In the South East, they bring you sweetened (usually far too sweetened for my tastes) iced tea. This is amazingly universal.
I live in NC and have been probing the border for years.
For “nicer” restaurants, the universal sweet tea boundary seems to be precisely at the NC/VA border.
You’d get a mug of builders tea.
Take a wild guess where.
Take a wild guess where.
Estonia!
I mean, I did ask for a wild guess.
Texas - fast food they ask sweet or unsweet. Sit down restaurant they sometimes ask and they sometimes bring unsweet and a box of sweeteners.
Why in England do they have such good hot tea and terrible iced tea? It’s usually that shit lemon lipton can. Everytime i ask for a cup of ice they just look at me like I’m doing it wrong.
Because you are doing it wrong. Tea is a hot beverage and iced tea is an affront to god.
In the southern US where iced tea really took off, summer temps are typically over 35°. I’m not drinking hot anything in that weather.
coward
Probably an Arizona or Brisk.
Maybe a green tea if you’re in an Asian restaurant.
They ask what kind of tea I want - black, green etc and bring a cup of it together with sugar so I can add it to the tea if I want.
Europe.
Same, although it’ll probably be served in a little teacup (about 2 cup’s worth) with a generic teabag in it. There may be a small pot of hot water on the side.
(Europe as well)
Can confirm for Switzerland. It’ll probably be some crappy tea bag quality, like lipton yellow or Twinings. They’ll also probably charge you 4-6 CHF (about the same in USD) for it.
Which country?
This can vary wildly per European country, after all.Germany, Austria, Sweden, Niederlande etc.
Niederlande
Excuse me what did you just call us?
Nah, I jest.
In all seriousness, thanks for adding the list.I swear it’s not me, it’s my smartphone. We will have a serious conversation with it about this!
In the better restaurants and cafes they will bring you a cup of boiled water and a box of different kinds of tea bags from which you can pick one. (The Netherlands)
I would say, good restaurants and cafes do not serve tea in bags :) but this is already details, anyway you get a tea, not a soda called “ice tea”.
In this chunk of the Southern Cone they’ll probably assume that you want this:
Cold and sweetened yerba mate tea, often flavoured with lemon or peach. It’s actually quite good, preferable over soda.Brazil?
Yup. I’m not sure if the same tea +→ cold yerba mate tea implication applies elsewhere in Brazil though; in some places I’d expect a “this is a restaurant, if you want tea go back home” or similar, dunno.
Chicago: Asian restaurants will bring you a pot of already-brewed, ready-to-drink hot tea. So will nicer Western restaurants that have an actual tea program. Coffee shops and mid-tier restaurants will typically give you a cup with the tea already brewing and it’s up to you to remove the bag or sachet in a timely manner.
Everywhere else brings you a little tea-making kit consisting of hot water, teabag(s), and maybe lemon and honey. You have to ask if you want milk, except at oldschool diners.
Good point. There’s definitely that variation in certain restaurants.
Southern CA default seems to be unsweetened iced tea, which is basically all I drink so it’s fine with me.
NJ here. If you ask for just “tea,” it usually means hot tea. You’ll then be asked for the usual add-ons, milk, lemon, so on. It’s usually black tea, some places will have others, and they’ll ask if you just ask for tea. Unless you say “iced,” “unsweet”, “sweet”, or any flavors they might have, they’ll usually assume hot tea.
A nice hot cup of char with a separate little jug of milk and sugar to taste. Oh, and a little spoon. Lovely
I’m guessing auto correct got you on your cup of “char”. Either that or you very sarcastically don’t like chai.
Lapsang souchong.
Yum.
I suppose I could see char being an apt description (which I’m curious if that is what the other commenter was referencing). While I wouldn’t say it’s roasted, the flavor itself could convey that flavor I guess. Being roasted isn’t the only way to get a smokey flavor, which I think is one of the main flavors I associate with the word “char”. That or charcoal.
Let’s not read too much into my dumb joke.
Oh no old bean, no autocorrect involved…we call it char round here
Ah… that’s… interesting. Is there a reason why? And where is that? Cause I don’t think I’d ever connect the two. Like, if someone offered me a cup of char, I’d probably think coffee before tea. Cause one is at least significantly roasted.
Colorado here, and at most restaurants you’ll usually be asked what type of tea or be brought a mug/teapot of hot water and an assortment of tea bags to choose from.
Europe.
Either they ask back wether I want hot or ice tea (beverage) or they default to hot tea and bring out the tea arsenal in a small box to choose.
so if you want the beverage (ice tea) you should say that you want ice tea.
I get hot tea, unsweetened. New Zealand. I would probably get a couple of sachets of sugar to sweeten my tea if I want to, or they’ll be in a container at the counter or on the table
Very few places here would even have iced tea, especially the sweetened varieties, and you would definitely have to specify it. Only at some “nicer” restaurants would you even have a chance of finding it, most fast food chains or buffet type places wont have it with the exception of some Asian places
I remember some years back staying in a hotel in New Jersey as a part of a wedding party that had gathered mostly from the UK and Commonwealth countries. I asked for tea on arrival, and they had none. When I came down for breakfast in the morning, there was a box full of tea at the breakfast buffet that had obviously just arrived by courier and just been opened up, management must have ordered it overnight for urgent delivery for all the English and Australasian guests, it must have taken them unawares
They always ask “you mean hot tea?” And I fill with rage and think YES, of course I bloody well want my tea to be hot!
In Atlanta it depends on the context. After dinner and at a fancier restaurant, they’ll usually bring tea bags and hot water. At the beginning of a meal, or at something like a BBQ restaurant, you’ll get sweet tea.
I presume at a BBQ place you get sweet tea no matter where on earth you are.
Well… American BBQ. Probably not Korean.
Lol, yes. At a Korean BBQ you’d probably get barley tea.
Ha. I didn’t even realize you had “Korean” in your name until just now.
Lol! Funny how that worked out.
You probably look down on all of us regular people. /s
WTF?
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Pepsi ok?
