A U.S. scientist's tea recipe has Brits aghast

Cafe Society
41

I have had someone serve me tea with salt and butter in it. She was, I believe, Nepalese, so at any rate that is not some sort of recent American or English invention.

Orwell (British) published his own personal tea rules

and NB the last rule says not to put in any sugar or salt. Though milk is OK according to him; he uses Indian or Ceylonese tea, claiming that Chinese tea is not “stimulating” enough. I am not sure exactly how much more caffeine is in Assam compared to, e.g. Longjing .

That is definitely not what he says. He says to brew the tea strong, not to use milk that is too creamy [or, by inference, butter], and to add the milk carefully so you do not accidentally mix in too much.

As for tea tasting “bitter”, of course it is very possible to fuck it up so that it tastes off.

42

I am at a loss to explain, but I would agree - coffee or tea noticeably tastes better made using … “analog heat” I guess, versus a microwave. Possibly due to more thorough heating or a higher steep temperature or something. Or perhaps, microwaves are just evil devices. They can’t even boil water correctly!

43

According to some old French philosopher, proper tea is theft.

(I’ll fetch me coat)

44

[Outraged British sputtering]

How dare you disparage the tea expertise of the British! No one else has conquered more of the world’s tea producing regions than the British!

[/Outraged British Sputtering]

If you need a demonstration of what “Outraged British Sputtering” sounds like, I’m thinking about the bit in Jungle Book when the elephant leader first notices Mowgli.

45

The reality here is that the word “tea” is a much abused thing.

What the UK (and Ireland) drinks is (largely) a mix of Indian, Sri Lankan and Kenya teas. Which typically has milk (not cream) and some sugar added, but not always. This tea is relatively strong, thus milk works with it. Some people add a lot of sugar to it (a joke often being builders having very strong tea and 12 spoons of sugar)… Most just have a single spoon or sweetner.

Some in the UK, and a lot of the rest of the world, drink herbal infusions containing nothing from the tea plants at all, and call that tea. All those fruity and herby concoctions.

The rest of Europe, and thus a bunch of the US (being made up from immigrants), drink a weaker tea blend, typically with lemon, and perhaps with some sugar. Being weaker, it doesn’t work well with milk added.

I’ve lived in Belgium, I used to bring my own tea with me, the tea there isn’t strong enough to make a British cuppa.

The scientist is probably referring to either the latter, and possibly the non-tea versions of tea.

But since Brits drink so much tea, often over coffee and soft drinks, they can consume a lot in a day. And thus feel strongly that their tea is the only tea.

The cultural equivalent would be the Italians reacting to someone in the US telling them how their weak instant coffee can be improved, by, I dunno, adding chocolate to it. They’re disagreeing about two different things.

But hey, nuance is not possible in the modern internet. Just a place for an argument, never understanding.

(Chinese tea fits into this conversation somewhere. I quite liked it, the one time I had it free with one of the meals, but it’s closer to the US version I think).

46

I thought it was “Break any of these rules sooner than drink anything outright barbarous.”

47

I used to buy something labeled Chinese Restaurant Tea that was fantastic.

48

QI had a UK vs US version last night which discussed tea.
Very amusing.

49

Meanwhile, some of us Americans like our tea quite strong, but still without milk, while at least some Brits think that strong tea can’t even be drunk without dilution by milk.

50

Anyone in the States who wants to try a UK tea should seek out Taylor of Harrogate’s Yorkshire Gold, a superb black tea that’s popular in Britain. I drink it black, no milk or sugar (as I do all teas) and the flavor is wonderful.

There’s a local somewhat specialty grocery store near me that carries it, and it’s also available on Amazon, as well as their robust Irish Breakfast Tea.

I’ve also just tried that brand’s jasmine green tea and it’s another winner. I can’t imagine putting milk and sugar into a green tea; they’d overwhelm the flavor of the tea itself.