Here’s a new segment that I’m trying out due to all the eye rolling things that are my life.
Last week I was having a conversation with someone about tea and putting creamer in tea. I’ve *no* idea who or what brought up the topic, but it’s been in the back of my mind for the past week. Yesterday morning I recall eyeing the creamer while brewing a morning cup and just kind of shook it out of my head. “Maybe another time”. Not that it takes a lot of bravery to have cream in your tea, the British do it all the time… but after a life long coffee association, I have to warm up to it slowly.
En route to work I was listening to the best of Adam Carolla, when the commercials came on, there was an ad for Sweet Tea at McDonalds. I’ve no idea what’s in it, but I visualized a sweet Vanilla Chai, with creamer. Today would be the day! The French and Original creamers that have flaunted themselves in front of me for the past few days would finally be stirred into my hot tea goodness. I will brave it today! The commercial was a SIGN!
I went to the break station and poured in the hot water, dipped the bags and then went to reach for the creamer… NONE! I checked around the microwave, behind the sink… NADA! Quickly I rushed to the second break station… NO CREAMER THERE EITHER!
It figures. As soon as the desire passes… we’ll be over stocked with the stuff.
The British use milk instead of cream. When we went to a British home, they served us tea with milk at tea time. It was better than I thought it would be. All the hotels there give you with a little tea pot, tea, tiny containers of milk and biscuits (cookies) for an afternoon tea break in your room. Love that tradition! If McD’s is serving the same sweet tea they serve here, it’s iced tea with tons of sugar. They drink it like water here in the south. Heavy on sugar and very light on tea taste – YUCKY!
GROSS (to the sweet tea)!! When we’d go visit family in San Fran I remember the shock of drinking sweet tea for the first time. Really gross. I like iced tea with a little bit of sweetener (some times), mainly I like a lot of ice, a lot of tea… and that’s it.
And ahhhhhhhhhhhh MILK! Would creamer work though? They don’t really have containers of milk here… although… how sophisticated would it make me if I had tea with milk at home when I go to unwind?!?!? Tea time also happens at night, right?
I suppose cream works, but I haven’t tried it in anything other than my homemade Chai tea (my weakness). I remember thinking it was a bit rude of them to not ask if we liked our tea with milk before serving it that way, but it wasn’t bad and I felt so British! Tea time is in the afternoon for business. They always serve John tea and biscuits in the afternoon when he is working there. Not sure if there is a different proper time for high tea though since that usually involves something more than cookies for the food portion.
My personal opinion – sweet tea is responsible for the stupidity of the south.
LMAO You should start a FB group on that. I’d *so* join
I was going to throw in inbreeding, but I suppose the sweet tea could have led up to it.
Well, I went into the break room and there was some French creamer in there, so I guess I’ll see how it tastes as soon as it cools down.
Homemade Chai? You’ve got to share the recipe. Sounds *almost* like what I had expected McD’s to come out with.
*tea wasn’t too hot to drink… tastes pretty good actually*
I love Chai so much that I have a special pot (Back To Basics Cocoa Latte mixer from Bed, Bath & Beyond) for making it. It heats everything up and then continues to mix and reheat from time to time so it stays frothy. It comes with a recipe booklet.
I also make a dry mix – like the stuff in the little cans, but I think this recipe is better. I got it off the internet, but I tweeked it a bit.
1 1/2 cups nonfat dry milk powder
1 cup powdered non-dairy creamer
1 cup French vanilla flavored powdered non-dairy creamer
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups unsweetened instant tea
2 teaspoons ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon cardomom
Combiner everything in a large bowl, then blend one cup at a time in a blender or food processor until the mixture is the consistency of fine powder. Stir 2 heaping tablespoons of Chai mix into a mug of hot water.
I like a stronger vanilla flavor so I usually add a few drops of vanilla to my cup. I’m going to add vanilla powder to the mix if I ever find it around here. The original recipe called for less milk powder and a lot more sugar.
Nice
Thank you! I’ll have to now try to remember a good way to remember the ingredients for the next time I go to the store. I’m trying to find a new addiction/habit and tea seems less damaging than coffee and wine… or at least it tastes better.
Now I’ll be able to go in front of Micky D’s with a cup of it and scoff the ‘Sweet tea’ drinkers. Well I think I’ll wind up doing that anyway if it is that horrendous stuff that makes my veins feel like syrup just thinking about it.
I did some searching… and it *is* the Southern stuff.
I’m going to do some more experimenting with the Chai recipe. Possilby try using Splenda in place of the sugar and see if the results are worth drinking.
“Aunt Pam” beat me to it (milk).
Southerner joke:
Q: Why are there so many unsolved murders in the South?
A: Because there *are* no dental records and all the DNA is the same!
Too funny!*
*please note, when poking fun of Southerners, we are not referring to our friends in Texas
lol I think I actually know more people in Texas and both the Carolinas now, but I can still make fun of the Carolina people because all my friends over there are transplants.
Texas is and always will be badass. Not the same as, say Alabammy…
Anyone who didn’t think that joke was funny doesn’t deserve to have their feelings spared! On the other hand, if I was born in the south rather than having come to Texas as an adult I might feel a little different about it. I’d ask my friends about it, but I’m afraid to.
Yeah- you don’t mess with Texas… lol
You may laugh … but when you tend to yap in a clearly audible voice the way I do every time some random thought enters my pretty little head, the question of who could be listening is something you start to worry about after a while. They don’t have gun racks in those pickup trucks for nothing, you know!
Umm… did I not write, “You don’t mess with Texas”?
Yes … and then laughed.
(Damn this literal brain of mine!)
Joking aside, Dallas is actually a very polite place, and rude people tend to be non-natives such as myself.
I used to *hate* Texas… absolutely hate it, but then it started to swallow up my friends and I had to be okay with it after awhile because I figured my peeps were quickly becoming the population and perhaps one day I’d visit there… That and the pics and experiences seemed pretty cool.
In Dallas, it seems as though about half the population is out-of-state or international, and when I first came here I certainly encountered plenty of folks who seemed to hate it. Californians who wanted nothing other than to return to California; Ohioans who thought (and said) that it was Hellish; for a couple of years I worked for a Nobel Prize winner who shall remain nameless — you wouldn’t have heard of him anyway — who came here from New York and bitched that Dallas was soulless. But it’s been quite a while since I met anybody like that. They also say that Dallas isn’t the “real Texas”, so it’s hard for me to judge.
I *will* say that visiting Southfork Ranch is no great thrill.