Not a tea drinker?

I love a good local coffee shop but also like the soothing familiarity of a Starbucks--though I did discover that my US Starbucks gift card did not translate to pounds at the Starbucks in St Pancras station.

We just spent a week on Lago Maggiore with an HF Holidays hiking group consisting of 18 British, 4 Australians, and 2 Americans (us). At our hotel breakfast each morning, I was the ONLY one making tea; everyone else was lined up for the coffee machine (the now-ubiquitous kind that makes espresso, Americano, cappuccino, etc.

Lola, that’s because they won’t have teabags that Brits would tolerate. I too only drink coffee in these circumstances but at home I’m more of a tea drinker.

I’m a Brit and generally drink coffee in the morning and when I’m out (Aeropress at home; espresso-based coffee out).

Tea is only when I’m at home and only in the afternoon. By making it at home, I can make a mug of tea with proper fresh actually boiling water, to the strength I desire. Tea drunk at most cafes or hotels seems to be made with water that’s slightly off boiling, or has been boiled before. And not with the correct tea bags or tea that I like.

Also I resent paying £3 for hot water and a tea bag but I’m happy to pay it for a barista to make me a complicated coffee.

Never considered or thought of this as any sort of issue. Wide selection of coffee options everywhere and two of my hotels had coffee presses, and had carafes. Could have all the coffee I wanted, and I could buy a box of tea bags and make up a carafe of ice tea. It was glorious!

"You know, I always thought that tea was going to taste like hot brown water ... "

Oddly that is much how I was warned American coffee mostly tasted like, sometime back in the early 1980s. Only burnt was in there too.

If you're looking for chains Greggs, Tim Hortons & Dunkin are also around as well as smaller outfits such as Black Sheep. Find one to your liking. True independents are generally better but I've had some not to my taste at all

Damn, wish I'd seen a Dunkins. Not for the coffee but the donuts, although they might have been "localized." Saw a lot of them in Austria.

If you don't like burnt coffee, be prepared when you come to the US that is the style (thanks Peets).

Don't most of these coffee shops also sell tea for their more discerning customers? I know Starbucks does.

Very few cafes sell decent tea. It has to be able to brew for a few minutes without milk so you need somewhere that gives you a separate little jug of milk which is barely anywhere. And it won’t brew in a cardboard cup (Pret) because the water cools too quickly. I only buy tea at a few places I know serve it properly. In general I order a coffee.