How 'bout a cup of tea?

It's always a "nice" cup of tea, luv.

testing

Not for a quick blow-n-go, but certainly if there is fucking.

Yes. Lunch is always tea time.

I think so. When I was on a semester abroad another my partner on a project asked if I wanted to have a cup of tea. I was confused at first and then realized this was just there way of saying wanting grab a cup of coffee or something to eat. At first I was like tea? and envisioned us in some fancy tearoom with English china.

cuppatea

As of 20 years ago when I was last there, yes. Every time you enter a home or office you're offered tea. It's constant, any time you enter or return from going out, or sit down to chat, and before bedtime. It's a very civilizing custom.

The Italians are the same way about coffee. At least in Milan. I marveled at how they were able to sleep at night with all that caffeine intake throughout the day.

I’m often in London for work, visiting multiple locations in a day. Sometimes just for a quick catching up. The Brits never fail to offer a “nice cup of tea”, with or without milk.

Sometimes served in beautiful china on a tray, sometimes in a chunky old mug.

It’s a charming tradition.

If I can’t have my coffee from a proper copper coffee pot, I’ll have tea.

I like the tea rooms too. Also the scones and tea. God I miss travelling.....

That’s how mick jagger got jerry hall..invited her up first for a drink then when she hesitated as she had Bryan ferry as beau he said “not even for a cup of tea?”

Charming custom indeed. To pay for the tea habit the British got the Chinese addicted to opium that they grew in India and shipped there. Remember that next time you are offered a nice cuppa, luv.

And in Australia. And New Zealand.

"Fancy a brew?"

What is your point, twat R13 ? Would you like for tea to be cancelled? Does a steaming cuppa trigger you?

You would be forever frowned upon if someone entered your house in Ireland and you didn’t offer tea. The English are very bad at doing tea as they never have ‘a wee bun’ to offer with the tea. You might get a dry biscuit if you are lucky.

In Scotland as in Ireland, it is the height of bad manners to offer someone a cup of tea without at least a biscuit. Tea often involves finger sandwiches, scones, cakes and biscuits. My granny was always prepared to feed an army in case someone visited. All our grannies were, and the tradition has continued. It is expected.

I love this story about a near mutiny at Pinewood Studios when James Cameron was filming Aliens.

[quote]One ritual that was particularly hard for the Americans to understand was a twice daily set-clearing fury that accompanied the union-mandated arrival of a woman pushing a tea trolley. “I was shocked when at a particular time of the morning everybody would be gone,” Winston recalled. “Hello? Where is everybody?” In the middle of filming a scene, the giant stage doors swung open, letting the special effects smoke spill out, so the crew could rush the tea lady, with her urn of hot water and plate of cheese rolls.

[quote]When he finally wrapped at Pinewood, Cameron stood up again to address them. “This has been a long and difficult shoot, fraught by many problems,” he said. “But the one thing that kept me going, through it all, was the certain knowledge that one day I would drive out the gate of Pinewood and never come back, and that you sorry bastards would still be here.” He never did return.

I’m British and yeah, we’re always drinking tea. Or coffee. But generally tea.

We had a thread about builder's tea (builder's brew) and Yorkshire Tea a while ago. I tried Yorkshire Tea on the recommendation of a DLer. It was very good.

My grandparents where staying with friends at their house in England. My grandfather woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and smelled smoke. The refrigerator had caught on fire.

They all got out ok, but as they were sitting on the lawn watching the house burn, a firefighter came over and asked if they wanted a cup of tea. This was around 15 years ago.

My grandparents where staying with friends at their house in England. My grandfather woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and smelled smoke. The refrigerator had caught on fire.

They all got out ok, but as they were sitting on the lawn watching the house burn, a firefighter came over and asked if they wanted a cup of tea. This was around 15 years ago.

[quote]"Fancy a brew?"

If someone said that to an American, he'd probably expect a beer.

R16 is a great big fat person.

My Scottish grandmothers were big on tea, with homemade scones or cookies (biscuits), my parents to a lesser extent. I like tea but don't think about it much, unless I'm around my siblings especially if we're all together. Then it becomes automatic.

My BF is of québécois heritage but the tea thing fascinated him to the point that he's adopted it on weekends.

Home baking is a competitive sport for old Scottish ladies. My granny could make anything, and was very proud of that fact. My husband’s granny was exactly the same.

[quote] The Italians are the same way about coffee. At least in Milan. I marveled at how they were able to sleep at night with all that caffeine intake throughout the day.

In my experience, Italians drink a quick shot of espresso, often standing up, at a coffee bar. It's the Americans who invented (or at least popularized) large mugs of coffee and highly-caloric, overly sweetened coffee drinks such as frappuccinos (which is really more of a coffee milkshake.

A cup of hot tea, on the other hand, tends to revive me without making me jittery.

Oh yes r26. When my Gran and her sister were both widowed they decided to share a house, but it only lasted about a year. The squabbling over every type of tea cake,,and whose was better was incessant. Then the accusations of sabotage began, and were aired when we were visiting. My face was sore from involuntarily making that "O" shape with my mouth while my mother ran to the bathroom to laugh at her mother and aunt trying to swear at each other. I never told anyone but Auntie Muriel's lemon squares were the best.

It’s kind of dying out - you’re more likely to be offered coffee these days. And we don’t tend to drink tea other than in the mornings.

We don’t tend to drink tea outdoors either. If you’re out with friends you’ll go for a coffee rather than sit down somewhere for a cup of tea.

According to Alan Jay Lerner, during rehearsals for MY FAIR LADY, the English stars, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway, and Julie Andrews (and probably Robert Coote) put their collective feet down on day two and declared that they simply must have a tea break in the afternoon. (Director Moss Hart, being an American was unaccustomed to such a tradition). Julie Andrews assumed the role of hostess and every afternoon, rehearsals stopped so everyone could have a proper 'cuppa'

Entertaining guests appears to be dying out -if not already dead in most of the US. Thank god some of the rest of the world still knows how to welcome guests into their homes.

A few years ago I was asked by a female teacher friend to accompany her on a series of home visits to her students as part of a grant the school received. Most were Mexican immigrants, and she needed an interpreter as well as a male escort (some of the neighborhoods were pretty bad). In every home, without exception, we were invited to dinner, and offered drinks and snacks. I had to pull my friend aside to explain that it was perfectly okay not to accept the dinner invitation, but that she absolutely had to accept a drink and actually sip some of it. A few weeks later she reported that many of her colleagues' visits hadn't fared as well as hers. Seems they refused every offer of hospitality and left with the parents thinking they were stuck-up bitches. My friend got tamales at Christmas and various cakes and cookies throughout the year. It says a lot about our present culture that even educated people can be so culturally insensitive and ignorant of basic manners.

Tea sounds like a very nice custom, especially if there's food involved. My sister-in-law is such a bitch that, if you're at their house, she'll go get herself something to eat and just eat right in front of you. No asking whether anyone else would like a snack. I blame my brother (her husband) because he married her and let her get away with that kind of behavior. Absolutely rude.

R20, I have trouble finding my Yorkshire tea in the store more often than not. Once I got used to it as my morning brew, nothing else would do, and I can't find a very good substitute. I saw the other day that my supermarket carried Barry's, so I had to make do with that (red box). It's OK, but it's no Yorkshire, which is powerful and tannic, which is how I like it. (Lowbrow tea tastes.)

And I know I type fat, but, in TV shows and movies, how are English people satisfied with one little dry cookie on their saucer with their mid-morning tea? Is it like that in real life, too? That's not even a snack. Can anyone tell me what the point of it is?

I have developed a serious addiction to Fortnum & Mason's Afternoon Blend tea, and get a large supply shipped over from London every couple of months. The best tea blend I've ever had. Fortunately, F&M has a single shipping price for a standard box, so I always get their wonderful preserves and jams to throw in. Make some fresh scones and go to heaven.

It's the taste!

Any clotted cream soures for those of us in uSA?

[quote] And I know I type fat, but, in TV shows and movies, how are English people satisfied with one little dry cookie on their saucer with their mid-morning tea? Is it like that in real life, too? That's not even a snack. Can anyone tell me what the point of it is?

Maybe it's just for TV that they're eating that one little dry cookie. But try these, Petit Ecolier.

R36, try using mascarpone cheese, Crave Brothers.

R36, I've bought it at Frazer Farms, Sprouts, Whole Foods, World Market, and Jimbo's. No idea if you have any of those around you. You can make it easily enough, but it takes a couple of days and is godawful expensive. I've done it, and you really couldn't taste any difference. You can also buy it online from places that do cold shipping, like iGourmet.com and Amazon (Amazon is twice the price of a typical store purchase).

Rather than using mascarpone cheese, I'd suggest just over-whipping ordinary cream until it is very thick. Make sure you are whipping and adding air, rather than churning it into butter!

It means they want to bond with you by peeing in a cup together. The guest goes first.

Trader Joe's used to have clotted cream but I haven't seen it recently. Does Whole Foods or some other upscale store have it?

There was a comedian years ago that pointed out whenever something tense occurred in a British show or movie, someone announces "I'll make some tea" and in the American script "you look like you could use some rest". I think a third nation chose for a drink.

R31, not true. Lots of people still entertain in their homes here. My old, ex british bf told me it was not common to entertain in their homes in England. Everyone met out. He was from a working class background though. Maybe it's a class thing there.

R32 are you kidding? Was she raised in a barn?

R41, read R39.

R43, calling round to a mate’s house and getting a cup of tea wouldn’t be considered entertaining. Anyone calls in for anything you would offer a cup of tea. It is just how it is.

Do they say “spot of tea?”