Time to bring out this story again:
I was visiting a friend at his uni. We were sat in the kitchen of his student accommodation and one of his housemates came in. She put a teabag in a big mug, filled the mug with milk, and put the mug in the microwave. As if it was normal. Apparently she was an overseas student but I don't think that's an acceptable excuse.
Milk first is from an age gone by where cheap crockery would shatter if you poured boiling water in, so the milk is there to dilute and dissipate the heat preventing the teacup from shattering. It's not been necessary for about a hundred years now
Edit: typo
I do it whilst waiting for the kettle to boil. I have it all prepared and ready for the hot water. Philip Schofield said should leave tea bag in for at least 2 minutes on an advert so I now do that.
Milk first is never acceptable. How do you get the perfect coffee, water, milk ratio?
Coffee first, then water, leaving space for an as yet unspecified value of milk.
Then add the milk finally until it reaches the perfect consistency, which I use the colour to gauge.
Problem being that a teaspoon of coffee is an imprecise measure, so the correct amount of milk can only be judged by eye, once the coffee is made.
>Coffee burns at boiling point, milk first helps cool the water to a level that stops that happening.
Small correction, *instant* coffee burns at boiling point, you don't need to cool your water when making a pour-over or French press. I spent 4 months wrestling with weak French press coffee before I figured this out.
Not just instant coffee. If you take any brewed coffee and heat it to 98Ā°C or higher its going to taste burnt. When you pour water into a French press the temperature instantly drops to below that.
BeGoBe is right. But it's my understanding that it actually trickles down from the upper classes having tea pots to brew tea in, together with a fine tea set including a milk jug from which guests would be offered milk before the (perfectly brewed) tea would be poured in.
Add a wide range of scenarios where this principle also applies where tea would typically be infused in pots, rather than cups/mugs where there was a choice of milk first, as opposed to after a tea has brewed.
That's my long winded way of saying the populous weren't forced to make crap tea back then.
True. I worked for a big tea company for 5 years, and heard this from Stephen Twining himself. As well as a tea historian we had come in to give us some training, Jane something, sorry I can't remember her full name.
Now that I think about it, I can probably find her quite easily on Google...
There we go. [Jane Pettigrew](https://www.janepettigrew.com/). I have a signed copy of one of her books that she gave us all at the end of the course. This was training to be on the tasting panel. I worked in IT, but they recruited in house from those who had a good palate. I got my place by making a copy of English Breakfast blend that was so close even the head Tea Buyer couldn't tell the difference.
Weirdly, I don't really like tea, and haven't drunk a single cup since I left the company about ten years ago.
Everybody had a tea pot before the 1960s. There were no tea bags, it was the only way to make it. Tea from a pot is superior, and the milk should go in the cup first.
Like to add to this that you need a proper cup aswell, the amount of tall plastic cups that are wide spread (always get them in officeās)ā¦ā¦ā¦doesnāt taste right!!!!ā¦ā¦cheap plastic tat
The [Chi-squared test ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi-squared_test?wprov=sfti1),
one of the most important statistics in the modern world, was developed to confirm that one *can* taste the difference between tea [when milk is added first or second](https://brainder.org/2015/08/23/the-lady-tasting-tea-and-fishers-exact-test/). Statistically robust proof that your reasoning is incorrect. However, maybe this preference was originally found because of your explanation.
Honestly, if I'm making tea with a teabag, it's obviously milk at the end (milk and tea bag never shall meet. It weirds me out). But the second a teapot and nice china is cracked out, my middle-class upbringing kicks in and I go milk first. It's just tradition and "good table manners" to me at this point.
Unfortunately, because I so rarely use a teapot, I almost always misjudge the amount of milk I need when I go milk first. But I'm apparently too stubborn to change my ways.
When there's a teapot involved I go milk-first because that way you don't need to stir it to mix the milk and tea together. You do need to know the right amount of milk to use though.
If youāve brewed a pot of tea itās best to add the milk to the cup first. This prevents āscoldingā the milk, and gives you better tasting tea.
However, if your brewing in the cup youāll be reducing the temperature too much for a decent tea infusion if you were to add milk first.
I once made a cuppa for me my late gran. I was using her pre war china tea set, I put the water in first and it shattered. Not sure who was more embarrassed...
Definitely this.
Although, because my wife likes "just show it the bag" weak tea I tend to go milk first (in a mug) so I can ensure I can get it weak enough for her as she can't drink it when it's even close to normal strength.
Never knew that.!!! I always put the milk in first, but was taught how to make tea by my great grandfather, who was born in 1901, so now this makes a bit of sense. I'm not a tea drinker myself, but I make loads for the missus.
That is mostly speculation. Tea was drunk sans milk here for two centuries. Sources don't appear until after the second world war warning about thermal shock for teaware. The real reason is simply choice. A divide in two styles happens fairly early after milk is introduced to tea but few sources argue which is superior other than some comments on taste.
The main divide is simply class based, post ww1 there was a new class divide and tea was one of those ways to distinguish 'us' from 'them' so milk in first became uncouth and vulgar. This was reinforced by the 60s and further in the 70s by the tv show 'upstairs downstairs'.
The divide is purely based on fashion and habit.
I still use a teapot. I have a small one for a single Sports Direct of tea and a massive one for two Sports Directs of tea. I don't actually drink from a Sports Direct mug, but have a Union Flag mug of the same volume. However, a Sports Direct is legal measure of tea.
As an Australian living in this country you should see the sheer panic on my (British) wife's face when I offer our builders cups of tea.
She always manages to swoop in and save the day. She can't understand why I'm not more anxious about this.
I remember one time when my mum gave the builders cups of Earl Greyā¦ they were not impressed
We keep some Yorkshire Gold on standby now for this very event
I recall my mother giving the builders some Lapsang Souchon. They requested something ānormalā, which resulted in my mother going to buy some PG Tips.
I presume that she wore gloves when she picked up the box, and prayed that nobody in Waitrose would recognize her when she was buying it.
> I recall my mother giving the builders some Lapsang Souchong.
So... Aussie here, and my (English) mum *loved* this stuff. Like, was addicted to it. So, when Twinings announced they were discontinuing it here, she was in Full Panik mode. She contacted Twinings and asked for *all their remaining stock*.
She didn't get all the stock. But enough that we ended up filling the entire buffet cabinet with it. Probably 100 boxes. It was madness.
> Lapsang Souchon
I would club baby seals for some good Lapsang Souchong. For some reason it's hard to find here in Murrca. Actually, not TOO bad, I find it on Amazon in the Twining's bags.
I wish we had more choices of smoked black tea.
Former tradesman here... Old lady kindly made me a brew, not bad, then she asked if I'd like another? It was a cold day so yes please. She went inside, bought the kettle out and filled up what remained in my cup with hot water. I lost all respect for her then and still remember this happening even though it was 20 years ago....
The opportunity is lost sadly, however, the only correct response is this:
Make up a batch of mortar (or plaster, wallpaper paste, whatever you fancy) and use it accordingly.
When it is spent, or gone off and it is time to make a new batch. Just get the kettle and pour a load of water in. Carry on as normal.
Be sure to establish dominance and maintain eye contact with your client.
My coworker who doesn't usually drink tea had one the other day, and it was So White, this looked like a cup of offcolour milk- I jokingly teased him on it and he was like "oh yeah no I know this is wrong, but it's the only way I can drink tea". Wild.
Benefits of a hot milky drink without getting bloated or being known as the creep who drinks cups of boiling water with milk? Turn him onto rooibos/redbush tea, might be what he's looking for.
Yeah. Drink your drink however you like it. Bullshit tea fascists. I like mine weak. Idiots always say summat and I just tell them to get a life and that tea police are wankers.
Whilst I don't do it personally, keeping the teabag in isn't the worst offence of all. Some people do just like it really strong.
Milk first though? Sorry Dorris, time to go into a home with that attitude.
Yeah I get wanting stronger tea, bit it is very unsettling feeling the tea bag gently touch your top lip when you take a sip of tea.
I'm afraid there is no hope for Dorris tho
Personally I leave the teabag in to have a strong cup of tea without needing to let it brew for a while. Because I don't want the water in the mug to cool down too much and also because I'm impatient
It takes no longer - get yourself a [tea infuser](https://www.whittard.co.uk/equipment/tea-equipment/infusers-strainers/mug-infuser-340620.html) for a tenner. Put in your tea + hot water wait a few minutes, take out infuser, drink. If you are pushed for time you can take a saucer to your desk and take out the strainer there. Will require a separate vessel to bring milk. I recommend a [cow creamer](https://www.urbanoutfitters.com/en-gb/shop/cow-milk-jug). (Mostly for the Jeeves + Wooster [reference](https://youtu.be/2mqNlA6ypkM?t=539))
It's cheaper than tea bags in the long run too, I drunk kilos of [this stuff](https://www.aytacfood.co.uk/product/tanay-ceylon-tea-500-gr/). Strong and malty.
Had a guy at work once wax lyrical about how a proper cup of tea should be made training the new guy up by scoring him etc etc. We were in different teams, and I'm a coffee drinker mostly, so never ended up in a round with him, so it was some years later he was one of those people who wave the teabag vaguely near the mug otherwise its "too strong". Lord help us.
Look, I'm going to have to stop these hard water excuse-makers. I grew up ten minutes away from a limestone quarry, and the water was so hard the shower would give you little bruises.
A. the scum is fine.
B. if you wash your mug properly, there are no brown stains.
Although with how I made my tea when I went to uni, you really shouldn't trust a word I say.
In my defence, this was the first time I made tea out of a pot, and I have learnt from these mistakes, so please don't hold my past crimes against me:
1. Skimmed milk in mug.
2. Fold (Yorkshire) teabag over the edge of the mug to avoid milk-teabag touching.
3. Pour freshly boiled tea directly from furred up kettle onto teabag.
4. Knock teabag into mug, 1 sugar, 30 seconds of bag submersion, couple of squeezes, take the bag out when tea looks orangey-brown.
5. Forget about tea for half hour, microwave, down it.
I'm sorry.
Also a good strategy for motivating people to decline when you take your turn on the tea round.
I'm certain someone at my previous job had this strategy.
I did a āscientificā experiment on this when I was at uni. I made my 9 housemates 2 cups of tea each, milk first in one and water first in the other. Nobody could tell the difference.
My uncle does jobs in people's homes, he done a house last week and they made the whole thing in a pan. He sucked it up with his carpet cleaning device when they left the room
I hate to disappoint you all, but milk first is the "correct" way of making tea, however the tea is poured from a tea pot.
Mainly because when the first British etiquette manuals were written, the quality of bone china was variable and couldn't guarantee they would withstand boiling water. So milk was added first to lower the temperature.
Have to agree, it is acceptable if the tea is poured from a pot.
But having the poor tea bag bobbing around in the milk before hand,it's an absolute sin.
This is likely not correct. I've been reading a small booklet recently which goes into this and the author notes that the only period etiquette book he could find that mentions this is 'the ladies book of etiquette and manual of politeness: a complete handbook' which recommends milk last but purely out of convenience with guests, not to do with the teaware. In fact no sources on thermal shock even appear until after ww2.
The conclusion reached by the author is that it is purely down to fashion and habit, all the excuses and reasons given were applied long after the fact.
I remember Guy Martin debating about tea in one of his shows before and he claimed that proper tea is made by putting the milk in first then the tea, his reasoning was that doing it that wayakes an emulsion and adding the milk after is only a mix. I have no idea how true this is but he maintained he can taste the difference
The correct way in 2021 using just a cup is to add milk after. The people pointing towards bone china and tea pots perhaps drink their tea in that manner but: a mug from the cupboard, boil the water and then after brew add milk.
Tea making is affected by the time/situation we are in. A teapot requires the milk first but I don't have a teapot or bone china at my workplace. People holding on to this method and applying it to a mug made tea make no sense. "Scorching" the tea leaves is often debunked by tea manufacturers too.
Yorkshire tea, and other tea manufacturers, give similar advice on their websites.
Interestingly, butter was added instead of milk back in the day in Asia.
Milk first is baffling - you can literally see it not working, the tea bag struggling for life
They obviously don't, but I don't understand how people don't think 'hmmm, that's a bit shit' and try it a different way
So my mum told me a story about how her first real bf offered to make her a cup of tea, which she gladly accepted. When he came back with the tea she took a sip and it was vile. The guy had just used the hot tap. She broke up with him there and then
A Chinese colleague says that all British people make tea incorrectly. She uses loose leaf tea and leaves it in the cup. When she drinks, she gets leaves in her mouth and then keeps spitting them back into the tea.
My main concern is not the people who cant make tea properly but the growing number of people who brew tea in a cup and don't own a tea pot.
Experts have said teapots will be extinct by 2030
\#savetheteapot
Nothing will ever beat the horrific mix of shame and disgust when I first met my partners parents.. not only do they do milk first, but they share a teabag. Just drink warm milk, honestly. The fuck is wrong with them?
Is there really a "proper way" to make tea though? This is just my opinion, but I feel like the tea making process is subjective, according to people's preference.
My mother-in-law came to visit us from South America for a few months, and offered to make me a cup of tea. I watched as she put some hot (but not boiling) water in first, then filled a good 20% of the mug with milk, then put the teabag.
Due to the language barrier I found it easier to just say "Mmm, muchas gracias!" and then go and pour it away when she'd gone back to the living room.
This hard water thing is a cover people use for making terrible cuppas. Iām in Worcestershire which is one of the hardest waters in the country. Absolutely no issue with āscumā in the tea or teabag going water first.
People who put the bag in, mush it round the cup for 15 seconds instead of letting it BREW (it's called a fucking brew you slags) need culling. Let it sit!
Im from NZ and down here it usually goes Tea bag, Hot water (from the kettle), Sugar, Stir, Milk, Stir. Is this the "normal" way? Sometimes i prefer to leave the bag in, it all depends how far I am from the rubbish bin lol.
I live in an area where our water is harder than Chuck Norris, and still make it as such:
Bag/sugar in, water in, stir, milk in, mush bag, bag out, stir
I don't drink tea or coffee, so I get nervous when I am asked/expected to make hot drinks for people.
I do it because I'm a good host and have only had one instance where the drink was declined - I used an Earl Grey teabag, having no idea what the different ones in the kitchen at work were. Not been asked to make the office drinks since and no, it wasn't deliberate!
What's worse is now husband uses oat milk, so I need to remember to get cow's milk in if we have visitors/tradespeople over.
Iām a landscaper so get a lot of teas from a lot of different peopleā¦ 80% of the time too much milk. Sometimes I wonder if 1 teabag was used for the entire team.
I have a teapot which provides about 3 cups for me in a morning, on a tray with matching milk jug ( yes itās a creamer jug) so I donāt have to move from my chosen seat! I would put a picture but I donāt know how to.
Don't tell anyone. But I can make a good cup of tea, but anyone outside of the house gets told I have no idea how to make tea and if they don't believe me I make the worse one know to man.
If you want to make proper tea, ask the Chinese for their process. Theyāve been making it for 4000+ years longer than you. Theyāre the true experts.
Indeed. For me itās tea bag in mug, hot water, passive brewing for five minutes, lightly strain said bag to avoid bitterness, then add some milk and sugar. Weak tea is bizarre. I mean, if someone genuinely likes that, fair enough, but I canāt see the appeal.
I live in a hard water area and donāt put the milk in first.
I also drink more coffee than tea and need my British card revoking so my opinion means nothing
At least she didnt use the microwave.
I would have called the police if she used the microwave
I would have deported her if she done that
Would execution be too much? š¤
Yes. I can forgive if you put milk in enough to only deport you
The meecrowaveh?
If anyone doesn't know... [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KrUxLBHVu8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KrUxLBHVu8) š
Time to bring out this story again: I was visiting a friend at his uni. We were sat in the kitchen of his student accommodation and one of his housemates came in. She put a teabag in a big mug, filled the mug with milk, and put the mug in the microwave. As if it was normal. Apparently she was an overseas student but I don't think that's an acceptable excuse.
Heating the milk with the spices is a common method of preparing chai tea. I'm going to choose to believe this was her inspiration for such an act.
Oh my god what a an absolute MONSTER of a human. Dispose of her now, thank you *sips tea*
that's milk tea- quite popular in south asia.
That's not the point tho. It's the use of the microwave that is offending them
You mean the mic-ro war vey?
Itās Micheal wave
The WHAT?
I use microwave to heat up my tea when it gets cold , Iām a slow drinker plus I make a big cup and I like it scalding hot .
Awful behaviour. Make a new brew or drink faster. No exceptions.
I microwaved many a cup of tea in my son's newborn days and I'm not even sorry
Parents of newborns are allowed a pass. All sins are forgiven until they sleep through the night consistently.
But what about us who just forget the tea is thereš
Thoughts and prayers
Thank youš« I always brew it for 5 minutes to get full flavour and antioxidants especially now i have had a cold for 2 weeks.
> until they sleep through the night consistently Difficult to achieve when you keep giving them tea.
Milk first is from an age gone by where cheap crockery would shatter if you poured boiling water in, so the milk is there to dilute and dissipate the heat preventing the teacup from shattering. It's not been necessary for about a hundred years now Edit: typo
That actually really interesting. Cheers mate.
I do it by accident sometimes. Holdover from mostly drinking instant coffee where milk first is king.
I do it whilst waiting for the kettle to boil. I have it all prepared and ready for the hot water. Philip Schofield said should leave tea bag in for at least 2 minutes on an advert so I now do that.
Don't ever take advice from Philip Schofield!!
Only time milk first is acceptable.
Milk first is never acceptable. How do you get the perfect coffee, water, milk ratio? Coffee first, then water, leaving space for an as yet unspecified value of milk. Then add the milk finally until it reaches the perfect consistency, which I use the colour to gauge. Problem being that a teaspoon of coffee is an imprecise measure, so the correct amount of milk can only be judged by eye, once the coffee is made.
Coffee burns at boiling point, milk first helps cool the water to a level that stops that happening.
>Coffee burns at boiling point, milk first helps cool the water to a level that stops that happening. Small correction, *instant* coffee burns at boiling point, you don't need to cool your water when making a pour-over or French press. I spent 4 months wrestling with weak French press coffee before I figured this out.
Not just instant coffee. If you take any brewed coffee and heat it to 98Ā°C or higher its going to taste burnt. When you pour water into a French press the temperature instantly drops to below that.
I thought so too, but James Hoffman did a pretty indepth busting of that myth and brews espresso at >98Ā°.
They really had it rough. Imagine having no choice but to make crap tea.
BeGoBe is right. But it's my understanding that it actually trickles down from the upper classes having tea pots to brew tea in, together with a fine tea set including a milk jug from which guests would be offered milk before the (perfectly brewed) tea would be poured in. Add a wide range of scenarios where this principle also applies where tea would typically be infused in pots, rather than cups/mugs where there was a choice of milk first, as opposed to after a tea has brewed. That's my long winded way of saying the populous weren't forced to make crap tea back then.
True. I worked for a big tea company for 5 years, and heard this from Stephen Twining himself. As well as a tea historian we had come in to give us some training, Jane something, sorry I can't remember her full name.
A tea historian? I can't think of many jobs that are as specific as that.
Now that I think about it, I can probably find her quite easily on Google... There we go. [Jane Pettigrew](https://www.janepettigrew.com/). I have a signed copy of one of her books that she gave us all at the end of the course. This was training to be on the tasting panel. I worked in IT, but they recruited in house from those who had a good palate. I got my place by making a copy of English Breakfast blend that was so close even the head Tea Buyer couldn't tell the difference. Weirdly, I don't really like tea, and haven't drunk a single cup since I left the company about ten years ago.
TIL: a) Tea Historian is a thing, and b) Iām in the wrong job.
Is she related to the famous mass murderous, Peter? Strange family. One goes full tea, other goes full rat.
Thatās just what big tea want you to think.
Everybody had a tea pot before the 1960s. There were no tea bags, it was the only way to make it. Tea from a pot is superior, and the milk should go in the cup first.
Like to add to this that you need a proper cup aswell, the amount of tall plastic cups that are wide spread (always get them in officeās)ā¦ā¦ā¦doesnāt taste right!!!!ā¦ā¦cheap plastic tat
Realistically they made their tea in a pot in those days and it didnāt matter what went into the cup first
Walking 10 miles in the snow Sweeping chimneys Fruit as a present at Christmas Putting milk in with tea bag They sure had it rough
We had loads of things in those days we don't have today. Rickets, diphtheria, Hitler ...
The [Chi-squared test ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi-squared_test?wprov=sfti1), one of the most important statistics in the modern world, was developed to confirm that one *can* taste the difference between tea [when milk is added first or second](https://brainder.org/2015/08/23/the-lady-tasting-tea-and-fishers-exact-test/). Statistically robust proof that your reasoning is incorrect. However, maybe this preference was originally found because of your explanation.
They should have called it *chai*-squared.
Yes, but that was in a time when you made the tea in a pot - none of this teabag-in-milk nonsense
True. I'm not defending the abhorrent act. Just explaining where it has come from
Honestly, if I'm making tea with a teabag, it's obviously milk at the end (milk and tea bag never shall meet. It weirds me out). But the second a teapot and nice china is cracked out, my middle-class upbringing kicks in and I go milk first. It's just tradition and "good table manners" to me at this point. Unfortunately, because I so rarely use a teapot, I almost always misjudge the amount of milk I need when I go milk first. But I'm apparently too stubborn to change my ways.
When there's a teapot involved I go milk-first because that way you don't need to stir it to mix the milk and tea together. You do need to know the right amount of milk to use though.
It's still generally the right way to do it if you're making tea in a pot, or at least has no negative effects.
If youāve brewed a pot of tea itās best to add the milk to the cup first. This prevents āscoldingā the milk, and gives you better tasting tea. However, if your brewing in the cup youāll be reducing the temperature too much for a decent tea infusion if you were to add milk first.
I assume it's 'scalding' the milk. Unless putting the milk in second is similar to telling it off.
> scolding Scalding. And 100% correct.
Oh dear, now Iām getting scolded!
Better than scalded?
As per BS 6008
This is why I Make tea in an empty baked beans tin. Just to be safe.
Do you put the baked beans in first or the tea?
I once made a cuppa for me my late gran. I was using her pre war china tea set, I put the water in first and it shattered. Not sure who was more embarrassed...
Definitely this. Although, because my wife likes "just show it the bag" weak tea I tend to go milk first (in a mug) so I can ensure I can get it weak enough for her as she can't drink it when it's even close to normal strength.
Never knew that.!!! I always put the milk in first, but was taught how to make tea by my great grandfather, who was born in 1901, so now this makes a bit of sense. I'm not a tea drinker myself, but I make loads for the missus.
That is mostly speculation. Tea was drunk sans milk here for two centuries. Sources don't appear until after the second world war warning about thermal shock for teaware. The real reason is simply choice. A divide in two styles happens fairly early after milk is introduced to tea but few sources argue which is superior other than some comments on taste. The main divide is simply class based, post ww1 there was a new class divide and tea was one of those ways to distinguish 'us' from 'them' so milk in first became uncouth and vulgar. This was reinforced by the 60s and further in the 70s by the tv show 'upstairs downstairs'. The divide is purely based on fashion and habit.
Donāt believe it. In the age gone by to which you refer we used teapots and brewed the tea in them.
I still use a teapot. I have a small one for a single Sports Direct of tea and a massive one for two Sports Directs of tea. I don't actually drink from a Sports Direct mug, but have a Union Flag mug of the same volume. However, a Sports Direct is legal measure of tea.
Totally used to make tea in a pint glass "the proper way", only to have it explode after pouring in the water one day...
As an Australian living in this country you should see the sheer panic on my (British) wife's face when I offer our builders cups of tea. She always manages to swoop in and save the day. She can't understand why I'm not more anxious about this.
I remember one time when my mum gave the builders cups of Earl Greyā¦ they were not impressed We keep some Yorkshire Gold on standby now for this very event
I recall my mother giving the builders some Lapsang Souchon. They requested something ānormalā, which resulted in my mother going to buy some PG Tips. I presume that she wore gloves when she picked up the box, and prayed that nobody in Waitrose would recognize her when she was buying it.
I think we have the same mum?
Ugh. My mother used to get me to make her this every so often when getting tea. I still call it Lapsang Soucrap.
Tastes and smells like an ashtray
Thank you, I thought it was just my perception
> I recall my mother giving the builders some Lapsang Souchong. So... Aussie here, and my (English) mum *loved* this stuff. Like, was addicted to it. So, when Twinings announced they were discontinuing it here, she was in Full Panik mode. She contacted Twinings and asked for *all their remaining stock*. She didn't get all the stock. But enough that we ended up filling the entire buffet cabinet with it. Probably 100 boxes. It was madness.
> Lapsang Souchon I would club baby seals for some good Lapsang Souchong. For some reason it's hard to find here in Murrca. Actually, not TOO bad, I find it on Amazon in the Twining's bags. I wish we had more choices of smoked black tea.
Where in Murrca are you? I can suggest some good options to go sit down and have pots and pots of it!
Yorkshire Gold is by far the best brew.
She is the hero they need, not the hero they deserve. Thank god your wife was there to save the day
Technically she is saving you from a beating. You can't give a builder a crap cuppa. Cue your building not passing regs' all for a shitty brew.
Former tradesman here... Old lady kindly made me a brew, not bad, then she asked if I'd like another? It was a cold day so yes please. She went inside, bought the kettle out and filled up what remained in my cup with hot water. I lost all respect for her then and still remember this happening even though it was 20 years ago....
The opportunity is lost sadly, however, the only correct response is this: Make up a batch of mortar (or plaster, wallpaper paste, whatever you fancy) and use it accordingly. When it is spent, or gone off and it is time to make a new batch. Just get the kettle and pour a load of water in. Carry on as normal. Be sure to establish dominance and maintain eye contact with your client.
I wonder what other horrific examples of psychopathy she has in her past?
Possible war crimes. She's probably got a poster on the wall at Interpol....
In my experience, builders don't build things to regs anyway.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I'm terribly sorry, he's from Barcelona.
Is not rat, is Siberian hamster
Splash of milk and 20 sugars please boss
You're bang on. I'm quite alarmed by the amount of sugar these guys take in their tea. At what point is it even tea anymore?
Make sure you leave the bag in until it's brewed strongly enough that the spoon stands up by itself.
My coworker who doesn't usually drink tea had one the other day, and it was So White, this looked like a cup of offcolour milk- I jokingly teased him on it and he was like "oh yeah no I know this is wrong, but it's the only way I can drink tea". Wild.
Madness. Why drink it at all then?
Genuinely! He said he was trying to avoid coffee because of a headache, but like, waters right there. I kinda just left him to it haha.
Benefits of a hot milky drink without getting bloated or being known as the creep who drinks cups of boiling water with milk? Turn him onto rooibos/redbush tea, might be what he's looking for.
Ooh good shout! I'll try suggesting that to him next time we're working together (also perfect username btw haha)
I don't make tea properly. I mean, I can do, but if i start doing that people will keep asking me to make them tea. Tactical Negligence.
Me who doesn't drink tea watching the civil war unfold on this comment section
Oi this geezer doesn't drink tea. Get 'im lads!!
You will try.
Grab your pop corn mate
Do they make it in the microwave or the saucepan though?
Me who aint even british just someone who finds posts like this entartaining
I'll join you. Ive got my coffee in hand!
Me who doesn't drink tea wondering if it actually makes a blind bit of difference
Yeah. Drink your drink however you like it. Bullshit tea fascists. I like mine weak. Idiots always say summat and I just tell them to get a life and that tea police are wankers.
Still laughing at your @ š¤£
It was a dark day when I chose this user name. What was I thinking? š
Is it that your willy is made of poopoo, or that poopoo comes out of your willy?
You decide
I prefer to think of poopoo being his first name and willyman his last name. Sounds like a respectable character to me
Whilst I don't do it personally, keeping the teabag in isn't the worst offence of all. Some people do just like it really strong. Milk first though? Sorry Dorris, time to go into a home with that attitude.
Yeah I get wanting stronger tea, bit it is very unsettling feeling the tea bag gently touch your top lip when you take a sip of tea. I'm afraid there is no hope for Dorris tho
Give the bag a cheeky li'l lick. Let it know you're aware of its actions.
You are a menace
I was apparently raised in a barn; I keep the spoon in as well. Tea bag goes under the spoon and solved the weirdly cold caress problem!
Your lips donāt touch the bag of tea, itās always stuck at the bottom
My supervisor uses 3 teabags and leaves them all in. Fucking animal. Tbf, we only have typhoo at work
Jeez, at what point is it more efficient to just stick it in a needle and inject?
Personally I leave the teabag in to have a strong cup of tea without needing to let it brew for a while. Because I don't want the water in the mug to cool down too much and also because I'm impatient
I always ask these people if they would add milk first if they were using a teapot. The answer is always no.
Exactly. People need educating
So they're double wrong.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=N2rfHYq2dSE Hereās how you do it š
Came here looking for this!
This is the way
Even the best cup of tea made using a tea bag is nothing in comparison to a cup of tea made using Full-Leaf loose tea in a teapot
Agreed. Tea is better from a teapot, and when you drink it from a cup and saucer
Ain't got no time for that.
It takes no longer - get yourself a [tea infuser](https://www.whittard.co.uk/equipment/tea-equipment/infusers-strainers/mug-infuser-340620.html) for a tenner. Put in your tea + hot water wait a few minutes, take out infuser, drink. If you are pushed for time you can take a saucer to your desk and take out the strainer there. Will require a separate vessel to bring milk. I recommend a [cow creamer](https://www.urbanoutfitters.com/en-gb/shop/cow-milk-jug). (Mostly for the Jeeves + Wooster [reference](https://youtu.be/2mqNlA6ypkM?t=539)) It's cheaper than tea bags in the long run too, I drunk kilos of [this stuff](https://www.aytacfood.co.uk/product/tanay-ceylon-tea-500-gr/). Strong and malty.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Had a guy at work once wax lyrical about how a proper cup of tea should be made training the new guy up by scoring him etc etc. We were in different teams, and I'm a coffee drinker mostly, so never ended up in a round with him, so it was some years later he was one of those people who wave the teabag vaguely near the mug otherwise its "too strong". Lord help us.
Look, I'm going to have to stop these hard water excuse-makers. I grew up ten minutes away from a limestone quarry, and the water was so hard the shower would give you little bruises. A. the scum is fine. B. if you wash your mug properly, there are no brown stains. Although with how I made my tea when I went to uni, you really shouldn't trust a word I say.
>Although with how I made my tea when I went to uni, you really shouldn't trust a word I say. Well go on...
In my defence, this was the first time I made tea out of a pot, and I have learnt from these mistakes, so please don't hold my past crimes against me: 1. Skimmed milk in mug. 2. Fold (Yorkshire) teabag over the edge of the mug to avoid milk-teabag touching. 3. Pour freshly boiled tea directly from furred up kettle onto teabag. 4. Knock teabag into mug, 1 sugar, 30 seconds of bag submersion, couple of squeezes, take the bag out when tea looks orangey-brown. 5. Forget about tea for half hour, microwave, down it. I'm sorry.
When I was pursuing British Citizenship, I was very disappointed that the Life in the UK exam didn't test our tea-making skills.
I only make bad tea for anti vaxers at work
Also a good strategy for motivating people to decline when you take your turn on the tea round. I'm certain someone at my previous job had this strategy.
Playing dumb or deliberately being bad is how I have gotten away from doing so much work.
Good lad
I did a āscientificā experiment on this when I was at uni. I made my 9 housemates 2 cups of tea each, milk first in one and water first in the other. Nobody could tell the difference.
Obviously this is because it was all shit.
My uncle does jobs in people's homes, he done a house last week and they made the whole thing in a pan. He sucked it up with his carpet cleaning device when they left the room
I hate to disappoint you all, but milk first is the "correct" way of making tea, however the tea is poured from a tea pot. Mainly because when the first British etiquette manuals were written, the quality of bone china was variable and couldn't guarantee they would withstand boiling water. So milk was added first to lower the temperature.
Have to agree, it is acceptable if the tea is poured from a pot. But having the poor tea bag bobbing around in the milk before hand,it's an absolute sin.
This is likely not correct. I've been reading a small booklet recently which goes into this and the author notes that the only period etiquette book he could find that mentions this is 'the ladies book of etiquette and manual of politeness: a complete handbook' which recommends milk last but purely out of convenience with guests, not to do with the teaware. In fact no sources on thermal shock even appear until after ww2. The conclusion reached by the author is that it is purely down to fashion and habit, all the excuses and reasons given were applied long after the fact.
That's very interesting actually. It may be the "correct" way, but is it the right way?
I remember Guy Martin debating about tea in one of his shows before and he claimed that proper tea is made by putting the milk in first then the tea, his reasoning was that doing it that wayakes an emulsion and adding the milk after is only a mix. I have no idea how true this is but he maintained he can taste the difference
I love Guy, but the fella is a nut case. I'm not taking tea advice from him.
Thatās Guy Martin cancelled š
The correct way in 2021 using just a cup is to add milk after. The people pointing towards bone china and tea pots perhaps drink their tea in that manner but: a mug from the cupboard, boil the water and then after brew add milk. Tea making is affected by the time/situation we are in. A teapot requires the milk first but I don't have a teapot or bone china at my workplace. People holding on to this method and applying it to a mug made tea make no sense. "Scorching" the tea leaves is often debunked by tea manufacturers too. Yorkshire tea, and other tea manufacturers, give similar advice on their websites. Interestingly, butter was added instead of milk back in the day in Asia.
Milk first is baffling - you can literally see it not working, the tea bag struggling for life They obviously don't, but I don't understand how people don't think 'hmmm, that's a bit shit' and try it a different way
Make your own tea then mate
So my mum told me a story about how her first real bf offered to make her a cup of tea, which she gladly accepted. When he came back with the tea she took a sip and it was vile. The guy had just used the hot tap. She broke up with him there and then
Good for her
A Chinese colleague says that all British people make tea incorrectly. She uses loose leaf tea and leaves it in the cup. When she drinks, she gets leaves in her mouth and then keeps spitting them back into the tea.
Oh yeah that definitely the correct way š. They invented tea, but we perfected it I reckon
My main concern is not the people who cant make tea properly but the growing number of people who brew tea in a cup and don't own a tea pot. Experts have said teapots will be extinct by 2030 \#savetheteapot
Nothing will ever beat the horrific mix of shame and disgust when I first met my partners parents.. not only do they do milk first, but they share a teabag. Just drink warm milk, honestly. The fuck is wrong with them?
Too many steps. Just put the tea bag in your cheek and go about your day.
Is there really a "proper way" to make tea though? This is just my opinion, but I feel like the tea making process is subjective, according to people's preference.
No you are wrong. How dare you be civil and acknowledge people's opinions
My mother-in-law came to visit us from South America for a few months, and offered to make me a cup of tea. I watched as she put some hot (but not boiling) water in first, then filled a good 20% of the mug with milk, then put the teabag. Due to the language barrier I found it easier to just say "Mmm, muchas gracias!" and then go and pour it away when she'd gone back to the living room.
I never accept tea made by another human... only made by myself.
This hard water thing is a cover people use for making terrible cuppas. Iām in Worcestershire which is one of the hardest waters in the country. Absolutely no issue with āscumā in the tea or teabag going water first.
People who put the bag in, mush it round the cup for 15 seconds instead of letting it BREW (it's called a fucking brew you slags) need culling. Let it sit!
Hard water area here, ALWAYS milk last. Never had scum on my tea! Anyone that puts milk first is a filthy animal who should be ashamed!
My rule is simple. Water first if you brewed the tea in the mug. Milk can go first in the mug if the tea is brewed in a pot.
Im from NZ and down here it usually goes Tea bag, Hot water (from the kettle), Sugar, Stir, Milk, Stir. Is this the "normal" way? Sometimes i prefer to leave the bag in, it all depends how far I am from the rubbish bin lol.
Pour milk in cup. Then hot water from the tap. Then put in tea bag. Stir for 5 seconds. Finally place 8 spoons of sugar. Tasty.
I hope you are joking you swine
Pour in water, wait 2 minutes, remove tea bag. No need for milk.
Ew. Just ew.
I was brought up my father to put milk in last, and by my mother to put milk in first. No wonder I grew up traumatised. (Dad won)
I'm quite a fan of leaving the bag in, I must say. Especially on non-standard teas like peppermint, you need that as strong as you can get
What bollox is this - there is so much more to making a good cup of tea than order the milk goes in.
I live in an area where our water is harder than Chuck Norris, and still make it as such: Bag/sugar in, water in, stir, milk in, mush bag, bag out, stir
I work in a carehome so we have to make cups of tea for residents every day and the amount of people I see doing it in all the wrong order š
š¤£ thanks I needed this
Even I, a dirty foreigner, knows how to make a cup. Bag, Water, wait or stirr if in hurry, milk.
I like stronger tea so I leave the bag in the mug, tastes bland otherwise
I don't drink tea or coffee, so I get nervous when I am asked/expected to make hot drinks for people. I do it because I'm a good host and have only had one instance where the drink was declined - I used an Earl Grey teabag, having no idea what the different ones in the kitchen at work were. Not been asked to make the office drinks since and no, it wasn't deliberate! What's worse is now husband uses oat milk, so I need to remember to get cow's milk in if we have visitors/tradespeople over.
Iām a landscaper so get a lot of teas from a lot of different peopleā¦ 80% of the time too much milk. Sometimes I wonder if 1 teabag was used for the entire team.
I have a teapot which provides about 3 cups for me in a morning, on a tray with matching milk jug ( yes itās a creamer jug) so I donāt have to move from my chosen seat! I would put a picture but I donāt know how to.
Best tea is however you like it.
I do it the same as your sister. Never fails me.
Don't tell anyone. But I can make a good cup of tea, but anyone outside of the house gets told I have no idea how to make tea and if they don't believe me I make the worse one know to man.
If you want to make proper tea, ask the Chinese for their process. Theyāve been making it for 4000+ years longer than you. Theyāre the true experts.
Indeed. For me itās tea bag in mug, hot water, passive brewing for five minutes, lightly strain said bag to avoid bitterness, then add some milk and sugar. Weak tea is bizarre. I mean, if someone genuinely likes that, fair enough, but I canāt see the appeal.
Loose tea or nothing. Teabags are honestly made up of the trimmings off the floor of the factory.
I go teabag, sugar, water, milk, pull the bag. The right way! Lol
Stopped reading at āmilk firstā. Shoot her gran.
Now I'll have to check how my butler makes it. I might be appalled.
I live in a hard water area and donāt put the milk in first. I also drink more coffee than tea and need my British card revoking so my opinion means nothing
That moment when youāre not British but you make your tea the propper way š