Europe
According to the internet, there are 51 countries in Europe. That means that I should be spending close to a year there, traveling there by teacup. The reality seems to be that people in that part of the world really don't feel compelled to share anything meaningful about how people drink tea.
After doing some research, I found that they are all very boring about their tea drinking (with a few exceptions). Most of the videos about making tea in Europe I have found are really snarky videos saying you take a tea bag, and pour hot water over it. Some are done in the style of the TV show "Drunk History".
Europe is going to be a challenge. I'm reminded of the beginning of Richard Dooling's short story "Bush Pigs" where he talks about the difference between Africa and Europe. In Africa everything is alive, and Europe is like visiting an old museum.
While I'm still researching, I've found the usual scattering of countries were coffee or alcohol are more popular drinks that everyone talks about. I am also finding that Europeans are much more driven by the brand printed on the tea bag. If you ever watch the British show "Eat well for Less", you will see over and over that people are convinced that the name brand tea tastes much better than the GASP generic brand (granted, that show always features people who are brand name driven for food purchases).
I may have to take a different strategy while exploring here, since I don't want to have a cupboard full of different brands of European bagged tea (in other words, I don't want to buy a box of 100 bags of PG Tips which seems to be the smallest size they sell locally). Travel can be challenging, and apparently the challenge starts with Europe.
After doing some research, I found that they are all very boring about their tea drinking (with a few exceptions). Most of the videos about making tea in Europe I have found are really snarky videos saying you take a tea bag, and pour hot water over it. Some are done in the style of the TV show "Drunk History".
Europe is going to be a challenge. I'm reminded of the beginning of Richard Dooling's short story "Bush Pigs" where he talks about the difference between Africa and Europe. In Africa everything is alive, and Europe is like visiting an old museum.
While I'm still researching, I've found the usual scattering of countries were coffee or alcohol are more popular drinks that everyone talks about. I am also finding that Europeans are much more driven by the brand printed on the tea bag. If you ever watch the British show "Eat well for Less", you will see over and over that people are convinced that the name brand tea tastes much better than the GASP generic brand (granted, that show always features people who are brand name driven for food purchases).
I may have to take a different strategy while exploring here, since I don't want to have a cupboard full of different brands of European bagged tea (in other words, I don't want to buy a box of 100 bags of PG Tips which seems to be the smallest size they sell locally). Travel can be challenging, and apparently the challenge starts with Europe.
Europe is never simple.
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