[wheels]

I ended up with my first hot tea ever by ordering tea in Mexico, as I would have in Texas. I was very confused when I got a mug of water and a tea bag. I was 15-ish. I'd literally never heard of anyone drinking tea hot. (This was in the mid-90s, so reading stuff on the internet wasn't much of a thing.)

Europeans, on the other hand, seem to be baffled by the concept that iced tea is just, you know, cold black tea, not a soft drink you buy at the store. I've seriously had people ask me how to make it.

[GJim]

> I got a mug of water and a tea bag.

This drives me spare when visiting the US!

Pour the boiling water (> 90 C) onto the bloody tea! Preferably loose tea in a teapot, but a bag in a mug will do.

Why in gods name I'm brought a mug of lukewarm water with sperate teabag, even in a five-star hotel, and expected to get a decent brew of strong black tea is beyond the wit of my understanding..... And don't get me started on having to flag down a waiter to ask for a teaspoon and milk jug every-sodding-time!

(At this point, somebody from the USA will invariably post claiming to be a tea connoisseur, and tediously explain why lukewarm brews are superior and the proper Indian/Chinese/Japanese/Antarctic way of doing things and that British drink shite tea. My response to this is "bugger off").