A staggering 58% of Brits believe drinking British tea abroad improves the overall holiday experience, yet 11% struggle to find a decent cup of tea at their destination, according to a MSC Cruises survey.
The same study also found that 51% of travellers pack teabags into their suitcase when flying, and 10% go a step further by bringing their own kettle.
Jamie Fraser, travel expert at Wild Packs American Summer Camp, has revealed the unusual way to hunt down the best tea while you’re abroad, and it involves 2-star Google reviews:
“Nobody wants to kick off their morning with a disappointing cup of tea, especially abroad. That’s why lots of people end up checking out café reviews nearby before heading out. But there’s actually a far better and slightly unusual way to find the best cafes for a cup of tea, and it has to do with what you search online.
Instead of searching for places with glowing five-star ratings, try browsing local cafés on Google and pay special attention to those with a cluster of two-star reviews. This might seem contradictory, but five-star reviews are often fake, and one-star reviews tend not to be a realistic representation of the establishment either.
But two and three-star reviews – especially ones that say the tea or food was great but the service was terrible – are gold. If someone admits the coffee’s decent while also providing criticism about the service, for example, they are most likely being genuine in their review. That’s where you’ll find the hidden gems on your travels.”
Why does tea taste different outside of the UK?
“Water hardness varies between countries, impacting how the tea extracts and potentially affecting the taste. Additionally, different water sources contain varying amounts of other minerals, which can interact with the tea leaves and influence the final taste. Even the mineral content of your water plays a role. Hard water, for instance, can affect how the tea infuses and alter the final flavour in the cup.”