Don't Germans drink tea?
 

This summer my German tour guide had a sore throat and I made him tea. He had never tasted tea before. Don't people in Germany ever drink tea?

We had a German exchange student and she drank hot tea sometimes. She did not like iced tea though. <BR>The funny thing was she drank orange juice like it was going out of style!! She said it was gritty and sour back home in Bavaria. We went through one of the huge containers of it every 2-3 days!!

The Germans drink beer. The British drink tea.

When I was a guest in a Bavarian home, the hostess offered tea and put a few drops of rum in it. Delicious on a cold afternoon.

Germans most definitely drink tea. I lived in Germany for a year &amp; the family I was staying with served tea every morning with breakfast. When it was cold, we put rum in the tea &amp; it was gooooooood.

Oh my goodness! The north Germans (around Hamburg, Bremen) think they INVENTED tea.<BR><BR>However, they generally like it with a tot of rum or lemon and with raw brown sugar stirred into it. Not with milk or cream as in the UK.

My German inlaws in drink neither tea nor coffee. When I stay they buy horrible 'ersatz' coffee and Turkish tea -- not my thing at all. My sister-in-law in thinks tea is exotic and buys it whenever she is in London...<BR>Germans also seem to associate peppermint tea with being in hospital, rather than as a nice after-meal tea...<BR>My German husband has now been trained to drink tea, but only in the mornings and only if it is as much milk as tea. He never drinks coffee, preferring hot chocolate.<BR>Cultural differences!<BR>

Thanks for all of your replies. Maybe it was just a ruse to get me into his room to make tea? It worked!

From what I can tell, the British do not drink unsweetened ICE tea. When in London we never found a prepackaged ice tea that wasn't flavored or sweetened.

ttt

Tea Granny:<BR><BR>Not sure about the Germans, but on many Austrian trips I have taken tea with Stroh's Rum! Yummy! Beats the Gluewein kick on a 'cold day'! Secret is to add the rum when the tea is 'cooling' so as to not let the alcohol burn off!<BR>John

I have a friend in the US who also has never had tea (or coffee for that matter). So if you offered her a tea and she said she had never tasted tea, would you assume Americans don't drink tea? I think it is very common in Germany, but of course not every German drinks it, just as not every American drinks it.

No, I would not assume that. I HAVE heard of the Boston Tea Party. I have never, however, heard of the Heidelberg Tea Party. I would feel safe saying that on the whole, Americans don't eat vinegar on their french fries...but I am sure that a few do.

<BR>Being of French Canadian heritage, I use vinegar on my french fries.

Granny<BR>Back to the original question, the East Frisians are among the world's largest tea consumers, and have their own blend which is very strong and drunk with lump sugar and cream.<BR>http://www.botschaft-ostfriesland.de...ultur/tee.html