On Tue, 21 Dec 2004 19:51:35 -0600, Mike Beede wrote:

> In article >, Dan Goodman > wrote:
>
>>> I've never heard of black tea.
>>
>> In most Twin Cities eateries, that's what I have to ask for to get plain,
>> ordinary orange pekoe tea. I had a lot of trouble till I found that out.
>> Servers (both waitstaff and counter help) could not understand my
>> explanations.
>
> I ask for "hot tea" to distinguish it from iced tea. But I've never had
> that problem in the Twin Cities--just down South. Perhaps there's
> some strong regional variation even within the metro area.

The problem is that 1) An increasing number and variety of eateries have
umpteen varieties of designer tea -- caffeinated, decaffeinated, herbal,
tea and herbal mixtures, etc. 2) The servers I've run into are unable to
grasp the concept of what I want unless I ask for "black tea." 3) Every
place I'd previously lived, "regular tea" got me what I wanted.

Someone who only wanted plain coffee could presumably be able to get it at
the places with signs that say "Coffee and espresso". (Or "expresso".)

Note: I live _in_ one of the Twin Cities. (Southwest Minneapolis, EHFNA
neighborhood -- votes slightly left of San Francisco.) Things could be
very different in the suburbs, or in some kinds of suburbs.

Note: For a while the Wedge (my organically correct had "East Coast
coffee" at their drink counter. I don't recall what was in it; I do recall
that I'd never been anywhere on the East Coast where such coffee was
served.

--
Dan Goodman
Journal http://www.livejournal.com/users/dsgood
Predictions and Politics http://dsgood.blogspot.com
All political parties die at last of swallowing their own lies.
John Arbuthnot (1667-1735), Scottish writer, physician.