Tea Time!

[Alexander's Horse]

hey Sprayber - you should try hot tea - ask the Aussies. They'll be "brewing up" for sure.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Dissident
tea is gay

real men drink coffee- black

Coffee always tasted kind of icky to me. I'll drink it sometimes but never in the morning and usually when I'm hanging out and people watching downtown.

Tea is great because it's good for your health and it doesn't get you as strung out as coffee does.

[LTEC!]

I don't drink it that often but have all kinds. Was going to point out that hot tea and drinks do cool you off when its the weather is warm, but horse already pointed it out.

Earl grey, darjeeling, english breakfast, berry and apricot tea are among my favs. Though in Mexico there is a tea available for every possible ailment you may have, so if you're having tea, they usually ask you if you're sick and what of.

[MikeH]

Ice-T is quite popular in England too. I saw him at Reading festival.

Earl Grey is a monstrosity, second only to Lapsong Souchong on the tea crimes list.

The best teas are Assam, Green Tea and Jasmine Tea

[Firelad]

Green tea and Jasmine tea is very good. But for the evening...
British types, do tell me, is it "Bad" to put a lemon into your Earl Grey?

[Az]

British types, do tell me, is it "Bad" to put a lemon into your Earl Grey?

You're such a russki.

[Firelad]

What the fock do you mean? Right now I'm putting tons of lemon into everything because of the Fun Night Out I had on Sunday.

[Az]

[MikeH]

Originally posted by Firelad
Green tea and Jasmine tea is very good. But for the evening...
British types, do tell me, is it "Bad" to put a lemon into your Earl Grey?

As far as I'm concerned, drink your tea however you want. It won't offend me. If you were a guest in my house and I offered you a drink and you wanted tea, I'd ask you how you liked it and try and make that if I could. I probably wouldn't have any lemon though.

One thing that bemused an American friend of mine when she visited me was that wherever she went in England whenever she visited someones house she was always persistently offered a drink and was met with confused looks and lots of follow up questions if she said she didn't want anything. "Are you sure? We've got blah, blah blah" It's funny. I never really noticed it before but I've been doing further research into it.

So if you get offered a drink by someone you are visiting it's easier to say yes. Although there are a lot of nuances. For instance judging whether they mean something alcoholic can be tricky. Normally depends on the time of day and the inflection used on the word drink. For non-Brits it's probably easier if you say "Yes please, what are you having?" that can work well.

I've been observing and what we tend to do is offer a drink meaning something alcoholic, if you don't want that (I'm driving is always a good reason) we'll be a bit surprised and offer tea/coffee, juice, soft drinks and if you don't want any of that you'll get offered water. If you don't even want water the host will potentially be all confused and flustered. Also if you say "Have you got any blah" and they haven't got any you'll cause another minor panic, and possibly someone will be sent to the shop. In some circumstances no insisting that you are "fine really", or you'll "have something else" will be accepted. Especially if you change class of drink. For instance if they haven't got one kind of alcohol if you try and say you'll have a soft drink instead that would cause apoplexy.

Just say yes to the booze.

[FrustratedPoet]

That's a great summary Mike. It's funny 'cos it's true.

[Firelad]

I ALWAYS say yes to the booze if it's any good.
Hmm, hospitiality. I like that.

[Dauphin]

To follow up on what MikeH says, there is no problem that cannot be solved by saying the magic words "I'll just put the kettle on".

[Cruddy]

Originally posted by Big Crunch
To follow up on what MikeH says, there is no problem that cannot be solved by saying the magic words "I'll just put the kettle on".

Except having a broken kettle of course.

Such an event is a Day of Infamy in a Brit household.

[MikeH]

Br0ken k3ttle?! I am going to report that to a moderator. We can't have language like that around the forum!!!

[Firelad]

You can always use a pot to heat the water if all else fails you know...
Still