# "British-style" tea - how do you take it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 29, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-style-tea-how-do-you-take-it/607740 "2011-12-29T18:11:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JessMagic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c0e974/32.png) [@JessMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JessMagic)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-style-tea-how-do-you-take-it/607740/1 "2011-12-29T18:11:18Z")
Inspired by this thread, [UK Dopers: Tell Me About British Tea - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=636313), I’m keen to find out how the tea-drinking Dopers … well… take it (fnarr). This applies to bog-standard tea from teabags, none of your fancy-dan stuff. Think Tetley. So, please vote in my poll, and discuss at will. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Neevil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Neevil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neevil)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-style-tea-how-do-you-take-it/607740/2 "2011-12-29T18:24:34Z")
Strong with milk & one sugar. I’m Irish and drinking tea without milk is almost unheard of here if it’s a regular cup of tea you are having and not something fancy like Earl Gray. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-style-tea-how-do-you-take-it/607740/3 "2011-12-29T18:26:34Z")
Either milk or sugar or lemon, but not more than one. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-style-tea-how-do-you-take-it/607740/4 "2011-12-29T18:29:27Z")
“Black”, i.e. no milk and no sugar. I’ve never used cold water to cool it; just blowin’. ---
**Author:** ![Butterscotch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dc4da7/32.png) [@Butterscotch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Butterscotch)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-style-tea-how-do-you-take-it/607740/5 "2011-12-29T18:39:17Z")
I have a splash of milk, no sugar, well stewed Earl Grey. I don’t consider it fancy, it’s just the tea I drink by the gallon every day. ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-style-tea-how-do-you-take-it/607740/6 "2011-12-29T18:50:11Z")
My mum is british, married my dad in 1964 and moved to the US (via a few military assignments to Japan, and Italy), and still has three to four cuppa’s a day. I’ve been drinking it with milk and two sugars since I can remember, and it’s still one of the first things she makes for me when I go home. Felling a little homesick right now. ---
**Author:** ![JessMagic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c0e974/32.png) [@JessMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JessMagic)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-style-tea-how-do-you-take-it/607740/7 "2011-12-29T18:51:31Z")
> [@Neevil](#): > > Strong with milk & one sugar. I’m Irish and drinking tea without milk is almost unheard of here if it’s a regular cup of tea you are having and not something fancy like Earl Gray. Really? Fascinating. I know a few people in Scotland who take their tea black. It’d be interesting to conduct a study comparing the tea-drinking habits of Scots and Irish, but I doubt we’d get enough results on the Dope to draw any solid conclusions. Oh, I’ve just realised that I worded one of the poll options wrong - it was supposed to say “milk and three **or more** sugars”. Oh well, it’ll just have to fly like that. Sorry! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-style-tea-how-do-you-take-it/607740/8 "2011-12-29T19:05:47Z")
Milk, one sugar. What do you mean by “British-style”? ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-style-tea-how-do-you-take-it/607740/9 "2011-12-29T19:23:36Z")
No milk, no sugar, and steeped a long time to make it nice and bitter. When having tea for breakfast in the UK, the waitress at the hotel kept coming by and saying _are you SURE you don’t want milk or sugar?_ as I let the tea steep for several minutes. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-style-tea-how-do-you-take-it/607740/10 "2011-12-29T19:41:10Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > “Black”, i.e. no milk and no sugar. Me, too, please. \*Good \*tea doesn’t need anything to disguise the taste, it is yummy on its own. Would you care for a digestive biscuit? ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-style-tea-how-do-you-take-it/607740/11 "2011-12-29T20:56:02Z")
For me - milk w/one sugar. For your Scottish/Irish comparison - My scottish greataunt used to take her tea with milk. And then she would take her second and third cup of tea from that tea bag with milk. Finally she would finish off with a couple cups of hot water with milk. She was the absolute sterotypical tight fisted Scot. Lovely lady but miserly. ---
**Author:** ![JessMagic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c0e974/32.png) [@JessMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JessMagic)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-style-tea-how-do-you-take-it/607740/12 "2011-12-29T21:07:52Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > What do you mean by “British-style”? The tea that is the standard hot drink in the UK. The thread I link to in the OP pretty much covers it. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-style-tea-how-do-you-take-it/607740/13 "2011-12-29T21:13:50Z")
How about an option for tea, boiling water, and a cup? ---
**Author:** ![JessMagic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c0e974/32.png) [@JessMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JessMagic)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-style-tea-how-do-you-take-it/607740/14 "2011-12-29T21:18:13Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > How about an option for tea, boiling water, and a cup? Isn’t that “No milk, maybe a dash of cold water”? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-style-tea-how-do-you-take-it/607740/15 "2011-12-29T21:21:40Z")
As an Asian I find the idea of adding milk to hot tea horrifying. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-style-tea-how-do-you-take-it/607740/16 "2011-12-29T21:24:08Z")
Well, I’m from rural Illinois, but my “standard” tea prep is “British-y,” especially since green tea seems so popular in the US lately. Twinings Earl Grey, steeped about five minutes. Strong, but without the tannins becoming too dominant. Lyle’s golden syrup, measured by dipping a teaspoon until it’s half-covered and then immediately stirring into the hot tea. Milk (2%) added until khaki. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-style-tea-how-do-you-take-it/607740/17 "2011-12-29T21:41:55Z")
I voted “milk, two sugars”, as that’s how I have my Ceylon and Earl Grey. I have my Lapsang black, with honey. ---
**Author:** ![JessMagic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c0e974/32.png) [@JessMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JessMagic)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-style-tea-how-do-you-take-it/607740/18 "2011-12-29T21:55:53Z")
Man, there’s some advanced tea-drinking going on out there! Thanks for your votes and replies. ---
**Author:** ![Jennyrosity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@Jennyrosity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennyrosity)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-style-tea-how-do-you-take-it/607740/19 "2011-12-29T22:37:15Z")
Yorkshire Tea is the only proper tea. And I’ll have it with milk, no sugar, quite strong, please. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-style-tea-how-do-you-take-it/607740/20 "2011-12-29T22:53:20Z")
> [@JessMagic](#): > > Isn’t that “No milk, maybe a dash of cold water”? No, because I’ve never added cold water to my tea. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-style-tea-how-do-you-take-it/607740.md?page=2)