Tea

[timetobackout]

Retired and living on the coast/ touristy area, I'm out every day with the dogs and often stop for a cup/mug of tea at different shacks alfresco cafes etc. I'm struck though by the difference in quality in various places. I by no means have a discerning palate, but some are virtually undrinkable. My tea at home is pretty consistent, normal good quality teabags(Yorkshire) freshly boiled water,30 -45 secs quick stir,with fresh milk added. Simple enough but sometimes I can taste long life milk and other poor cups I can only think of lower quality teabags.
The thing is I never get asked about it. If you go out for a basic pub meal you often get asked if everything is alright and it always is because with say scampi chips and peas, plus a glass of pinot grigio there is not an awful lot to go wrong, but I never get asked if the tea was OK.
At between 80p and £2(price does not seem to correlate with quality) I am never going to bother to say anything, but would do if asked, instead I just go somewhere else ,it's not as though I'm not spoiled for choice,

Yeah I wonder this with coffee too.

So much variation in quality in a cup of coffee. How it’s made, how hot is it etc. I’m in London so plenty of places to go.

I never buy a mug of tea though, I’d only spend on a pot. I don’t drink milk in tea so £1.80 or more sometimes for a splash of hot water on a bag in a mug or a paper cup is ludicrous.

It's not just that cost though.

Don't forget all the overheads that need paying. Even wages for one NMW worker is going to cost 17- 19p a minute. If they spend a minute taking your order, a minute making your tea, and a minute serving it - that's already nearly 60p in direct wage costs.

Of course times spent "serving" you vary but equally business owners need to cover downtimes for staff too, and all the other overheads like rent, light and heat, WiFi, cleaning etc

It's the same with coffee. Some places manage to really fuck it up.

Yorkshire tea needs longer than that!

A lot of food and drink service places are appalling quality and fail to meet basic standards, which should be a given for commercially prepared food and drink.

With tea, the water must be freshly boiled to 100 C and if sold in a cafe, must be a tea bag, or leaves in a teapot, with hot water top up available, absolutely not a bag floating in a cup. Milk must be only fresh and semi skimmed as standard.

Hot chocolate must be actually hot - most isn't.

Proper butter must be used for toast, sandwiches etc, unless alternatives are specifically requested for dietary requirements. I've lost count of the number of times nice bread has been ruined by shitty spread.

You say not a lot can go wrong with scampi and chips, but many places don't cook chips properly so they're underdone and some use formed scampi instead of whole tail.

We had a holiday recently where we self catered but ate out a lot and there was something wrong with most of the food I was served, it just wasn't done very well, missing ingredients compared with the menu, margarine instead of butter in a sandwich, undercooked chips and twice I was served overcooked eggs when I asked for them to be lightly done.

I'm no gourmet cook and not particularly fussy, but it is so disappointing to pay restaurant or cafe prices for something that is quite basic that I could have made better myself at home with little effort, or it was no nicer than a standard range supermarket ready meal. I got quite stressed near the end, because I was looking at menus and not wanting to order anything because it was likely to be not very nice.

If I eat or drink out so pay a premium for it, I want it to be a treat, nicer than at home or something special that's fiddly to make.

I think a lot of places are just catering for people who are simply hungry or thirsty or who can't be arsed cooking and don't really care what they get.

There are places that do sell nice food and drink, but I'm a lot more wary about going somewhere new after some recent experiences.

I totally agree. Some places it's like being served a cup of hot water with some milk in it. Coffee is grey and tasteless.

I think it often comes down to the person who makes it, some people just don't know how to properly make hot drinks.

I love Costa coffee but in our local one I avoid getting a coffee when there is a particular member of staff on, she is lovely but my god it tastes rank when she makes it.

You lost me at 30-45 seconds brew time!

WTAF OP?!

I put water on my Yorkshire tea bag, go and have a shower and then it's ready. Goodness.
I can't imagine how bad the tea is in your local cafés as your home tea must be terrible!

Look what you've started now OP it's a race to see who can brew their tea the longest! I mean I pour the water on and leave it til I've finished work for the day and only then is it satisfactory but still.

I take a flask with my own coffee in it. I'm way to fussy about tea to buy a cup of it. A pot yes.

As for tea I set a timer for 4 mins mainly because I forget I've made it and that's how long I like it brewed for anyway. 30-40 seconds does not make decent tea

I haven’t had tea/coffee on the go or in a cafe for years. No one can make one the way i like it. Not even friends. At work, i make my own.

Never the same

When we'd just come out of one lockdown or another DH and I went out for a walk and came across a place with tables out, serving tea and coffee. The thought of a nice cup of tea 'out' was very appealing.

The server took a paper cup, put in the tea bag, poured in cold milk and topped it up with water from a flask of unknown temperature. I just stood and watched her in shock. Eventually, managing not to ask 'what on earth is that?', I asked for a black tea with milk on the side and got a tea bag in warm water and a cup with some milk in, so I could at least make some kind of tea before the milk went in.

So disappointing.