Is the #UK the only country in the world to have a type of #tea called 'normal'?

I'm drinking normal tea right now.

@lydiaconwell Is that English Breakfast tea?

@trinsec Actually, no. It's everyday blended tea of any particular brand.

@lydiaconwell And what is 'everyday blended tea'?

@trinsec Normal tea.

Just blended tea you buy to make a cup of tea.

@lydiaconwell That is not saying much, to be honest. So even strawberry tea would be 'normal' since that's got some blends in too?

@trinsec OK. It's black tea, not a specific type like Earl Grey or English Breakfast, just sold, mostly in teabags, as 'tea' in the supermarket.

Then you poor boiling water on the teabag, let it brew for a few minutes, then add a splash of milk.

And that's normal tea.

@lydiaconwell Ah ok, black tea. Kinda like ceylon tea, or maybe even sorta english breakfast (since that is a blend of various black teas, including ceylon, I believe). Generic black tea. I guess that's what English Breakfast tea is for us, that's the most generic type tea you can buy over here.

@trinsec Actually, English Breakfast is pretty much like the normal everyday tea you get. But English Breakfast only seems to be made by Twinings. Most normal tea is sold as 'tea' no particular type.

@lydiaconwell Aha. Here 'English Breakfast' is sold by Pickwick. I actually don't know if other brands call it the same name or something more generic. I tend to buy Pickwick after having tried various other brands, because that one leaves behind the least residue.

@lydiaconwell Right, the supermarket's home brand (of the supermarket I most frequent to) has it as 'Zwarte thee, Engelse melange'. So more generic, but same concept. And Pickwick actually shows it as 'Original English', but the little bags have 'English Breakfast' usually iirc. Oh cool, there's a Twinnings too, with English Breakfast. And holy shit that shit is expensive! And there's a Lipton with English Breakfast as well. And that concludes me checking my supermarket's inventory website. ;)

@lydiaconwell After all this... I usually get Ceylon tea. That's also black tea, but a little bit less harsh than English Breakfast/English melange.

@trinsec So much to know about tea!

@lydiaconwell Yeah. I am actually pondering if I should try some more tea tastes. At least not the fruity ones like strawberries and such, I don't like that I already know that.

But.. is ginger tea tasty? Dunno, but I see I could buy it. It's even 2nd for half price for the organic tea section. If that's cheaper than the normal tea counterpart I might take a peek at that.

@trinsec I'll tell you what a nice tea is. Technically not a 'tea' but nettle tea is pretty good.

It's a bit like mint tea -- but without the mintiness. Like a softer mint.

Nettle is nice.

Ginger tea - just put a piece of fresh ginger into a cup and pour boiling water over it. That's nice too. Can do the same with lemongrass.

@lydiaconwell If I'd use a piece of fresh ginger... you mean I should cut out a piece off the whole ginger and then basically soak it in boiling water? Or how does that work?

Nettle.. lessee that should be uh... brandnetel probably. Right, brandnetelthee. Mm, I'm actually curious to that now. It's not called thee here, apparently, but 'kruideninfusie' means herb infusion. It's on sale too, in the organic section. Huh, you know what, I might actually look at that too.

Will skip on the lemongrass though. I'm not so fond of citrus-y tasting tea. Tea shouldn't taste strong at all for me.