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).

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.

Costa Coffee is a great place for tea drinkers. Its brew doesn't really taste much like coffee if ordered as an Americano.

Tea drinking in France is a real challenge for all the reasons stated, horrible tea choices , tepid water etc etc. But some of us try anyway, I wish I could enjoy coffee in the morning but I just can’t. So I travel with Yorkshire Red or Gold tea bags and carry on. Some hotels did have super hot out of the machine water and one lovely place even had teapots, so with my stash of tea bags I got lucky now and then.

Ok, please let us know what the British consider a decent tea, please. Twinings? :-)

My personal favorite English teas are Yorkshire Tea (made by Taylors of Harrogate who also offer a tea with that brand that is similar to Yorkshire) and PG Tips. Tetley is popular but not that good (IMHO).

Twinings is good. Just be aware the Twinings in the US is different than the Twinings in the UK. I'm personally not a big fan of their English Breakfast tea. If Twinings is all I can find in the US or other parts of the world, I'll look for their Irish Breakfast tea instead. It's stronger.

I prefer a stronger cup of tea. So I let my tea brew for five minutes to get the most flavor out of it. Many people only brew for a minute or two and complain of weak tea.

I also add just a drop of milk because I want the taste of tea not the taste of milky tea.

But honestly, I prefer Barry's Irish Tea. (Red Box.)

Ok, please let us know what the British consider a decent tea, please. Twinings? :-)

My favourite is a blend made by The Kent and Sussex Tea Company called Portsmouth Tea, it's a blend that was made specifically for the particularly hard water in Portsmouth however it's quite a specialist tea.

A more widely available tea that I like is Twinings Full English, not to be confused with their English Breakfast although it is a breakfast tea. I also like Nambarrie, a strong tea that has been a favourite in Northern Ireland.

The tip for a decent cup of tea is to use properly boiling water, porcelain cups/mugs and to allow the tea to brew for a few minutes. I see so many people pour in the water, stir the tea bag a few times and then remove it, this results in insipid tasting tea.

Ok, please let us know what the British consider a decent tea, please. Twinings? :-)

Regardless of the actual tea you choose, the first thing is that tea has to be made with boiling water poured onto the tea. Not very hot water that you then put the bag in, but boiling water straight from the kettle. In my opinion that is the single biggest factor.

Then you need to leave it to brew for a few minutes, then take the bag out and add a little milk so it’s kind of a rich tan colour.

Then the quality of the tea comes into consideration. For my everyday afternoon mug of tea, I use supermarket Red Label tea bags, which I controversially prefer to the very well-regarded Yorkshire Tea. I have tried both Sainsbury’s and Tesco’s red box tea and I think they’re the same.

But the best tea in the world will taste rubbish if the water’s not fresh and boiling.

When British people talk about a decent cup of tea, they are often talking about the preparation rather than the actual tea itself, and that’s what we find difficult to get in cafes.

Oh, I remembered this by George Orwell on A Nice Cup of Tea.

Note he mentions the necessity of boiling water and brewing time.

https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/a-nice-cup-of-tea/

Agree. It’s all in the preparation. I buy Yorkshire Tea at home but any other reasonable quality brand produces a decent enough cup provided it’s prepared properly.

Some British people make disgusting tea. There is someone at work who puts the cold milk straight onto the teabag in the cup then adds the water. This produces a luke warm, creamy colour liquid that is barely describable as tea. Luckily we don’t have a tea round and just each make our own.

I used to be a coffee drinker but had to give it up years ago as my system couldn't tolerate it.

So I switched to tea. The number 1 thing that drives me crazy is the lack of proper hot water at hotels and cafes. It happens often in the US .
In Europe in many places I have found it can be even more difficult to get something satisfactory. Usually it's the water temperature and/ or tea.

In the UK I have found it hit or miss. It always surprises me when they have tepid water. Since I don't have a coffee option I sometimes have to take a chance at a cafe. Usually though I will just drink it in the room using the provided kettle. I often go to Pret when in London but will not get tea there. Once was enough. I have found that Gail's serves a decent English Breakfast loose leaf tea.

As for brands... I can deal with PG Tips . That's what they have at Premier Inn. Other brands.. ok if proper water but I prefer a higer quality loose leaf but when traveling tea bags will suffice.I did stay at a place in Dorset that had Dorset Brand Tea. My favorite tea bag tea . I bought some to take back but it doesn't seem to be widely available. In any case milk after brewing.

I am in Lauzern Switzerland now. Surprisingly at breakfast at our hotel this morning they served a proper loose leave Assam tea in a pot. Most of the other places ,not so good .

Luckily we don’t have a tea round and just each make our own.

I was known for being a tad eccentric because I wouldn’t let other people make me tea…

Where I used to work, the company installed those hot water taps in place of kettles, but we all revolted because the water wasn’t quite boiling and therefore made horrible tea. So we kept bringing in kettles from home.

Many years ago, long before Amazon, I worked with a Korean fellow who had a source of loose green tea that was still moist, not dried. It made the most delicious, intense brew I've ever tasted. Does anyone here know how to secure such a product?

Ito-En sells a special bottled green tea that is similarly intense, and I get a bottle whenever I encounter it. Very strong green tea is my favorite kind of tea.

Helen - I think you would have me down as someone who makes "horrible" tea. I much prefer my tea pretty weak - the tea bag does indeed only spend seconds in the cup. I would say that I (and my wife) are unusual in that respect but it's still a perfectly legitimate way. I think our main reason is that we really do not like strong tannins so can't drink very strong British tea. It affects our wine choices too. My daughter-in-law in contrast is the complete opposite - she leaves her tea bag in the cup all the time she drinks it. But she's from Yorkshire........

I drink my tea black, which does make it easier to be a tea drinking traveler. I prefer Yorkshire Red or Gold by Taylor’s, Barry’s or even Red Rose. 3-5 minute steep. But please, dear god, don’t make me drink Lipton. I take a big ziplock bag in my carry on and I keep a small cute little teabag holder, my sister bought me years ago, in my purse.

Thanks to Frank ll I got a Lewis &Clark coil heater that really works so I can make tea in my room now. After so many coil heaters that barely work or die promptly I was very grateful to find one that is great. Got me through 20 days in France last month. Thanks, Frank.

jphbucks, I was in a tea shop in Chinatown (SF) and asked the clerk for their best green tea, fit for a gift to a mother-in-law. I was happy with what I got, but understand how it's not something easily found.

I prefer tea when traveling as it doesn't seem as harsh as coffee. But I can't comprehend the British custom of adding milk.

I prefer tea when traveling as it doesn't seem as harsh as coffee. But I can't comprehend the British custom of adding milk.

I understand this perspective, and I believed it until I had a delicious pot of English Breakfast tea in Bath that was served with milk, lemon and sugar. I eschewed the lemon, but added milk and scant sugar. Lovely. But it's not a beverage I plan to drink frequently. Still would rather have green tea, or even better coffee.

The British style of black tea really needs milk to taste good. It’s designed to be served that way. I can have an Earl Grey or something like that without milk but not a ‘standard’ tea.

This is sometimes called ‘builders tea’ because a certain section of society like to think they would only serve teabag tea to their builders. This is rubbish as pretty much nobody makes loose leaf tea regularly, regardless of what they think they ought to be doing. I have probably been served it about twice ever in anyone’s home, but with some people you have to have the rigmarole of ‘just builders tea’. Like everything in Britain this is all down to social class issues.

My thing is, I’m an ICED tea drinker, which I can’t find much in England — and if I do, it has maybe 2-3 cubes of ice. I even went into a couple of McDonalds in England and Paris in search of a large unsweetened tea (a medium one would have worked too) — but no iced tea on the menu. So sad!

"Look here, Steward, if this is coffee, I want tea; but if this tea, then I wish for coffee."---Cartoon Caption, Punch, 1902. (Often attributed to Abraham Lincoln).

Also some times attributed to Isambard Kingdom Brunel, but his missive to the contractor at Swindon station for refreshments is quite direct:

"I assure you that Mr Player was wrong in supposing that I thought you purchased inferior coffee. I thought I said to him that I was surprised you should buy such poor roasted corn. I did not believe you had such a thing as coffee in the place; I am certain I never tasted any. I have long ceased to make complaints at Swindon. I avoid taking anything there if I can help it."