When I first arrived in the Netherlands, I was surprised — nee, shocked — to discover the questionable way that Dutchies drink tea.
Strong brew with a dash of milk and some sugar? Hell no. More like: “Let’s reuse the same tea bag 10 times and drink it out of a glass.”
Coming from Zimbabwe, a former British colony, it’s safe to say that I fully subscribe to British tea culture — it’s a way of life.
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For me and millions of others, drinking tea is a ritual involving a big homey mug (or china if you’re fancy), a strong brew, a little milk, and a prolonged amount of time to enjoy it.
In the Netherlands, this is not the case.
Expectations versus reality
The British way of making tea involves a strict procedure:
- Place the teabag in a cup (or teapot)
- Pour boiling water over it
- Leave it to steep for a couple of minutes
- Remove the teabag
- Add a splash of milk
Easy-peasy! 🍵
In the Netherlands, it goes more like this:
- Hot water is poured into a glass from IKEA
- A tea bag is then dunked into the glass a few times
- This process is repeated over several glasses (yep, using the same teabag)
The result? Nothing close to tea. King Charles would not be impressed.
To be honest, even if you left the teabag in the glass for 10 minutes, it still wouldn’t get any stronger because Dutch teabags are inherently weak.
So, if you want a proper cup of tea, you’re gonna have to import your teabags. 😉
No time for tea
Another major difference between the British and Dutch ways of tea culture is the way they drink it from the cup.
When you drink that full-bodied brew with milk, it becomes a special part of your day — something you look forward to. Feeling down? Your cup of tea will cheer you up. 🥳
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In the Netherlands, however, efficiency is everything. Nobody’s got the time to savour a nice cuppa tea!
Tiny shots of super sterk (super strong) black coffee that taste like ash from a cigarette is the Dutch way.
What’s with the transparent teacups?
While drinking tea out of a transparent glass may not seem all that bad, I experienced a major disadvantage when I found myself stuck in a boring conversation with my colleague.
When the chat was over, I gulped down my peppermint tea. I was ready to leave.
My colleague, on the other hand, savoured his drink ponderously — forcing me to make the uncomfortable small talk. I couldn’t even pretend to sip my tea to avoid it. 😳
There’s one redeeming quality
Although I will always be a loyal supporter of drinking tea the British way, I will admit that four years down the line, my go-to order at cafés has become the verse muntthee (fresh mint tea) in a glass. 😅
If there’s one tea-related thing the Dutch are not so bad at, it’s their mint and gember (ginger) teas.
There’s no settling for a simple teabag. If you wanted mint, you’re getting the real thing. The same goes for ginger.
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While freshness is second to none, a full-bodied black tea will always hold a special place in my heart. Sorry, not sorry. 😊
What are your thoughts on the way Dutchies drink their tea? Tell us in the comments below.
Agreed, the cultural difference is significant. Albert Heijn teabags (“Engels Melange”) are decent if you leave ’em in the mug for long enough…like maybe up to 5 minutes. Milk & Sugar? Argh…thanks, but no thanks. Tea in my house is “as Black as the Earl of Hell’s waistcoat” and s.t.r.o.n.g.
Thanks – in no small measure to Brexit I guess – importing ACTUAL “English Tea” has become absurdly expensive.
You can buy English tea in NL. Have you never heard of Kelly’s?
Depends on how you like i guess. I am not Dutch but I like the way Dutch people drink teas. English way of drinking tea was pretty different and shocking to me
My tea brewing style is quite similiar as dutch style
Tea, milk and sugar? No way, I’m out.
Firstly, I don’t know if the regular way of making English tea is really the proper way to make English tea – I doubt that the Queen of England has ever had tea made out of a teabag, lol! Also, whilst it may be strong in flavour I doubt it’s because it’s loaded up with tea leaves or because the tea has been left a stew for a long time – it’s more likely a high quality tea leaf.
Coming from a country area of Australia, my husband and I love tea and we have a ritual of drinking tea everyday, together. My husband has become so fussy he will only drink TWG from Singapore and if desperate Twinings.🙄😀
We always make a pot of tea having warmed the pot first. Add in the tea leaves or teabag, which is perfectly acceptable especially if they’re the cloth ones from TWG, or looseleaf by Twinings, which would appeal to the Dutch as it is cheaper to buy, so perhaps they could save money that way and drink better tea! We like a medium strength so we can taste all the flavours in the tea. My husband drinks it black and I top up with some milk only in Black or White Tea of course, obviously never in an Oolong, Green or Herbal.
I’m a Dutchie living in Scotland and the people make tea the same as in NL, they only add milk and sugar at the end… They dunk the tea bag in there as well until it’s nearly black.
Ha! My mother in-law is Dutch and she would do this! She would never want her own tea bag. After her husbands (who was from Chile) teabag had steeped a bit, she would dunk it into her cup a couple of times and return it to his. She also prefers instant coffee over fresh coffee.
I am an American who grew up in Pakistan where they boil black tea for a while, pour in some milk, bring back to a boil, then add sugar. AMAZING. It tastes completely different than if you just let the tea steep. It becomes incredibly rich and creamy and the flavor is really deep in there. That’s how I make my tea 🙂
My Dutch family have always drunk tea without milk, my mother never tolerated tea with milk in the 60y she lived in the UK. She says there was no milk to put in tea in the 1940s war years , In the ‘50s the milkman came round with his milk cart – a horse drawn metal lined tank with a dipper, we rushed out with a jug for our milk. It tasted horrible to my UK fresh TT-tested milk palate. Most families I knew had beer-bottle topped bottles of Hollandia processed milk ‘koffee melk’
Serving tea in a glass is not a uniquely Dutch faux pas, unfortunately. Even worse is serving piping hot something, like your favourite muntthee in a glass without a handle. And yes, everywhere on the Continent tea tends to be weak.
Never understood why the Brits ruin their tea with milk, though.
I think the Dutchies drunk their tea exactly like they live life- drawing the last cent out of every euro they earn. Which is why they’re light skinned, and completely devoid of any substance where it matters.
Hahaha…after having lived for decades in Australia, drinking tea the English way is part of my teadrinking habits. Drinking it in Holland, first of all one never gets milk served with a cup of tea…and yes a teabag in a glass with water from the hotwater tap leaves one with a cup of a
foamy brew that resembles dirty water…jikes! So I often drink my tea from a real porselain teacup with saucer and brewed in a real teapot… though to be fair in my Mother’s time tea came in a pot in a teacosy and taste like proper English tea..