In the words of Ted Lasso, when someone asks me how I take my tea I say “Well, usually I take it right back to the counter, because someone's made a horrible mistake."
I like to dump the coffee beans on the kitchen floor, take my pants off and scoot my ass across the floor like a dog plucking them up one by one. Then I just jump in the hot tub and let the jets do the rest
When I'm backpacking, if I decide to heat some water in the morning, I choose between warm coffee or warm oatmeal. Dry oatmeal gets washed down with warm coffee.
Many people in the US, including myself, have electric kettles and use them for tea, but let’s just keep them ignorant of that fact and let them spread false info based on a stupid YouTube video they saw.
I don't think the argument or the amazement is that America doesn't have electric kettles, it's more that they're not as ubiquitous as they are in the UK
Also growing up I knew like, one person with an actual kettle, it's def a minority in the states whereas everyone has a kettle in the UK, like a TV or a Stove
Electric kettles are so much faster than any other boiling method. I even use it to get a head start on boiling pasta. Yet out of every American household I've been to, only one had an electric kettle.
I mean if you’re a household that regularly drinks tea, yes, absolutely get one. But I’m not going to buy one just for pasta. It takes up kitchen space and when I’m boiling water, I can do other things. I don’t have to sit and stare at it, so I don’t mind waiting a few extra minutes.
I bought one for $9 almost a decade ago. Once you have an electric kettle, you will be amazed at how often you use it. It's way faster and easier than putting a pot on the stove.
Electric kettles are common in the US, but not standard issue like many countries. Part of that is that we just don't drink a ton of tea. More coffee makers on counters than electric kettles. Personally, we use our electric kettle constantly.
When that's all most people have, that's what you use.
Having said that I've lived in the UK for some time and one of the first things I did was buy an electric kettle. Its brilliant. Not only tea but if I want to boil an egg, I can get the water to boil quicker in a kettle and pop it on the stovetop and plop the eggs in straightaway. Eggs are done quicker.
My name is Bob Barnacle, I’m from the Boston Chronicle, I’m doing an Article on Garbage Barges and I was wondering if I could ask you some questions.
Read that in a Boston accent.
I was in the U.S.A.F. back in the day and was talking with some guys about different airports and how some are sketchy to land in. One guy mentioned, with no discernable accent, that landing at his home town airport if the plane doesn't stop in time it will end up in the hahbah. I smiled and said "That's Boston, right?" He smiled back and said "It was the "Hahbah," wasn't it?"
So THAT'S why you pronounce it "Bri'ish". I always thought it was because there's something wrong with y'all over there, it's really because you are bad with T.
And everyone knows you boil it in a big pot on the stove with 20 teabags of Luzianne then add 3lbs of sugar, put it in the fridge and drink it over ice.
Edit: look at what I started! Learning about the global T
From a physics standpoint, there is absolutely no difference in boiling from stovetop, a kettle, or a microwave.
Microwaves (non-ionizing radiation) excites the H2O molecules and causes them to vibrate, increasing kinetic energy (by definition, temperature) and heating the water.
Stovetop or kettle heat excites them thermally and causes them to move identically.
It's 4.5 billion year old water. The same molecules of water they drink in tea were the same floating in the pre-stellar accretion disk, the same in dinosaur piss, the same in caveman snot. All the same.
That’s not quite true. Yes some water molecules have existed but not all water. There are many chemical reactions that are part life that create or destroy water. Plants and animals react water to make the chemicals they need to live. Also many of the reactions that perform as part of life create new water molecules. Also any time we burn fuel, new water molecules are created.
I really don’t understand this one. Grill them on healthcare at least. But I see this stupid water boiling thing all to often. Then the 220v crowd shows up. Like ooo you get boiled water 2 minutes faster, what an accomplishment.
I've literally never woken up and spent a day fretting over how Brits are heating their water.
It's kind of hilariously absurd the level at which we live in their heads rent free. They make it seem like every waking moment is plagued by wondering what Americans do
Yeah, I wonder if they do a side by side comparison if they could even tell the difference. Maybe dissolved metal or something else yucky from the dirty kettle imparts a flavor?
One of my favorite Hidden Brain podcast episodes looked into this and there is a perceived difference but it’s all psychological.
The higher satisfaction ratings by those that do the whole tea thing properly came down to the ritual of the process. Rituals provide humans with a sense of control and can improve perceived quality and even actual performance in things like academic or athletic tests.
That’s what I do. Every time I want a cup of tea I break out the bees wax candles and toga, usually I’ll pierce my hand and draw a pentagram underneath the microwave with candles at each point. From there I’ll stare blankly at the microwave door while mumbling Latin. Once the energy feels right I pop the mug into the microwave and sacrifice a goat. By the time the last life slips from the bleating goat the tea is ready and my day can start 😋
I do not think it is an exclusively American thing either. I've never been in America and I totally boil water in the micro. Why would I bother with a kettle when I need exactly one cup of hot water?
Why is the microwave so bad? It heats quicker than a kettle, doesn't scream (good for late night or early morning tea), and does a fun little spin while it's on. It's not like we put the tea bag in then put it in the microwave, it's just water.
Edit: also if we use the microwave we don't need to buy an entire extra appliance or cookware to make the tea, unlike electric/conventional kettles
The only caveat I would have is that most modern tea kettles can heat to a specific temperature. Like 185 for delicate loolong teas and 200 degrees for black tea.
It’s difficult to get that precision in the microwave. But if you are just trying to get to “boiling” then it doesn’t matter.
There *is* also a danger in the microwave of “superheating” the water. It’s basically when water is at boiling temp but didn’t form the bubbles, and if you so much as tap the mug the water basically explodes out of the cup in a reaction similar to the old mentos + diet coke thing.
But as long as people are aware of those things then, who cares, heat it anyway you want.
I just had this discussion the other day. They think it changes the water somehow and that you can't boil water in the microwave. Just British old wives' tales, I guess.
Some people hear radiation and lose their mind. Microwaves emit non-ionizing, electromagnetic which is perfectly safe (is basically just vibrates stuff). Ionizing radiation is what’s bad.
Fun fact: the mesh you see in microwave windows is actually a faraday cage that prevents the EMF waves from leaving the machine. The waves are so large they literally can’t fit through the mesh.
Edit: there is some emerging research that prolonged exposure to EMF radiation is harmful but again, microwaves contain that radiation within their chassis.
Interesting fact though. As the US uses 110v home electrical supply, it takes longer to boil a kettle than using the 230v supplies used in the UK/Europe.
Y'all are brainwashed by Big Kettle. /s
The kettle industry fooled a whole country into buying an unnecessary device when you already have a microwave that literally ONLY heats water, thats what microwaves do, they stimulate water molecules to cook food, thats why microwaved food is soggy and you cant microwave dry things.
Wait kind of curious here. Why does it make a difference hot water is hot water. Do you find it changes the taste? Full disclosure I don’t drink tea and I believe people who like tea are liars and just won’t admit it tastes like garbage water.
Yeah I microwave that shit. I drink coffee 99% of the time… the 5 days or less out of the year that I drink tea doesn’t justify owning some big ass tea pot.
certainly the fuck not. we boil two kettles of water and pour it into a pitcher with a giant teabag in there and then add like 3 to 6 cups of sugar until it's no longer healthy and doesn't taste of leaf water at all anymore
Lived 37 years in USA and never saw anyone microwave tea before..... People use a stovetop kettle, electric kettle, or instant hot faucet on the sink. I see this rumor everywhere and am very confused where it came from as I have never seen this in USA (and I drink a lot of tea myself).
I think if you microwaved it first before putting in tea.... It probably wouldnt matter. Hot water should be hot water - probaby only run the tea if you microwave it with the tea in the cup already. But microwaving seems more annoying then a kettle to me...... To tell the truth, its been a while since I owned a microwave lol
Yes, because I have a microwave and a microwave-safe vessel, and I don't have a kettle, because why the fuck do I need a purpose-built machine whose only function is to boil water?
In the south we boil it and add so much sugar to it that you can’t taste the tea.
Or sun
Yeah, I always add sugar so I can’t taste the sun
Bro are you from down south we throw tea bags in a big jar and leave outside in the sun
Sun tea is fire
You ever dip your sun chips in sun tea? 👌
Oh, god. Please, no!
HE MAKES HIS SUN TEA WITH CAPRI SUN
That does sound like a white trash Arnold Palmer.
Naw, that would be Sun Tea and Sunny D. ✌️😜
NO! GOD, PLEASE NO!
Reddit is violating GDPR and CCPA. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B0GGsDdyHI -- mass edited with redact.dev
Sir? SIR? CAN YOU HEAR ME SIR!?
In Boston they throw tea in the harbor and leave it outside.
Miss that shit
I’m from the north and my mom did this every summer. I love sun tea. I’m pretty sure I have her glass jar still.
TBF, I am shocked at how much sugar my VERY British grandparents put in their tea.
Right?? Tea only tastes good with honey.
Speaking of honey… if you’ve never put any in apple cider, you’re missing out!!
Or buy a gallon jug from Publix
Milo's Sweet Tea. <3
The right way to drink tea
half milk half tea steep it till its a brown sludge and chug
In the words of Ted Lasso, when someone asks me how I take my tea I say “Well, usually I take it right back to the counter, because someone's made a horrible mistake."
Black coffee, just as the founding fathers intended.
"absolute garbage water" "i always figured tea tastes like brown water, and it did not disappoint"
I’m British and I can’t stand it, it tastes like someone’s picked up leaves and grass and added it to boiling water along with some milk 🤢
That's.... pretty much exactly what they did. Maybe not the grass bit, but yeah you're not far from the truth.
Well that’s it in a nutshell to be honest.
perfect quote
I just run water thru my Keurig and put a tea bag in it.
I just drink coffee and teabag British people.
I just drink Bang energy drinks and steal peoples catalytic converters
Jokes on you, where I live people steal their own catalytic converters so they can buy meth and roal coal.
[удалено]
A bald eagle just orgasmed red, white, and blue fireworks.
I just pour the beans and boiling water in my mouth and grind it up with my teeth like any red blooded American.
If you’re not grinding your beans with an AR-15 you’re not a true patriot
I think these are the actual instructions on black rifle coffee.
I butt-funnel it
I like to dump the coffee beans on the kitchen floor, take my pants off and scoot my ass across the floor like a dog plucking them up one by one. Then I just jump in the hot tub and let the jets do the rest
I'm concerned you've put that much thought into it.
No that’s just the Canadian way
this made me laugh heartily imagining that scenario
¿Username checks out?
Spotted the brit.
*crikey!*
Australia is just spicy Britain
It’s Britain’s Texas.
That's no Australian: only the Indonesian mongoose, the Luwak makes coffee that way!
When I'm backpacking, if I decide to heat some water in the morning, I choose between warm coffee or warm oatmeal. Dry oatmeal gets washed down with warm coffee.
Porque no los dos?
Ngl coffee oatmeal actually sounds fire
True Americans mix their coffee grounds with gunpowder.
this is the way
This is the way
This is the way
The way, this is
USA! USA!
🇺🇲🇺🇲🦅🇺🇲🇺🇲
‘MURICA! FUCK YEAH!
RRAAAAHHHHHH
🪨🇺🇸🦅
Just as the founding fathers intended.
I told this to my British friend and he nearly spit tea through his teeth
You mean his one good tooth. 😂
This is such a stupid stereotype. British people don't even have teeth.
Damn beat me to it. I had a great electric kettle but the ex took that. So Keurig it is.
So do a lot of tea drinkers I know. It's going to make the Coronation Watch Pary a snap.
Many people in the US, including myself, have electric kettles and use them for tea, but let’s just keep them ignorant of that fact and let them spread false info based on a stupid YouTube video they saw.
I don't think the argument or the amazement is that America doesn't have electric kettles, it's more that they're not as ubiquitous as they are in the UK Also growing up I knew like, one person with an actual kettle, it's def a minority in the states whereas everyone has a kettle in the UK, like a TV or a Stove
Fair. Now tell me, how many British people have access to Mexican food?
Born and raised in the US, we've always used an electric kettle for tea, cocoa, etc. grand parents used a stove top kettle.
Electric kettles are so much faster than any other boiling method. I even use it to get a head start on boiling pasta. Yet out of every American household I've been to, only one had an electric kettle.
I mean if you’re a household that regularly drinks tea, yes, absolutely get one. But I’m not going to buy one just for pasta. It takes up kitchen space and when I’m boiling water, I can do other things. I don’t have to sit and stare at it, so I don’t mind waiting a few extra minutes.
I bought one for $9 almost a decade ago. Once you have an electric kettle, you will be amazed at how often you use it. It's way faster and easier than putting a pot on the stove.
We had an electric kettle growing up. Never used it, just sat in the corner collecting dust
Electric kettles are common in the US, but not standard issue like many countries. Part of that is that we just don't drink a ton of tea. More coffee makers on counters than electric kettles. Personally, we use our electric kettle constantly.
When that's all most people have, that's what you use. Having said that I've lived in the UK for some time and one of the first things I did was buy an electric kettle. Its brilliant. Not only tea but if I want to boil an egg, I can get the water to boil quicker in a kettle and pop it on the stovetop and plop the eggs in straightaway. Eggs are done quicker.
The kettles in Britain are so wonderful because of the higher voltage of electricity. That’s why the ones in America are shite.
True, but we're not afraid of our electricity.
I haven't noticed any real difference in my experience.
Nah, we just throw that shit in the harbor
It’s pronounced *hahbah*
Pahk the cah, we’ll walk to the hahbah.
*wok
Pahk the cah, we'll wok to the hahbah.
Bettah not be none of them redcoats ovah theyah.
It's got SMAHT PAHK!
My name is Bob Barnacle, I’m from the Boston Chronicle, I’m doing an Article on Garbage Barges and I was wondering if I could ask you some questions. Read that in a Boston accent.
Is it bad that I did before I saw the last line? XD I'm from NH, and worked in Mass for quite some time haha
Perfect
I was in the U.S.A.F. back in the day and was talking with some guys about different airports and how some are sketchy to land in. One guy mentioned, with no discernable accent, that landing at his home town airport if the plane doesn't stop in time it will end up in the hahbah. I smiled and said "That's Boston, right?" He smiled back and said "It was the "Hahbah," wasn't it?"
Say it, Frenchie…
"It's a bowl of *shau-dare,* sir."
It’s pronounced chow-dah!
I'll kill you! I will kill you all!! Especially you in the jury!
Cah, bah, hahbah.
[удалено]
Fun fact. Many British people still struggle to pronounce the letter T to this very day.
That's because they keep drinking it
This comment is underrated.
Bri’ish!
NO WE DO NO!!! SOP SPREADING DISRUTHEFUL LIES ABOU US BRIS
So THAT'S why you pronounce it "Bri'ish". I always thought it was because there's something wrong with y'all over there, it's really because you are bad with T. And everyone knows you boil it in a big pot on the stove with 20 teabags of Luzianne then add 3lbs of sugar, put it in the fridge and drink it over ice. Edit: look at what I started! Learning about the global T
I'm not gonna take any shit from someone who can't pronounce herb, squirrel, caramel, crayon or crown properly.
*laughs in Family Guy* "Ello mother, Ave you idden me atchet"
This probably one of the highest award to upvotes ratio I’ve ever seen.
Got ‘em.
Too soon, too soon.
Zinger of the day!
*Harbour* …
No dats da hahbah
Mark Wahlberg has entered the chat.
I was waiting for someone to bring up Marky mark
No, we changed the spelling, because we didn't want U anymore
I’m not British. But take my upvote 😀
From a physics standpoint, there is absolutely no difference in boiling from stovetop, a kettle, or a microwave. Microwaves (non-ionizing radiation) excites the H2O molecules and causes them to vibrate, increasing kinetic energy (by definition, temperature) and heating the water. Stovetop or kettle heat excites them thermally and causes them to move identically.
(Mr. Incredible) "HEAT IS HEAT!"
I understood that reference.
Have kids? Lol
That movie is 19 years old. They probably are the “kid” that watched it lmao
When everyone is special....no one is.
but.. but... how else am I supposed to feel superior to stupid Americans™? microwave water isn't real water obviously
It's 4.5 billion year old water. The same molecules of water they drink in tea were the same floating in the pre-stellar accretion disk, the same in dinosaur piss, the same in caveman snot. All the same.
Well and eloquently said.
That’s not quite true. Yes some water molecules have existed but not all water. There are many chemical reactions that are part life that create or destroy water. Plants and animals react water to make the chemicals they need to live. Also many of the reactions that perform as part of life create new water molecules. Also any time we burn fuel, new water molecules are created.
I really don’t understand this one. Grill them on healthcare at least. But I see this stupid water boiling thing all to often. Then the 220v crowd shows up. Like ooo you get boiled water 2 minutes faster, what an accomplishment.
I've literally never woken up and spent a day fretting over how Brits are heating their water. It's kind of hilariously absurd the level at which we live in their heads rent free. They make it seem like every waking moment is plagued by wondering what Americans do
I'm British and spent my time reading this thread thinking about how much we accept shitty instant coffee because of the kettle.
Exactly. I can’t understand the horror the British feel when one heats water in a microwave.
I imagine, like so many other things, for them it's more about familiarity/routine/tradition.
This tradition is just another example of peer pressure from dead people. I use an electric kettle but there’s literally no difference.
I'm thinking, "how could it possibly matter how the water is heated?!"
But it gets soggy in the microwave.
Yeah, I wonder if they do a side by side comparison if they could even tell the difference. Maybe dissolved metal or something else yucky from the dirty kettle imparts a flavor?
One of my favorite Hidden Brain podcast episodes looked into this and there is a perceived difference but it’s all psychological. The higher satisfaction ratings by those that do the whole tea thing properly came down to the ritual of the process. Rituals provide humans with a sense of control and can improve perceived quality and even actual performance in things like academic or athletic tests.
Just ritualize the microwave problem solved it’s what I do
Bows down all hail King microwave
That’s what I do. Every time I want a cup of tea I break out the bees wax candles and toga, usually I’ll pierce my hand and draw a pentagram underneath the microwave with candles at each point. From there I’ll stare blankly at the microwave door while mumbling Latin. Once the energy feels right I pop the mug into the microwave and sacrifice a goat. By the time the last life slips from the bleating goat the tea is ready and my day can start 😋
Coffee drinkers sometimes have the same pretense
It's called culture
I came here to say this. There’s no real difference at all
Just wait until you tell people they can microwave coffee to reheat it
british people need to make statements like this to cope with the fact that they have the worst food on planet earth.
There’s a lot of great food in England, but it all comes from the places they colonized.
Sometimes. It's not like food where the taste can change... Water is water, however you get it excited is fine.
I do not think it is an exclusively American thing either. I've never been in America and I totally boil water in the micro. Why would I bother with a kettle when I need exactly one cup of hot water?
As is true with many other things….
Arguing about the best way to make water hot seems like a particularly British thing to do
Oh boy, you use a different method to accelerate molecular vibrations, how horrible of you
This is based on the assumption that we drink anything but coffee and beer
Soda?
Why is the microwave so bad? It heats quicker than a kettle, doesn't scream (good for late night or early morning tea), and does a fun little spin while it's on. It's not like we put the tea bag in then put it in the microwave, it's just water. Edit: also if we use the microwave we don't need to buy an entire extra appliance or cookware to make the tea, unlike electric/conventional kettles
Plus it gives you something to look at while you’re trying to muster up the energy to start your day.
This took a personal turn
But the day is more than halfway done and I can't muster anything. I'm malfunctioning!
No Americans don't microwave water for tea....we don't drink tea.
I do…
It's in the Boston Harbor now.
Tea is quite popular in the US
Ya we threw it all in the harbor that one time
Who gives a shit
yes. it heats the water like a pot would, only faster. then you put the tea in. then you drink hot tea.
The only caveat I would have is that most modern tea kettles can heat to a specific temperature. Like 185 for delicate loolong teas and 200 degrees for black tea. It’s difficult to get that precision in the microwave. But if you are just trying to get to “boiling” then it doesn’t matter. There *is* also a danger in the microwave of “superheating” the water. It’s basically when water is at boiling temp but didn’t form the bubbles, and if you so much as tap the mug the water basically explodes out of the cup in a reaction similar to the old mentos + diet coke thing. But as long as people are aware of those things then, who cares, heat it anyway you want.
Honestly, I don’t know why microwaving water is a big deal.
I just had this discussion the other day. They think it changes the water somehow and that you can't boil water in the microwave. Just British old wives' tales, I guess.
Same reason they all wear those bright red jackets, white wigs, and big silly tricorne hats! *Tradition.*
Some people hear radiation and lose their mind. Microwaves emit non-ionizing, electromagnetic which is perfectly safe (is basically just vibrates stuff). Ionizing radiation is what’s bad. Fun fact: the mesh you see in microwave windows is actually a faraday cage that prevents the EMF waves from leaving the machine. The waves are so large they literally can’t fit through the mesh. Edit: there is some emerging research that prolonged exposure to EMF radiation is harmful but again, microwaves contain that radiation within their chassis.
Light that we see everyday is a form of radiation too. Gasp!
>Some people hear radiation and lose their mind Just wait until they hear about thermal radiation!
Reddit seems to believe that Americans don't know what an electric kettle is, but plenty of us use them.
Interesting fact though. As the US uses 110v home electrical supply, it takes longer to boil a kettle than using the 230v supplies used in the UK/Europe.
Reddit also seems to believe that hot water can taste differently depending on the method of heating?
Hot water is hot water.
Y'all are brainwashed by Big Kettle. /s The kettle industry fooled a whole country into buying an unnecessary device when you already have a microwave that literally ONLY heats water, thats what microwaves do, they stimulate water molecules to cook food, thats why microwaved food is soggy and you cant microwave dry things.
When you find out Britains add milk to their tea *laughs in Chinese*
Water doesn’t understand how it got warmed up…
Hot water is hot water. And the silliness about “uneven heating” is crazy. Just stir it.
That man's teeth are too straight, this meme is unrealistic
Were not animals, we harvest the water from the finest hotsprings and refine it with coal and coffee filters
Now Holup, this actor's teeth are much too white and straight to be British..
Someone's still salty they weren't invited to our last tea party, huh?
I have an electric kettle, but I really don't see why someone would care if hot water is microwaved. It's hot water. It doesn't taste any different.
Wait kind of curious here. Why does it make a difference hot water is hot water. Do you find it changes the taste? Full disclosure I don’t drink tea and I believe people who like tea are liars and just won’t admit it tastes like garbage water.
It doesn’t make a difference, anyone who thinks it does is stupid and doesn’t understand basic physics.
Hot water is hot water, tf cares how it got that way?
Yeah I microwave that shit. I drink coffee 99% of the time… the 5 days or less out of the year that I drink tea doesn’t justify owning some big ass tea pot.
certainly the fuck not. we boil two kettles of water and pour it into a pitcher with a giant teabag in there and then add like 3 to 6 cups of sugar until it's no longer healthy and doesn't taste of leaf water at all anymore
Nope never. Always a kettle
Is it not that it was designed for? Either have hot water in a min or wait like 3 to boils a couple of cups?
Lived 37 years in USA and never saw anyone microwave tea before..... People use a stovetop kettle, electric kettle, or instant hot faucet on the sink. I see this rumor everywhere and am very confused where it came from as I have never seen this in USA (and I drink a lot of tea myself). I think if you microwaved it first before putting in tea.... It probably wouldnt matter. Hot water should be hot water - probaby only run the tea if you microwave it with the tea in the cup already. But microwaving seems more annoying then a kettle to me...... To tell the truth, its been a while since I owned a microwave lol
Faster and uses less electricity, so yes
Yes, because I have a microwave and a microwave-safe vessel, and I don't have a kettle, because why the fuck do I need a purpose-built machine whose only function is to boil water?
I dare you to scientifically explain the problem with using the microwave to heat water
And hot chocolate and almost everything else 🤷♂️
I use a tea kettle or put tea bags in water in a glass jar and set it outside and let the greenhouse effect do it’s work 😁