Iced tea

Aug 24 23:13 UTC 1994

I went to Tobermory, Ontario for a few days this month. Georgian Bay
is beautiful.

My question is this: are free iced tea refills only an American
practice. A small restaurant on Dyer Bay insisted on charging for
each refill of iced tea. Herbal tea I could understand. When questioned,
the waitress (who was probably the co-owner) said "Free refills sound
like a very American thing." After a short discussion, I paid for it,
but I can't remember hardly any place in Canada charging for iced tea
refills before.

Has your experience been that free refills of iced tea are only given
in the U.S.?

response 2 of 53:

Aug 27 09:05 UTC 1994

(Considering the quality of the coffee in most Canadian restaurants,
I wouldn't *want* a second cup.)

response 4 of 53:

Aug 28 01:50 UTC 1994

There are a lot of small customary-type things that are different
in Canada.  I've noticed a lot of figures of speech, etc., and even
that you always return the grocery cart to the store rather than
leaving it in the lot.  I'm not surprised that iced tea refills
might be different -- heck, they even color their margarine
orange to make sure no one mistakes it for butter.

But, most of all, never ever imply that Canadians are just like
Americans if you want to keep their goodwill.  Veeery touchy issue.

response 6 of 53:

Sep 30 13:09 UTC 1994

i'm planning a trip across N.America next summer, and probably will stick
generally to the border btwn U.S. and Canada.  Any tips, ideas
suggestions, great festivals or events we should try to attend?
either respond here, for everyone's benefit, or E-mail me.
Thanks, 
debra@cyberspace.org

response 8 of 53:

Oct 1 13:59 UTC 1994

If you are getting up really north, I wouldn't miss Banf and Vancouver.  Also
Vancouver Island.  If fact, I would consider ging first to Seattle and then
taking a Hovercraft to Vancouver.  

response 10 of 53:

Oct 2 05:22 UTC 1994

If I were going that way, I would visit the museum on Yoho National
Park, which includes an exhibit concerning the Burgess Shale outcrop,
which revolutionized our understanding of the "Cambrian explosion", 
when all major groups of modern animals suddenly appeared in the fossil
record (and many more that no longer exist). 

response 12 of 53:

Oct 2 15:10 UTC 1994

Yoho is just west of Lake Louise. The town of Field is in its middle. I
mentioned it because someone else mentioned Banff, which is on the route.
I also mentioned it because I recently read _Wonderful Life_, by Stephen
Jay Gould, which, except for his style, is a marvlous book, and fired me
up to visit the Burgess Shale site. I'd take the detour. 

response 14 of 53:

Oct 2 16:56 UTC 1994

You'd probably do better to check out atlases at your library. However
there is U.S. Atlas on CD-ROM (Software Toolworks). I think it would
be impractical on-line, because of the bandwidth required (well, if
you have a fiber-optic link etc......). If there is anything else you'd
like to know about travel in the USA, I'm sure lots of people here would
be glad to help.

response 16 of 53:

Nov 26 20:02 UTC 1994

getting back to the original topic of this item, many people traveling
in Israel are surprised to find that getting ice at all is not such
an easy thing.  Most restaurants don't give cold drinks with ice in them.
If you ask for Ice, they want to know what for?  If you order an iced-coffee,
however, you don't get chilled coffee with ice in it.  You get a glass of
chilled instant coffee with a scoop of ice cream floating in it.  The other
thing travellers to the middle east find strange is that even on the hottest
days, the real locals are drinking turkish coffe and hot tea (usually in glass
drinking glasses without handles.  Maybe it is the converse of the theory
postulated by Ben and Jerry upon opening an ice cream establishment in 
Vermont:  if you eat ice cream on a cold day it warms you up.  Any comments?

response 18 of 53:

Nov 28 07:04 UTC 1994

The theory I heard is that cold drinks on hot days suppresses the
peripheral circulation (the blood going to warm the stomach etc),
and warms you up (no matter how good it *feels*). Conversely hot drinks
on hot days increase the peripheral circulation, and hence your cooling.
*My* theory is that total immersion in cold water on a hot day cools
you the best, and vica versa (BUT DON'T TRY THAT IF YOU ARE HYPOTHERMIC).

response 20 of 53:

Nov 30 05:48 UTC 1994

The caffeine in the coffee also increases the peripheral circulation.
I drink hot tea in the summer (as I also do in winter...).

response 22 of 53:

Jul 29 02:58 UTC 2007

[Though this is an 'old' item, I found it in the travel conference and
decided to link it here  to the cooking cf. It's now item 23 in travel
and 252 in cooking.]  

Anyone care for some tea?  :-)

Which just reminded me--someone, I forget where she's from, but a family
member [or  friend] of hers as a personalized liscence plate [which I
considered getting the same one  while in NC where punction is allowed,
and thus, I would've added a question mark]. The  plate was: NE14T 
[thus, mine could;ve been NE14T?   ].

response 24 of 53:

Jul 29 18:51 UTC 2007

That's right, I forgot all about Luzianne tea; it's popular down
south--you'll find it  anywhere and everywhere. Though I haven't seen it
as much since moving back  [though that doesn't mean its not around, I
just wasn't looking for it since I did forget  that it IS still around
to some extent].

I haven't been to Sweetwater as yet [someone that I do know said she
didn't really like  the place nor the person that waited on her].  The
only tea shop I've been to so far in  MI is one in Milford that I took a
'field-trip' to one day last spring.  It had just opened  and one of the
owners had mentioned its opening on one of the tea-lists that I read and
 occasionaly participate in.

As far as kinds of flavored teas, I do drink more fruit flavored ice tea
in the supper.  There's a couple peach ones that I really like [one's a
ginger peach, the other one's  called peach melba, but I forget all of
what's in it].  I recently came across a new one  from 'The Republic of
Tea' [brand name] called achai tea [or something like that]; I had 
never heard of this fruit before but its a blend of grapes and something
else; I haven't  actually tried it as yet. But when I do, I'll post how
well I like it as well as more  information about it.

I'm always a big fan of chai and usually drink it iced, even in the
winter time.  Also  more in the winter/cooler months, I drink more
spicey teas; I have a few favorites,  mostly ones with cinnamon included
in the brew.  Then, of course, there are a few ' dessert'-like teas that
I have [hot] that I have when I'm stressed or just wanting or  needing
to relax.  A couple of these flavors that I drink more often is one with
a carmel  base, another one called 'creme brulee' [or however it's
spelled].  These ones I usually  add a bit of cream to, though most teas
I don't have cream. 

 I usually add some kind of sweetner to my tea; I learned over time [and
 it was 
suggested at times in the tea shop I used to go to] that a touch of
sweetner can  enhance the flavor of tea.  The propieter of the shop
always had free samples of a  specific tea of the day, always adding a
bit of sweetner.  People were often surprised  that the sugar/sweetner
was added since it usually didn't have an overly sweet taste to  it. 
Most teas I've tasted both with and without, I can tell the difference.