Yeah, I've had drinks that were called tea in the US. *shudder*

Peter

You only get an ooh with typhoo!

I'd also say smells great, tastes awful. I do, however, like frapaccinos (or however you spell it). Those taste fantastic, but so does just about anything else if you add a ton of sugar.

My wife loves tea. She gets pretty good stuff. Twinings, Typhoo, Taylor of Harrogate, plus a bunch of others that I can't think of off the top of my head. They're usually pretty easily available at the grocery, but more often than not at a restaurant you get industrial grade tea. Or Lipton's. Regardless, not something designed to be heated and drunk. But sometimes some restaurants will have real tea. Seldom do you get a teapot, though. She's friends with some folks who run a tearoom, though, and you do get one there.

Seldom do you get a teapot, though.

Even the cheapest Chinese restaurants generally make whole-leaf oolong or jasmine tea and give it to you in a teapot.

That's true. Well, beyond food-court "Chinese", anyway.

>> It appears to be difficult to make a good cup of joe. Perhaps
>> the problem is that all the packaging says 2 Tbsp / 6 oz.
>> cup. Making coffee that strong is just wrong.

>Anything less than the ratio you describe is called tea.
>A good rule to live by...You should never NEVER be able to
>see through your coffee.

Hmm, then something is wrong with my drip pot or my tablespoon measures. I usually make 1.25-1.5 Tbsp / 6oz cup. Can't see through that at all.

If I go to 2Tbsp, it becomes muddy and impossible to drink.

-brendan

My wife loves tea. She gets pretty good stuff. Twinings, Typhoo, Taylor of Harrogate

Very nice. I admit I was being a bit unfair, for rhetorical purposes: there are lots of places in the US where you can get really good tea. There are also lots of places where you can't, though, such as the old Sonicblue/Rio building in Santa Clara, and the unnamed hotel in this classic account (search for "California") of lack of understanding of how to make a proper cup of tea (i.e. that the water must hit the tea while still very near boiling).

The last time I was in the US I was introduced to the masala chai latte (or just "chai latte" despite the fact that "masala" -- "spiced" -- is really the operative word). It's not tea as we know it, but it's much more widely available, and is a splendid thing in its own right.

Peter

Whenever I make my tea (usually only when I'm sick) it's jasmine with one of those little mesh balls that screw apart for you to put your tea leaves in. We buy our tea from a local asian store when where we get our rice, and one can of jasmine tea lasts us about as long as a 25lb bag of rice.

I make a mug of coffee every day with a coffee press. Paper-filtered coffee filters the oils in the coffee which give it flavor. A good machine like those mentioned above do not filter the oils, a good way to tell is if you get a small layer of creme on the top of the coffee when you pour it. The press is much easier to use for a small batch, and it's easier to clean, too.

I don't mind good coffee, and used to drink ten or so cups a day, but gave up about 12 years ago. Now if I have one coffee I can fly all week.

That said, some evenings I have had 12 cans of red bull, and go fairly mental

Can't stand tea though - astonished anyone can drink it (exclusion being Chinese tea, which is pretty nice, but very different to something like Earl Grey)