During the recent beer- tax- shortage- crisis there were times that only Archa was available at the local shop, I found that it tasted like Leo, all the Thai beers taste like the cheap lagers they are so....   sure if I was in the US,  I would pay more for a craft beer or decent plonk.

USA and decent beer in the same sentence? sounds a bit weird to me.

Is this experience or are you just relying on the stereotype?

Sure, the USA mass-market brands are average at best (even though they are among the largest sellers worldwide), but there are plenty of excellent craft/microbrew beers produced and widely available stateside, and many more available locally or regionally.

Basing your opinion of US beers on the Miller Lite you tried some years back is a narrow view.

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During the recent beer- tax- shortage- crisis there were times that only Archa was available at the local shop, I found that it tasted like Leo, all the Thai beers taste like the cheap lagers they are so.... sure if I was in the US, I would pay more for a craft beer or decent plonk.

USA and decent beer in the same sentence? sounds a bit weird to me.

You need to catch up on what's happening in the USA, and has happened over the last 10 years or so.

And not only obscure microbrews in fancy niche locations, also new mass market brands show incredible diversity and quality these days. (Sam Adams et al)

Time to out myself as a cheap charlie. Shame on me.

Having shown regret for my miserable existence I have to thank 52 for informing me that I am most likely also gay. That out of the way:

Any idea where to buy Assam tea? Last time I bought it was while visiting Europe on one of by begging trips. They had a store in a Berlin slum and sold from large metal boxes. Evidently those Germans could not even afford a proper teabag. Be that as it may, I liked it but never found some in Thailand. Admittedly I might have checked the wrong litter boxes and could have tried a more upscale subdivision.

Seriously, Assam tea with a drop of milk is very nice and a welcome change from the good Arabica coffee. Any idea where in CM or BKK I could get say 100 or 200 gr ?

Hello, Chiengmaijoe. I have read many but not all the comments on this thread, and if you have been asked and have answered this question already I apologise for asking it again, but if you are genuinely curious about what goes on in the minds of your friends when they say and do such things as those you report and ask about, why not just ask them?

Hi Rasseru you've dragged this back on topic, so I'll answer your question.

. . . . .

I could go on, but . . . to be frank, trying to discuss it here is a waste of time as most replies have already shown.

Hello again, Chiengmaijoe. Well good, it sounds like you've got it pretty well sussed. Your frank conclusion, that part of your reply that I have just quoted, does not surprise me, and the truth embodied in it had much to do with my own suggestion couched as a question.

Time to out myself as a cheap charlie. Shame on me.

Having shown regret for my miserable existence I have to thank 52 for informing me that I am most likely also gay. That out of the way:

Any idea where to buy Assam tea? Last time I bought it was while visiting Europe on one of by begging trips. They had a store in a Berlin slum and sold from large metal boxes. Evidently those Germans could not even afford a proper teabag. Be that as it may, I liked it but never found some in Thailand. Admittedly I might have checked the wrong litter boxes and could have tried a more upscale subdivision.

Seriously, Assam tea with a drop of milk is very nice and a welcome change from the good Arabica coffee. Any idea where in CM or BKK I could get say 100 or 200 gr ?

I buy Assam tea from the East India Company and from Fortnam&Mason, both online from the UK.

Both have excellent English Breakfast tea blends as well. But the 'Viang Joom On' tea shops (one in the Central Festival Mall, and one on the street running along the east side of the river,) sell a very nice English Breakfast tea that is blended with Assam and Ceylon. However, if you truly ARE a Chiangmai Cheap Charlie, you will not purchase from any of these companies... Between the cost of the tea itself, and especially when combined with the shipping from the UK, the price might give you the jitters!

I buy Assam tea from the East India Company and from Fortnam&Mason, both online from the UK.

Both have excellent English Breakfast tea blends as well. But the 'Viang Joom On' tea shops (one in the Central Festival Mall, and one on the street running along the east side of the river,) sell a very nice English Breakfast tea that is blended with Assam and Ceylon. However, if you truly ARE a Chiangmai Cheap Charlie, you will not purchase from any of these companies... Between the cost of the tea itself, and especially when combined with the shipping from the UK, the price might give you the jitters!

Aro (Makro home brand) English Breakfast Tea 125bht for 100 bags.

It's pretty good too.

And I bet once milk and sugar are added, you couldn't tell the difference!

I buy Assam tea from the East India Company and from Fortnam&Mason, both online from the UK.

Both have excellent English Breakfast tea blends as well. But the 'Viang Joom On' tea shops (one in the Central Festival Mall, and one on the street running along the east side of the river,) sell a very nice English Breakfast tea that is blended with Assam and Ceylon. However, if you truly ARE a Chiangmai Cheap Charlie, you will not purchase from any of these companies... Between the cost of the tea itself, and especially when combined with the shipping from the UK, the price might give you the jitters!

Aro (Makro home brand) English Breakfast Tea 125bht for 100 bags.

It's pretty good too.

And I bet once milk and sugar are added, you couldn't tell the difference!

I'm too cheap to add milk or sugar.

To date, the only locally sold commercially bagged tea that I enjoy is PG Tips. (I will give your 'Aro' a try, and thanks for the tip.) All other teas I drink are purchased as loose leaf. It's quite common for commercial tea sellers to use 'fannings' for their tea bags. It permits a more rapid access to the leaf through the paper. But fannings don't have the flavor of pekoe or orange pekeo. 'PG Tips' uses BOP (broken orange pekoe) as does 'Red Rose,' which is one of the higher grades of tea (fannings being the lowest.) Both Fortnam&Mason and the East India Company make their bagged Assam tea with Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe grade leaves, some of the highest in the grading ladder, but that's why they are so pricey. It's also why the stuff tastes so damn good!