To say something to the waitress about my tea not having boiling water poured on the teabag?

[MirandaGoshawk]

In a cafe mid-morning with a friend. I ordered tea and when she brought it over it was a mug of hot water with a wrapped teabag on the side. I was so surprised that I said "Oh no, that's not the way to make tea!" (I mean you get used to it like that abroad, but not in the UK!) The waitress was young and said, "Am I supposed to put the teabag in the cup and then pour on boiling water?" When I said yes, she said that she'd remember that next time I came in.

But my friend said it doesn't matter and I shouldn't have said anything - to mention it was rude. What do you think? My instinct is that they serve it like that so that you can see the teabag wrapped, so you know what you're getting.

My mum and I went to a lovely little cafe in Bristol recently and were served tea in a pot with an egg times and the instruction to remove the strainer with the loose tea leaves exactly after 3 min when the timer went.

Boston Tea Party by any chance? They used to do the most amazing burger in the world. No idea whether they still do.

No, it was Anna Cake Couture - the cakes were rather divine too!

I know! Let's have a referendum on how tea should be served...

YANBU - I am particularly picky about my tea mud be made with freshly boiled water.

On another note it is perfectly acceptable to drink earl grey with little bit of milk, it is after all a black tea. Earl grey is my afternoon hot beverage of choice.

*must be made

Yeah sorry OP you'll forever be Crazy Tea Lady at that cafe from now on.

Now this would have been an acceptable reason to leave Europe.
Their abominable tea practices.

Pacific that sounds lovely!

For me it's scald the pot as the kettle comes to boiling, empty, add tea LEAVES (I'm terribly posh), tip on water once the boiling has just subsided. Then leave to brew till nice golden brown colour, before adding milk to the cup and then the tea.

The milk first step was added to my repertoire by DH who explains it using physics- something to do with slowing the overall rate of heat loss, a curve, exponential something something... SCIENCE!

Adding milk directly onto a tea bag however IS an offence. As was OP's ordeal- why, one would have to SQUEEZE the tea bag in order to infuse any tea into the mug of water! Philistinism.

I have a dash of skimmed milk in Earl Grey. I should be hounded out of the country as a disgrace to English womanhood .

This is why you should never order tea when in a cafe. A tea bag and a mug of hot-ish water is not tea. Not to mention the massive cost mark up. At least a poncy coffee has a modicum of skill involved.

When I was a waitress, I would ask people if they wanted their tea bag in the pot or on the side. Most people who drank Earl Grey/herbal/green would like it on the side so they could brew it to their own requirements. However, people who drank EnglishBreakfast or similar, wanted it in the pot with boiling water.

A few people would bring their own teabags and just order a pot of hot water, which we would charge a nominal amount for to cover service and washing up. To be fair though, I didn't blame them!

F&M's advice on perfect tea.
www.fortnumandmason.com/fortnums/the-perfect-cup-of-tea

Milk last was always a way of demonstrating the quality of your china - although these days much less of a concern. We always use a teapot for 1 bag for two cups....

Squeezing the teabag ??? Horrors. All wrong. Wrong wrong wrong.

I might start making leaf tea, I'd like a bit of ceremony in my utterly unceremonious life. What's a good leaf tea, people? I'm a Yorkshire tea bag woman, if that helps, none of that Twinings shite.

Absolutely correct to complain.

Science:

That's how tea comes in the US, and it's grim

I blame the parents. Or the Russians or Brexit!

Waitresses arnt what they were before last Thursday

Starbucks are the worst - they gave me hot water with the bag AND THE MILK in, in a cardboard cup..... How is it supposed to brew in Luke warm milky water?!

They didn't get away with that one!

I had the same thing the other month and I thought it was odd but the tea tasted normal so I can't complain but I will

Such a first world problem

YANBU. Tea in a cafe should be...
Boiling water on tea bag in pot (and NOT a stainless steel pot please); milk in pretty jug, extra pot of boiling water on the side for future brews / dilution. Pretty cup with saucer (and cup must not have a handle so small I cannot use it). Cafe owners, I am available to come and advise .

Fwiw coffee should NEVER be served without a

Here we go, different teas need different temperature waters. I may print and laminate some of these for next time I am in a tea education situation

George Orwell on making tea

Yanbu! And considering you pay at least £1.20 and usually more, you are right to expect it to taste like tea. Would half the posters above really just shrug and drink the overpriced cup of lukewarm tea flavoured water rather than make a fuss?

And this is why you cannot win when working in a coffee shop 😂 Every customer wants the tea doing differently and some can be really rude about it if you don't instinctively and psychically do it their way.
I love a really strong cup of tea so prefer teabag in pot with boiling water over but then we have as many customers who want it in after the water and then again those who want the teabag placing on the saucer and nowhere near the hot water.

I would be happy to make it again, it only takes seconds, if it's not to their exact preference but don't understand why people feel the need to speak to me like something they've just stepped in instead of simply asking??

I don't mind how green or herbal tea is made. If it is black (fermented) tea the water has to be boiling/near boiling to extract the flavour. If it isn't it is flavourless, and unfortunately flavourless hot water makes me physically sick (I spent a lot of time in Germany running to bathrooms until I gave up trying to drink tea).
I have returned my tea just to be given another on made with "not boiling" water. It used to be a standard science question why can't you make a decent cup of tea on a mountain.
I find coffee is too strong and bitter for me in cafes nowadays - so really would like to be able to get a proper cup of tea.

YANBU! Normal tea must be made with boiling water. It's not a question of strength - I like mine weakish and take the bag out quite quickly. Coffee should not be made with boiling water, so even if water from a coffee machine goes straight onto the tea it doesn't taste right.

I am so happy to see this thread, I thought I was the only one who worried about this. I only drink normal tea at home, or if I can make it myself.