An American visiting Ireland was tasked with one of the most important jobs anyone could have here: to make a cup of tea for a relative.
In Ireland, it is sacrilege to turn down a cup of boiling water if it's offered to you, with the Irish people consuming an average of 2.19kg of tea EACH per year.
That puts us second in the global rankings, behind those pesky Turks with their fancy tea.
There has even been wars over what kind of tea a house will drink - go down to Cork and ask for Lyons, and you'll be quickly booted out the door and told that Barry's the only tea worth supping on.
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But away from Ireland, tea (shockingly) isn't taken as seriously, leaving one American very confused recently while on a trip here.
Posting to the Ireland page on Reddit, the anonymous person issued a plea for assistance, writing: "Please help. I am here in Ireland to take care of my grandparents and I make their meals.
"The rules for tea are incredibly confusing.
"Sometimes you have it with meals but sometimes I’m crazy for offering it with a meal. If I save it for after, should I offer a treat with it?
"When a guest comes over do I even ask of should I just make it? Do I have to drink it with them? Should I be doing something about the scale or is it normal?"
Naturally, the comments took the ball and ran with it, with one user replying: "Keep boiling the kettle unless told otherwise. Have cups with tea bags in them just so you're prepared. It could be 10am or 10pm, just be ready. Make sure you have spoons available at all times. Expect the unexpected."
A second noted: "There are no rules. Different people drink at different times. Ask them if they'd like a cup. Drink with them if you want to.
"It's just tea, not prescribed medication."
Another American chimed in to help them out though, saying; "The safe rule for me is to ask “Do you want some tea?” every time there’s an awkward silence.
"Don’t ask more than once per hour. Keep the kettle filled with water. Make it by the pot, and use Barry’s or Lyon’s. None of that “English Breakfast” s***e"
"If the tea bag has a string, you’ve bought the wrong tea. Don’t bother figuring out the right tea-milk ratio right now. If you put too much milk in the tea, they’ll tell you in a month or so when they’re mad at you over something totally unrelated."
You can read the full, brilliant post here.
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