Useless Conversation

[Infinitecorn]

Living in the US my whole life I always remember how orgasmically good the tea in the UK is.

[FatuousTwat]

Is it just low quality leaves, or do we brew it incorrectly?

[Infinitecorn]

Idk my bff Jill?

[IainC]

Is it just low quality leaves, or do we brew it incorrectly?

Both. Lipton's is utter shit even when it's made properly however US restaurants don't serve water hot enough to steep the leaves in. In practically every restaurant that I ordered tea in I could demonstrate to the waitress that the water wasn't hot enough by sticking my finger in it and leaving it there.

Most American black tea is orange pekoe, which is the worst grade that exists, decent British tea is generally Tippy Golden Broken Orange Pekoe or Flowery Orange Pekoe, really good tea from specialist shops will be Super Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (or Seriously Far Too Good For Ordinary People).

[NowhereMan]

Tea grades have the gayest names ever. But yeah, I can't believe anyone drinks Lipton, any time I've been to America it's either involved bringing tea from the UK or just sticking to coffee. Maybe one day I'll go somewhere cool like San Francisco that almost certainly has some speciality tea places.

[Samwise]

Does PG Tips count as good tea?  That's not hard to find in stores (although good luck getting it in a restaurant).

[IainC]

Does PG Tips count as good tea?  That's not hard to find in stores (although good luck getting it in a restaurant).

No, PG tips is pretty horrible tea. Decent brand teas are Yorkshire Tea, Tetleys and Sainsbury's Red Label. Typhoo is awful stuff too. Twining's specialty teas are alright, their Lapsang Souchong and Darjeeling is pretty good but their breakfast teas aren't worth the price.

[Infinitecorn]

To most of us Americans *exotic tea* is snapple. On another note. Where can i get Irn Bru in the US i have been looking for it since i left Glasgow last.

[rattran]

To most of us Americans *exotic tea* is snapple. On another note. Where can i get Irn Bru in the US i have been looking for it since i left Glasgow last.

I'm not sure, but learning to properly capitalize would help your longevity here. It's maddening.

[Signe]

Fuck you.  I love my PG Tips.  We get both that and Righ's horrible chemical Irn Bru from Wegmans here.  Also his McVities digestives and various candy bars.  Wegman's also makes a cereal that's almost very nearly exactly like Shreddies.  All a bit expensive but they're nice to have around.  There are various British import sites where you can get this stuff, too.  Even more expensive, though.  Every now and then I buy Righ some Winegums and Bassetts Lemon Sherbets.  Maybe this Xmas!

Tonight there were nearly no kids around.  Not that I even put the light on.  Righ took the garbage out around prime trick or treat time and he saw one teenager (next door) dressed up as a zombie or something.  She was probably going to a party.  It has been a little drizzly and very windy but it had mostly died down by then.  I chalk it up to a combination of flu fear and waiting for the delayed baseball game.  No one wants to miss a minute of the Phillies beating the snot out of the Yankees.  Zombie is the best costume.  You can dress up as anything and just make it a zombie.  Zombie cop, zombie ballerina, zombie New York Yankee.  Why bother with anything else? 

[Righ]

To most of us Americans *exotic tea* is snapple. On another note. Where can i get Irn Bru in the US i have been looking for it since i left Glasgow last.

http://www.irn-bru-usa.com/orderonline.html

[Infinitecorn]

To most of us Americans *exotic tea* is snapple. On another note. Where can i get Irn Bru in the US i have been looking for it since i left Glasgow last.

I'm not sure, but learning to properly capitalize would help your longevity here. It's maddening.

Well, I don't usually format forum posts. Thanks for the tip, though.  Oh and that Irn Bru is highway robbery, Righ.

[Lantyssa]

The girl who stole my nice terrycloth bathrobe last year returned it today.

For Signe's sake... was she wearing anything else when she returned it?

[Righ]

Oh and that Irn Bru is highway robbery, Righ.

It's not like it's made here under license. That's the pure cane sugar sickly sweet crap straight from Glasgow in 16.9oz (oh how metric) bottles. It'll run you close to $2.50 a bottle singly in a speciality store or supermarket. It's still cheaper than Red Bull Cola, and that stuff is made locally. 

Still, if its an environmental sin to import bottled fucking water from around the world, importing soda must put you in with the four horsemen.

[FatuousTwat]

Tonight there were nearly no kids around.

Same for us, I think maybe total we got 10-12 groups, and there are usually around 30-35. Must be that all the kids in the neighborhood are getting older.

Also, some bad news. One of the few family members I like (a cousin) has a brain tumor, they found it during an optometrist checkup on Friday. It's in his 4th ventricle. He is going in to Seattle to see a specialist and have surgery tomorrow. I guess he hasn't had a single symptom (no headaches, etc), which is supposed to be a good thing.

[Signe]

My sister usually gets a lot of kids and her husband bought even more sweets than usual for some bizarre reason.  This year they got only five kids.  FIVE!  Her husband has been eating the candy non-stop.  I fully expect that we'll have to roll him out of the house to the hospital for insulin shots by the end of week.

[Salamok]

I'm thinking that backwards people who think that Liption is the only tea available in the US need to take a step forward in time.  If you can't find good tea in the US then you aren't looking or maybe expecting a bit too much from Denny's or your local supermarket.  "Go global or go home" may as well have been the motto of the last decade so most things are available pretty much anywhere in the civilized world.  Go look at whole foods or world market's selection of tea, or if you want a step up from there just order whatever you want via the internet.

Mighty leaf sells some pretty good tea and omg you can even order it online, who would have thunk it, they must be geniuses!  Now before you go off with the "but.. but.. those crappy American establishments don't serve that!", I discovered mighty leaf while waiting to get my haircut in Austin.  I'm sure if I can get decent tea at a place that specializes in HAIR, just maybe there might be a few places that specialize in FOOD that offer the same experience.

[Murgos]

Not sure about the rest of the US but many places around Boston now have tea lists to rival many a fine dining establishments wine lists.  For example the Trident Diner (and bookstore!) in Back Bay has a pretty good selection.

Anyway, I was just in London and there wasn't much I saw there tea-wise that I couldn't find here by looking carefully.

[proudft]

My go-to tea place is a semi-local goofy South African dude with a small shabby-looking store, but he also does internet orders:  http://www.teafountain.com/

I never was a fan of sugar or milk in my tea, but now I am such a tea snob that I will TURN MY NOSE UP GOOD SIR at those who do.  And tea bags = blech.   I am about one or two vacations from bringing my tea along with me whenever I go somewhere.   

[Signe]

I never drink tea out and I'm always able to find decent tea in shops around here.  I take both tea and coffee black but most people I know take both white, usually with a little sugar.  I have to say, though, I'll drink mediocre tea before I'll drink mediocre coffee.  My coffee has to be dark and rich.  What ever sort of roast it is, from light to extra dark, whether it's Cinnamon or Spanish, it has to be full and rich.  I don't much care for flavoured coffee although I don't mind some of the after dinner sort of chocolately blends once in a while that you find around the holidays.

[Ironwood]

What?  Here?  But it's expected!  If it's the wifey, well, we love pressies even when we say we don't. 

Nah, not the wife.  She, like almost everyone here, knows that I can be a complete thoughtless tosser.

What bothered me about this one was it was a coworker who actually thought I was great (because I am in work) and they got to see the stupid thoughtless side because we'd become friends.

I hate recognising my own limitations.  Happens too fucking often.

I also hate apologising.  But now I have to.

[Signe]

Bring a kitten to work.  No one can ignore the lure of adorable.  You won't even have to say sorry.

[Ironwood]

On the bright side, I found Get Smart hilarious.

I think there's summat wrong with me.

[rattran]

For Lantyssa/Signe. She was fully clothed, it was freshly laundered, and I have a date with her for lunch tomorrow. So it's all good, and I had a warm bathrobe for the walk to the shower this morning through 50 degree rain.

[Signe]

I don't mean to pry, really I don't, but why is your shower outside?  Do you live on some cool tropical island?  I hope she likes cats.

I feel like your mother! 

[rattran]

I'm currently away from home working in North Carolina at a renaissance fair. So the shower is way across site. And my cats are at home, but she has a cat here. We'll see how things go this time around.

[Signe]

    Love is in the aire!     

I'm cheering for you!

[Infinitecorn]

Someone get me a pair of wings and a Lyre!

[rattran]

Someone get me a pair of wings and a Lyre!

Who the hell are you anyway?

[Pennilenko]

Someone get me a pair of wings and a Lyre!

Who the hell are you anyway?

He is the new guy who hasn't been guested yet. I am pretty sure the tea conversation brought him in. Also what do you do professionally, at a renaissance fair?

[Merusk]

He's one of the Freecreditreport.com guys.

[Nevermore]

The girl who stole my nice terrycloth bathrobe last year returned it today.

For Signe's sake... was she wearing anything else when she returned it?

Always with her mind in the gutter, this one!

[Sky]

She was fully clothed, it was freshly laundered, and I have a date with her for lunch tomorrow.

That sounds suspiciously like a take-off of Blue Jean Blues.

[rattran]

I sell pewter cups and goblets and such. It's a fairly small business run by a guy and his family, I've been with them for about 20 years now. It's a living. Well, it's a living when the economy isn't in the shitter, it's a 'get by' right now.

[Righ]

She was fully clothed, it was freshly laundered, and I have a date with her for lunch tomorrow.

That sounds suspiciously like a take-off of Blue Jean Blues.

In that it involves an article of clothing? If you laundered them how would you know they were yours, without the oil and the gasoline?