Bad Tea Experiences in Restaurants.....

Charging for hot water? Pshhhhh! Bring a thermos of your own hot water!

Restaurant tea is generally awful, isn’t it? Middle-eastern, Indian and Asian restaurants seem to do a good job, but I don’t trust anything else. Even when they have the nice box of all the fancy teas, somehow the water temp and lack of timing still make it less than ideal. I always bring my own bags and I try to have it be something that is pretty much always okay. I just ask for a cup of hot water. I’ve never been charged although they do look at me weirdly. It’s amazing that they are so unable to do a good job with tea when many places have improved their coffee.

i tend to just assume it, as mentioned by carol who, so i’m always very surprised when good tea—you know, where they specify a local supplier and everything—is on the menu. i had some last week during my trip to new orleans; we’d just finished a cassoulet-like entree with pulled lamb and white beans and duck meatball, and they brought out a silver tea service and the tea was loose big leaves in a cheesecloth-like folded-together-at-the-last-minute pouch. it was really good too—a black tea, but at first it smelled and looked more like a herbal, great for digestion, then the flavor deepened and turned sweet and malty over time. i was so pleasantly surprised i just contacted them via facebook to ask if they know if it’s possible to order long distance.

my point was i guess yeah hot tea in restaurants tends to default to being atrocious sad lukewarm lipton bags or something, so when it’s done right that makes it all the more a joy.

Ooo. That does sound good!

I totally agree that a decent tea service is rare. I have even had problems with tea service in a sushi bar and other Asian restaurants.

Although there was one memorable time many moons ago at a sushi bar I used to frequent when I was given a small cup of cloudy green liquid and told it was a special green tea, instantly fell in love with it, very sweet natural taste, and later learned that was my introduction to matcha. I tried to get more specifics about it at the time but all I could get out of them is that it was special tea.

LOL…very rarely do I brave ordering tea or even hot water to place my own tea bag in…I’d rather wait till I get home or bring my own…though I suspect some places would have a problem with that…ok you don’t need my patronage, do you? Smiles as I walk out the door

The last one has not happened but that is probably how I would handle it.

I don’t expect to get a good brew in a restaurant – it is something of a rarity. It would be lovely but the last time I had tea when I was out I paid £2.20 for a pot of “hot” water, a cup and a Twinnings Redbush teabag on the side. If I want a good brew theres loads of places I can go to in Manchester (North Tea Power, Nexus Art Cafe, Fig & Sparrow, Teacup, Tea 42, Propertea) that will serve a decent cup of tea by people that know how to serve it.

I went to a well known tea house yesterday. I was underwhelmed by the tea. The service was nice. An individual pot with a timer etc. But they used too little tea for the pot size. A good tea was rendered bland and vapid. Its too bad too. The have a nice selection and it’s close to work. I would like to go back but I doubt I will.

As a guy who is in the business of selling tea to restaurants, I can tell you that the general perception of tea is that it’s still a commodity…so they treat it like one. Instead of looking at tea as a way to wow customers, they look at it like just another expense, so they don’t bother with quality. Not helping that perception is that the major distributors who supply these restaurants also treat tea like a commodity, so they never bother to carry true specialty teas.

For the restaurants who get it, they understand that offering awesome quality tea and something unique to their customers will ultimately pay them back. These are the ones I’ve been successful in converting. I’ve had two restaurants drop their bottled Republic of Tea iced tea in favor of ours, and it’s paid off for them.

There’s an assumption out there that the average restaurant patron won’t appreciate good tea because they’re so used to the cheap stuff. Not true. A wise man once told me that to never make assumptions about and never underestimate your customers’ tastes. They will ultimately surprise you!

I think most of us would second your note. I just wish I would be able to know in advance if the restaurant had quality tea. I would be glad to buy tea at a restaurant if I knew it was going to be good.