Just about anywhere one may go in the Kingdom whether to a business meeting, social gathering, maybe even to a small family owned store, one will be greeted with charming hospitality.  The custom here when one is having some type of a meeting is to typically offer Saudi tea or as in Arabic, "chi" with a long "eye" sound.  Sometimes one may be offered Arabic coffee, but more commonly during a meeting, tea is the preferred beverage...:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Saudi tea is served in a small slender glass which is literally filled to the brim.  It is served piping hot and usually sugar has also been pre-added.  It may be difficult to even lift the glass to ones lips because it is so hot but the tradition is if it is not filled to the brim then hospitality is lacking.  Therefore either wait until it cools a bit before taking a sip or "slurp at it quickly."

Saudi tea is traditionally made using tea leaves versus tea bags.  It may also be served with a dash of mint added.  Depending on the time of day, green tea leaves may be used to brew the tea instead of black tea leaves.

I find the gesture of serving tea nice and also practical.  When you think about it as compared to a western coffee where American style coffee is served during a meeting, not only is the coffee served in a large cup (probably equal to about 4 servings of Saudi tea by comparison) then there is the ritual of whether to add milk, cream, sugar or sweetener.  Not only does the large cup of coffee usually make someone have to pay frequent trips to a toilet but one is left with the "coffee breath" as well.

Saudi (Arab) tea sets will come in a variety of lovely and unique styles although all will have the small slender glass.  A few styles can be found where the glasses will have handles but in most cases, the tradition is to have the glass without handles.

And in case you were wondering, one of the most popular brands of tea in the Kingdom is Lipton!