TGIS: Thank God It's Schadenfreude! (335)

This week's joy in the misfortune of others comes courtesy of The Telegraph (from Sunday, August 28; link good at time of posting):

It is the ultimate storm in a teacup. Earl Grey drinkers are rising in revolt against a producer that has dared to change the flavour of the popular hot drink. .... The unlikely rebellion was sparked when Twinings relaunched its Earl Grey. The company was so confident it would triumph by adding "a dash of lemon and a touch more bergamot" that its website proclaimed: "Even the Earl himself couldn't have imagined how wonderful his favourite tea could taste. Do you think it's our best ever?" They didn't - in fact they decided it wasn't their cup of tea, and they weren't happy. Among the almost universally damning, but elegant responses now appearing on the Twinings website are remarks including "horrid", "positively unpleasant" and "vile - like lemon cleaning product." "New," concluded one, "Yes. Improved? Certainly not." A Facebook page was launched, demanding: "Bring back the original Twinings Earl Grey tea." As anger and desperation mounted, one lady, 30 years an Earl Grey drinker, even went so far as to suggest: "I'd rather drink PG Tips." Tea drinkers compared the affair to the 1985 'New Coke' debacle, when Coca-Cola changed the flavour for its flagship product, provoking public nationwide outrage in the US and a swift decision to reintroduce the old formula.

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