STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Pepper · Kenneth Cole

English and their Tea

crystal · Kate Spade

my grandmother is english & she's never done this. sorry no help here, but i'm curious if there is a reason for it.

Ally S · Kate Spade

Do they do this? I have some British friends and never noticed them doing it and they drink a whole lot of tea.

Pepper · Kenneth Cole

Hmm...Maybe I made a wrong assumption. I guess when I catered in England a long time ago - almost everyone I served said to put the cream in first. They said it made a difference. I don't know then. Maybe it isn't a cultural thing.

Mia · Kate Spade

Oh no, pepper, you are right! My parents would dump it down the sink if the milk was put in after the water. They think I'm a heathen for doing otherwise. Last time I stayed with relatives in England my aunt chewed me out (not in a big way!) for putting the milk in *after* the tea and when I asked for an explanation they all looked at me with googly eyes like "what?!? you really ARE a savage from the backwoods, aren't you?" However, I note that they never did offer an explanation beyond "it tastes better that way". I wanted to do some kind of blind taste test on their asses but never got around to suggesting it.

Metric · Gucci

I have to admit I am obsessed with milk before tea. I honestly think it does taste better. When you put it in before it mixes homogenously whn you add the tea but if you add it after it sometimes goes weird and curdle-y or you don't get enough milk in so it doesn't taste right. Just my thoughts.

twinkle · Coach

Am an avid tea drinker (w/milk), but never heard of this... Going to do a taste test right now!!!

OK: am back. It was damn good tea. :) I do think it may have been a little stronger than regular, which made it better... because the milk didnt dilute the tea as much.

-- Edited by Mara at 21:02, 2005-01-19

RyanJ · Coach

I just asked my Gram and dad (they are Brits) and my Gram looked at me like I was crazy and said "because that is proper" and my dad said he thought it was being it was suppose to make it taste better. He is not a tea drinker, so he didn't really know if it did in fact make a difference in the taste.

Elle · Hermes

I do this with both tea and coffee - I think it more about getting everything mixed properly and getting the proportions right.

e_doli · Dooney & Bourke

maybe it's also b/c the water is the hottest when you first pour it, so it heats up the milk a little and also doesn't dilute the drink as much.

in costa rica they always warm the milk to serve it with coffee -- maybe the same principle?

fashionista L · Coach

Strange, I drink tea a lot and I have never tried this!! I will have to see if I can notice the difference!