"Adam Schwartz" > wrote in message news:<sVZcb.590320$o%2.270129@sccrnsc02>...
> "Christopher Green" > wrote in message
> om...
> > Richard Caley <MY_FIRST_NAME @ MY_LAST_NAME.org.uk> wrote in message
> >...
> > > I'm best man at a wedding in California soon, and am thinking about
> > > a wedding present. Due to the packing and transport issues (eg no
> > > glassware because I don't trust the baggage handers), I have decided
> > > on a selection of small stuff rather than something big. OK, a bottle
> > > of malt is obvious, and I picked up some his n hers jewelery made by a
> > > local woman. To round it off I thought I'd be traditional and pick up
> > > something for the new home.
> > >
> > > Since I odn't know what they do and don't have, I was wondering if
> > > there was some piece of UK kitchenware which would be unusual in the
> > > US, and the best place to find out seems to be here, in the hope that
> > > some UK ex-pat remembers a `you mean you don't have a ...'
> > > experience.
> >
> > If they are tea drinkers, a teapot or a tea cosy would be good. Both
> > can be had in California, sure, but not in so wide a selection as one
> > would wish.
> >
> > To the posters who mentioned electric kettles, they are uncommon (but
> > not hard to find) in California; they don't heat very quickly, and
> > most houses and apartments have a four-burner stove, so they're not
> > that useful. Good gift for a college student, though.
> >
> > --
> > Chris Green
>
> If you're going along the line of tea, I had a hard time finding a
> traditional ceramic tea pot. I found tea kettles (for boiling water) almost
> everywhere, but no tea pots (for steeping the tea). Eventually I found a
> few at a kitchen specialty shop, but they only had one style available in a
> few colors. Also, my freind who was an exchange student from england had
> her parents send her tea bags every month. She always complained that
> American tea bags are too small and produce bad, flavorless tea.

You're right about the crummy tea. Most markets can't be bothered to
carry anything better, unless you're in a community with lots of
ethnic tea drinkers. Even ordinary UK brands such as PG Tips are an
improvement.

But loose tea is generally much better than the stuff in tea bags;
find a market that carries good loose tea, get yourself a tea ball
(and a teapot that the tea ball fits into; made that mistake once),
and there you go.

--
Chris Green