Americans can trace their coffee addiction back to the Revolutionary War when tea was boycotted to protest against taxation. They switched from tea to coffee and hot chocolate (far richer than what we drink today), and even herbal tea. Needless to say, this movement stayed on our side of the pond, and the British have maintained a culture centered around tea. According to Ally of Tea Stain, 165 million cuppas are downed by 60 million Brits--every day! Sounds like my kind of country.
Now here in the States, we have coffee breaks. Every office or staff lounge has a coffee maker somewhere. Sometimes, that is not enough, and employees must make Starbucks runs, remembering complicated drink orders. In the UK, things are a little different. They have something called the "tea round." Like coffee runs, one person goes around and takes tea orders. Instead of remembering a decaf skinny sugar-free no foam vanilla latte, they have to try to remember who wants one lump or two, who wants milk, how strong they want their tea, and so on. Apparently, Ally tells me, there are also tea vending machines. Sometimes, hot chocolate or coffee orders get thrown in as well.
Well, I think this is a wonderful idea, and hope to spread it around here. Now, the idea of everyone drinking tea and mellowing out sounds wonderful. But, there are companies who are trying to make it even easier to keep everyone's orders straight.
Ally's website, Tea Stain sells mats for your tea tray. It looks like the following. Aren't the little circles that look like tea stains adorable? This one is blank, but they are customizable. You simply get names imprinted on each circle, along with the drinker's preferences. Ally tells me that usually the same person gets stuck doing tea rounds everyday, so she provides eight-sided dice for fairness in tea rounds.
Cravendale is a UK dairy, and they are mooving some cute cow mugs that also solve this problem. They are called "Love Your Mug."
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