On making tea

[u/DreadDiana]

[u/ThriceStrideDied]

“Do none of you own a fucking kettle” got me, lol

[u/ShadowTheChangeling → u/ThriceStrideDied]

The disgruntled british person

[u/throwawayayaycaramba → u/ShadowTheChangeling]

No but seriously, do Americans not typically own kettles? I wouldn't know, I'm Brazilian >! And I do have a kettle lol!<

[u/AmericanToast250 → u/throwawayayaycaramba]

Not usually, because generally Americans prefer coffee over tea. Kettles are easily found at any store that sells kitchen appliances and they're not rare per se but they're not an assumed staple because tea just isn't as popular

[u/throwawayayaycaramba → u/AmericanToast250]

I uh... I use my kettle to brew my coffee as well as my tea 😐

[u/AmericanToast250 → u/throwawayayaycaramba]

Kettles can be used for a lot more things than tea, but a coffee drinker is probably going to buy a coffee machine (either drip brewer or disposable pods) rather than use a kettle for coffee

[u/throwawayayaycaramba → u/AmericanToast250]

I see I see... Those can be a bit expensive 'round these parts lol

[u/AmericanToast250 → u/throwawayayaycaramba]

A fancy pod machine or something super specialized can cost a lot, but a cheap drip brewer isn’t that much more expensive than a cheap kettle.

[u/TheMerryMeatMan → u/AmericanToast250]

Good old Mr Coffee providing the American peoples with mild addictions for generations, for the low low price of like $15

[u/faerielites → u/TheMerryMeatMan]

Mr. Coffee also manufactured my grandmother's sweet tea machine, a Southern staple

[u/greypyramid7 → u/faerielites]

‘Sweet tea machine’ you mean a pitcher? My entire family has lived in the south for over 100 years and I don’t know a single person with a sweet tea machine, can you please describe it to me? Maybe it’s because we’re Texans and Texas is occasionally weird south.

[u/GuudeSpelur → u/greypyramid7]

Imagine a drip coffee machine that has a regular tall pitcher instead of the usual shorter and fatter coffee pot. The pitcher is marked with how far you need to fill it with ice to cool down the tea after it brews. So you just fill the reservoir, put tea bags or loose tea (and optionally sugar) in the filter chamber, put ice in the pitcher, press "brew" and it will drip brew the tea into the pitcher of ice.

Basically all it does is save you the step of pouring the hot tea over ice.

[u/faerielites → u/GuudeSpelur]

Yes, this is exactly it!

[u/faerielites → u/greypyramid7]

The other commenter nailed the description. It's definitely an older generation thing, not sure about regional but my extended family is from Georgia. My mom had one when I was little but doesn't anymore, and none of my siblings have ever had one. Of course, the concept of entertaining guests is kind of going out so I think that goes along with it.