It was when I went to Iran.
I was at a hotel and having breakfast. I poured some tea and the sugar was nowhere to be found. So I asked the waiter for it and was waiting for crushed sugar that I’ve been using my whole life. Instead, he came back with small cubes of sugar like these.
So I took one and put it in my cup of tea and started stirring to dissolve it. But unfortunately, my tea got cold and the sugar cube was still intact.
And that’s when someone told me that I was supposed to keep the cube in my mouth and just sip my tea over it. I never got used to that and was never given crushed sugar for my tea even when I asked for it explicitly.
I don’t know if this is something that’s specific to Iran but I was shocked when I found out that sugar goes directly in your mouth and not in your tea.
Loved the visit to Iran btw, it’s a great place.