Austin's Tea Preference Criteria

I was recently asked the question if I preferred hot tea or cold tea.  I never actually thought about it, but I'm a little picky as to what I prefer depending on the circumstance.  So just to see how conditional my criteria of choosing hot or cold tea is, I decided to write it all out.

Hot tea: If it's a cold day, or I'm just feeling down or philosophical, I have hot tea.  Usually green or chrysanthemum if it's available.  When I feel sick I usually like peppermint with honey.  Also, I like hot Chinese or Japanese teas when eating (good) Asian food.  The exception is dim sum places... 

Chinese dim sum like to put all the leaves and flowers in one pot and leave it in there, so the tea gets stronger as the meal goes on.  Personally I like it a little lighter, so I usually immediately pour myself two cups, then ask for water later.  

Cold tea: I live in Canada, and here we have sweetened iced tea.  Pre-sweetened.  Popular brands include Brisk, Nestea (both owned by Nestle), Lipton, Snapple for more hipster people, and Arizona for frugal, addicted high schoolers.  The thing with the sweetened iced tea is that it's really sweet for people not used to it.  I've seen a handful of Americans try sweetened iced tea for the first time... they really didn't like it.  Sometimes, flavoring and sweeteners actually exceed the amount of tea in the drink, which is actually a little gross once I think about it.  

Read more on the wonderful, trustworthy, default resource Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iced_tea#Canada

I like iced tea practically any time I'm not drinking hot tea.  It's my default drink when I'm thirsty and want something sweet at the same time.  However, when I leave the country, I usually don't order it.

Being a Canadian used to over-sweetened iced tea, I always have to remind myself when travelling to America, the iced tea is not sweetened.  And when I forget... I take a big first sip and am met with the taste of cold tea (Duh. Why did I think it was going to taste like something else?).  

The exception to cool tea outside of Canada is Japan.  Most places (even some fast food restaurants) serve cool Japanese tea.  It's usually very light, with a nice subtle taste of green.  And it goes with almost anything.  And the best part: they serve it like water at restaurants; it's free.  You don't even have to ask.