Adding milk to tea depends, at least in our house, on whether you use tea bags or loose tea. Using tea bags the milk goes in last, after it has brewed and been sweetened, otherwise
the fat globules tend to gum up the holes in the bags.
With loose leaves the tea is brewed in a pot and then poured into the cup by which time it is not hot enough to scald the milk and cause an off taste.
At the end of the day it does not really matter so long as the drinker enjoys the taste.
At the risk of being ostracized (or worse)I do not enjoy North American coffee as it always has a bitter taste, unlike European coffee which has a milder, smoother taste and texture.
that's funny, we had a similar discussion today. A friend visited and my wife had made scones as she knew this friend had lived in England for a long time. So we ended up discussing whether to put the clotted cream or the strawberry jam first. We were told this was quite a thing in Blighty... it kinda shows the situation can be totally hopeless if people have the time and energy to argue over such things.
On the other hand, the main reason she moved back to the Netherlands a few years ago was brexit...
I consume a pot of coffee a day, tea is an afternoon or sick drink for. For coffee I only use milk product so I prefer to put in first to save a step (an ergonomic/engineering approach). Tea I prefer black & sweet, only occasionally with milk so that is a moot point as to my preferences.
Huh - hadn’t a clue that this was a thing. I microwave the milk for my coffee so my drink isn’t lukewarm, so I’m coffee than milk. Tea is for Chinese food and sore throats!
And the thing about China - actually porcelain is cheaper, thicker and tougher than the more expensive bone China. Bone China is literally made from bones! Isn’t that creepy? Ditto for tiles - porcelain is super tough. I did some reading on China when we got married and registered for a pattern.
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Theresa, they actually make a porcelain/ bone china service out of halal meat bones for those folks that would not touch non halal foodstuffs.
Many years ago (25?)one of the UK bone china manufacturers had a publicity stunt where they lowered a full battle tank onto two planks resting on 4 cups/saucers. With the weight evenly distributed they did not even crack. Have looked but not found an internet image of the event.
Tough stuff indeed.
Personally I prefer my tea without milk so it doesn't matter.
I always add a bit of sugar, and with most black tea a splash of lemon, but my preference is Earl Grey so no lemon needed since it's already flavored with citrus (bergamot).
I have bags of Earl Grey in my desk at work so I can always enjoy afternoon tea. (In the morning, for a wake-up, I just use the Lipton's that my employer provides).
Lars
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