the stupid stovetop kettles they all use. Put the kettle on and forget about it? Or put the kettle on, have your tea and forget to turn the stove off? > > Hope you’re comfortable with the house burning down. Or at least a ruined kettle. > > pdts This is one of the reasons I bought my parents an electric kettle. My father (who is 81) can’t hear high-pitched noises and would put the kettle on the stove but be unable to hear it whistle and would forget about it. Ruined two kettles that way. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-time-and-airport-hotels-in-england/539471/87 "2010-05-19T10:17:48Z")
When I finally have the cash to redo my kitchen I may indulge in one of [these bad boys](http://www.tapsaver.co.uk/brand-quooker.asp). Proper 100ºC water at the press of a lever (although you could buy a lot of kettles for the same price…) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-time-and-airport-hotels-in-england/539471/88 "2010-05-19T13:46:30Z")
> [@ivan732](#): > > I have heard, although I’m not sure how credible this is, that these kind of high-powered portable electrical consumer devices are less widespread in the US because the mains voltage is lower. Whereas we are higher voltage, lower current. Things like electric lawnmowers are also not common there, apparently. That’s true in the case of electric lawnmowers- they’re relatively rare here- but I think that’s more because we have really big gardens. Well, we don’t technically have gardens at all, because we call them yards here. We have a very average-sized home in a very average sort of suburb. Our garden/yard is three times the size of the one we had in England in a similar sort of house in a similar sort of place. [This one](http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=Mr4&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&q=161%20knightlow%20road&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl), in fact. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-time-and-airport-hotels-in-england/539471/89 "2010-05-19T14:11:46Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > When I finally have the cash to redo my kitchen I may indulge in one of [these bad boys](http://www.tapsaver.co.uk/brand-quooker.asp). > > Proper 100ºC water at the press of a lever (although you could buy a lot of kettles for the same price…) My cousin had one of those fitted in her new kitchen. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-time-and-airport-hotels-in-england/539471.md?page=4)