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.

OP & Annie1959. I can list the 'Tea crimes' 'ere ins are london.

Yuck to the milk in first. If there's any risk I ask for black tea. Pay and then ask for the milk

Yuck to hot milk. On the continent I think it must be how tea is drunk. I once stormed into a kitchen of a repeat offender cafe to explain how to do tea! Embarrassed the family.....

Oh how the sight of teapot relaxes one.

I never drink tea when out, ever, only coffee. I never drink coffee when at home, ever only tea. Can't stand people making tea who don't know how to.

I do drink tea when I'm out but have no problem asking for how I want it!

The problem comes in Coffee Shops where tea is a bit of an after thought. It's like they have been trained to make all sorts of coffee and then 'oh tea, just give them a cup of warm water and a tea bag'. I don't think they realise there is an art to making tea as well.

SaucyJack was that 'deconstructed' tea? The new hipster term for anything not put together? Lol

Wow do people really embarrass others just because they don't make tea to their liking? really?
You know some cafes just have a set way of doing things?
These are real people.

Kali, this is AIBU. Of COURSE we're that petty.

How very British to feel that it's embarrassing to ask for decent customer service! Why shouldn't a paying customer ask for their tea to be made properly? Assertiveness isn't rudeness.

It's possible to express disatisfaction without being rude. Better for all concerned to change it and keep the customer happy than have them keep quiet, decide not to come back and tell their friends that the café makes crap tea.

YANBU, a good cup of tea needs to brew and the best way to do that is teabag in the cup then boiling water.

Yep and this is why i no longer work retail

exactly, Whoknows.
That is a cafe I would not be returning to.
OP, YADNBU

Well! This has caused a bit of a storm in a teacup!

Of course it's not a spoof fred - it's deadly serious!

Thank you all for your input. I do feel vindicated but I am also that hot-water-plus-bag-on-the-side seems to be catching on over here. Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! But you have educated me that there are people who like it this way.

BTW I wouldn't fret about green tea being served this way actually I probably would.

Thank you all. And yes, I am your mother. Go and tidy your room.

And yes, I was polite but she will think of me as crazy teabag lady. As we left, the caff was empty (I wonder why?) and my friend tried to catch her eye to say goodbye but she didn't look up.

This is a handy guide. (Contains swearing) m.youtube.com/watch?v=FtK_vfp8po8

Ironically, after posting on this thread at midday, I went into town with my mum, to a cafe and was served hot water with teabag on the side! It didn't brew properly, so the water can not have been hot enough, despite service being speedy. It's easy to tell it hasn't brewed as there was barely any colour to it!
The world has gone mad. Surely in Britain we ought to be able to make a decent cup of tea.

Toffee tea served from a teapot and date and walnut cake - heaven

Haha talk about first world problems.
I have a pointless nvq in food and beverages where it is taught to present wrapped teabags on the side if they're herbal/different. This is so the customer can read the wrapper describing the tea and choose how brew to taste. Yeah I guess it's a bit silly to do with bog standard brrakfast tea but the waitress probably just thinks customers prefer it this way. Bit unreasonable to comment on it..

OMG I would've freaked if I was served tea with the teabag on the side!
I love tea and have visited a tea factory in Dorset which was interesting, tea should brew for 3 minutes and some are blended to have milk and some are not. As I was brought up drinking Earl Grey I find it bizarre when people add milk to it! eurgh!
I would've insisted they take the tea back, put the teabag in the pot/cup and pour boiling water on it so it actually brews properly!

Why is it unreasonable to comment when something you've paid for turns out not to be fit for purpose? If you bought a pair of shoes and one of the soles was coming away from the upper, would it be unreasonable to point that out? Hardly. Tea that isn't properly made is not pleasant to drink. People who work in cafes should understand this. Maybe Costa and the like actively want to discourage their customers from ordering tea - it's stories like this that ensure I shy away from tea when out unless I am 100% confident they know how to make it.

YANBU! You sound very polite and restrained.
The mention of hot milk reminded me of the tea we had in the South of France which was completely made with hot milk - no water. Utterly disgusting! We were too stunned to complain, and the chances of a second cup being drinkable seemed slim.

People who work in cafes should understand this.

Yep I do understand this perfectly, as do many others working in customer service. I would actually much rather a customer tell me if they have a particular way they would like something done /made and to be fair, most of my customers do just that and do it politely. I am making a drink/food whatever for them, they are paying for it so I want it to be perfect for them and to their taste so they can actually enjoy it rather than tolerate it.

The issue only occurs when some people (albeit a minority) think that because they prefer something made a certain way, that this is the only correct way and therefore should automatically be made this way and that the person serving them should just know this and when this isn't so proceeds to speak to the server like dirt about it.

Also, to answer the OP it doesn't sound like you were rude about it either, you are perfectly entitled to have your tea made just the way you like it otherwise why pay for it? so YANBU.

clumsy i wish there was a like button.
Yes people who think that because they've been to one coffee shop that that way is the correct way

It's sounds like the waitress was pleased to have learnt something new ? There's no harm in correcting people as long as you're not rude