In the nice try, but completely pointless department…

So here I am in Monterrey, having breakfast at the DoubleTree Hotel, and I order hot tea. A few minutes later, the waitress comes by and takes away my coffee mug, and replaces with a completely identical mug, a tea kettle, and selection of tea bugs. I was confused about the mug replacement, until I picked up the mug and found that it was hot.

Ah, nice touch. They gave me pre-warmed mug, so I figured, in order that the water wouldn’t be cooled down when it was poured into the mug, so the tea could properly steep at just under boiling, as it should be. This mood of appreciation lasted just long enough for me to pour the water, and discovered that it was barely hot water that clearly had been sitting on the coffee machines warming element all morning. Oops. Nice try, but no cigar.