danemodsandy
Well-known member
Chris:
I have never seen Dilmah here in the States. It may exist, but I have not seen it.
Twining's English Breakfast is in nearly every large grocery store. Bigelow also makes an English Breakfast blend. Both are in teabags; loose tea is not easy to find in a grocer's here, except in very large cities.
If you don't want to pay the rather high prices charged for Twining's or Bigelow's, Tetley makes a "British Blend" - also in most every grocer's - that makes a good, stout builder's cuppa.
You will also occasionally find Typhoo, if you're in a large city.
If you're eating out, you need to know that most Americans have little familiarity with tea, which leads to cups of tea that are not what you're used to, at least in everyday restaurants (fine restaurants are another matter, of course). It's seldom ordered in most places, which means that when it is ordered, what comes is a cup of hot (microwaved) water, with a teabag on the saucer, if indeed there is a saucer. A wedge of lemon will come with it, but you will have to ask for milk, which is often not available except as a glass of milk. The usual in chain restaurants is "coffee creamer," which I'm sure you know is a non-dairy or semi-dairy substitute for coffee cream.
It can also be a bit difficult to get your tea with breakfast. Not that they won't bring you the obligatory cup of hot water and a teabag, but they will almost certainly bring it at the wrong time, not being used to the proper timing in relationship to the rest of your breakfast. You can anticipate getting your tea almost immediately, with a wait for everything else, by which time the microwaved hot water used for the teabag will have cooled. This timing works for coffee, because they have huge vats of that on hand, ready to "warm up" cups of coffee for diners waiting for breakfast.
You will also run into a bit of "tea discrimination." Coffee drinkers often get free refills - that "warm up" I mentioned. Tea-drinkers are usually charged for every single blessed cup. It sounds unfair. That is because it is unfair. But it is the way things are here.
If I may make a suggestion or two: First, I'm not sure you should bring your favorite tea with you, because of our airport security. Anything that looks remotely like it could be marijuana in disguise is going to delay you, trust me. That sounds insane, but our government has no more imagination or sense of humor than any other, which is to say none at all. You're already going to spend two hours clearing security at our airports; I wouldn't do anything to make it longer.
Second, an immersion heater would be an excellent idea. This is a small electric coil on a flex; you put the coil into a mug of water and it heats the water to boiling very quickly. It makes a hotel room very bearable in the morning. A link to an immersion heater is below, so that you can see what one looks like if you don't already know. A good hardware store, such as Ace Hardware, will have one. By purchasing some teabags, a mug or two and an immersion heater when you get here, you'll have the makings of tea wherever you go in the States.
I hope something here is of help.
I have never seen Dilmah here in the States. It may exist, but I have not seen it.
Twining's English Breakfast is in nearly every large grocery store. Bigelow also makes an English Breakfast blend. Both are in teabags; loose tea is not easy to find in a grocer's here, except in very large cities.
If you don't want to pay the rather high prices charged for Twining's or Bigelow's, Tetley makes a "British Blend" - also in most every grocer's - that makes a good, stout builder's cuppa.
You will also occasionally find Typhoo, if you're in a large city.
If you're eating out, you need to know that most Americans have little familiarity with tea, which leads to cups of tea that are not what you're used to, at least in everyday restaurants (fine restaurants are another matter, of course). It's seldom ordered in most places, which means that when it is ordered, what comes is a cup of hot (microwaved) water, with a teabag on the saucer, if indeed there is a saucer. A wedge of lemon will come with it, but you will have to ask for milk, which is often not available except as a glass of milk. The usual in chain restaurants is "coffee creamer," which I'm sure you know is a non-dairy or semi-dairy substitute for coffee cream.
It can also be a bit difficult to get your tea with breakfast. Not that they won't bring you the obligatory cup of hot water and a teabag, but they will almost certainly bring it at the wrong time, not being used to the proper timing in relationship to the rest of your breakfast. You can anticipate getting your tea almost immediately, with a wait for everything else, by which time the microwaved hot water used for the teabag will have cooled. This timing works for coffee, because they have huge vats of that on hand, ready to "warm up" cups of coffee for diners waiting for breakfast.
You will also run into a bit of "tea discrimination." Coffee drinkers often get free refills - that "warm up" I mentioned. Tea-drinkers are usually charged for every single blessed cup. It sounds unfair. That is because it is unfair. But it is the way things are here.
If I may make a suggestion or two: First, I'm not sure you should bring your favorite tea with you, because of our airport security. Anything that looks remotely like it could be marijuana in disguise is going to delay you, trust me. That sounds insane, but our government has no more imagination or sense of humor than any other, which is to say none at all. You're already going to spend two hours clearing security at our airports; I wouldn't do anything to make it longer.
Second, an immersion heater would be an excellent idea. This is a small electric coil on a flex; you put the coil into a mug of water and it heats the water to boiling very quickly. It makes a hotel room very bearable in the morning. A link to an immersion heater is below, so that you can see what one looks like if you don't already know. A good hardware store, such as Ace Hardware, will have one. By purchasing some teabags, a mug or two and an immersion heater when you get here, you'll have the makings of tea wherever you go in the States.
I hope something here is of help.
