Crimes against tea
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| The motto of every Brit. |
Oh dear. In the space of one hot beverage order things have slid back 20 years. There we were celebrating going to see The King's Speech and feeling quite regal. I order a cup of tea with milk in a nearby cafe. When it arrives it appears to be a tea-a-ccino (as previously mentioned here). I cannot even give them the benefit of the doubt and say with any certainty that there was ANY water in the cup. They had poured boiling frothy milk over a teabag.
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| Equipment to achieve true happiness. |
I asked what it was and was told with some pride, tea with milk. Er no that's not tea - I wanted cold milk in my tea. A cup of tea with cold milk.
Have you guessed it already?
The next cup that arrives is a cup of cold milk with a sad teabag floating on the top of it. You couldn't make it up.
I'm afraid I went into full colonial mode at this point and gave a lesson in what tea is. Boiling water and tea. Finally we got there and I was given a cup of tea with a little cold milk. It was horrible anyway. The kind of Earl Grey which tastes like something you should put in your bath.
You could say this is progress as both times they put the teabag in the cup with the liquid but the sight of that cold milk with a drowning teabag is one that will stay with me for a very long time.
Previous rant about tea.
I completely agree, Anne! In Spain you have to ask for 'a cup of tea with the milk separately' in order to avoid the teabag floating in a cup of hot milk...
ReplyDeleteKate
ReplyDeleteThis is where I went wrong, clearly. I am thinking of handing over some printed instructions next time. How obnoxious am I?
Lol! It's Canada's revenge for all those ghastly cups of grey-brown beverage which the Brits have the audacity to call coffee!
ReplyDeleteI loved your story Anne and sad to say it reminded me of the first time I ordered a milk shake in the UK. It was delivered with pride - milk and syrup. I was horrified. Next time I asked if the milk shake was made with ice cream. I was told absolutely. It was delivered as syrup in milk with a scoop of ice cream. I gave up - went to the dreaded McDonalds after that!
ReplyDeleteBut tea just with milk - we know that is just wrong!
Dear expatriatelife
ReplyDeleteConsider the revenge complete. I am traumatised and now considering afternoon tea at a posh hotel as therapy.
I have found Yorkshire Gold in a store at Atwater market!
ReplyDeleteThis makes everything better.
Owen
ReplyDeleteI'm happy for you. I am a Twinings Lady Grey girl myself. Don't tell the Canadians but British Twinings is different to Twinings sold in Canada. It has flavour.We have all our English friends bring it as a house gift.
So true! I hated the Twinnings English Breakfast Tea sold in Canada (they taste so strong you can wash dishes in them...) and always got family to bring them over when they visit. Actually I still do the same now that we've moved to Singapore, although maybe I should be brave and buy some Twinnings tea here to test it out.
ReplyDeleteBtw, my husband was thrilled to find direct-UK-imports of Weetabix (as well as Heinz baked beans, and Heinz tomato soup) in Singapore. He said the Weetabix in Canada tasted different. To each his own!
Nilmandra
ReplyDeleteThat's really interesting about the Weetabix. Now you come to mention it, I have always been a bit disappointed with Canadian Alpen. I don't think it's as sweet as the British stuff. While on the subject of oats - Starbucks granola bars in Britain are superior to the sweet sickly things they sell here which don't even sport the same name. Yuk.
I miss my granola bars.
What about the chocolate? I am no a fan of Hersheys. Do they have the proper stuff there? Twix and tea is too much to ask for maybe. A little Cadburys? ...
ReplyDeleteWhenever I have gone abroad it has been awful (because of added anti-melt I am told). Surely in Canada you don't have that problem?
Hersheys smercheys. I hate it. I have managed to find some good locally made chocolate here in Montreal. Though I miss some British stuff you cannot get here like Fry's Turkish Delight, family bags of Revels and Maltesers. Looking forward to stocking up soon on a trip to the homeland.
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