Our Life

I recently went to a friend’s house, who put milk and sugar in my mug BEFORE adding the tea!! Has anyone any comments on this downright odd way of enjoying the wonders of tea?

NOOOO thats a crime.
my order is : tea, hot water, (brew for a min or 2) take bag out, add sugar, stir, add milk whilst stirring…lol
Surely thats the perfect cup of tea!!

Yup, that’s how I make my tea. Definitely perfect and problem solving :-D

It depends – did she make it in a pot, and pour the already brewed tea into the mug, or did she put the milk in the mug, then the tea bag, and then pour the water in?

The first is correct – the second is just deviant and will result in a foul hot liquid that tastes of paper and tannin.

I agree with the banjo man. If the tea is already infused in hot water (as though it has been in a tea pot) then the milk should be in the cup/mug/rinsed out castrol 44 drum first. For a tea bag in the drinking vessel (or many bags, as would be the case with the oil drum), milk in last.

yes, that’s evil and she should be punished – I can’t even stand it when people put the milk in first for a cup of coffee!

I advise you never to go to that “friend’s” house again!!!!

that is indeed, a shocking account!

I do however put milk into the cup with the instant coffee and sugar, before adding hot water – his seems to decrease the bitterness. when i use real coffee, i brew it first – then add sugar and milk.

my mother-in-law uses one measly tea bag in a 4-6 cup teapot! the resulting tea looks and sometimes (i imagine) tastes like urine even with heaps of sugar and milk! my mother and I use ‘pot-strength’ bags in our cups – which produces a magnificent mahogony liquid!
Right now Im sipping a cuppa – Ive added a rich bloodwood honey and creamy raw milk.

It’s only evil if the order is milk-teabag-hot water. If it’s milk – brewed tea from the pot, that is not only acceptable, but preferable, as it avoids scalding the milk. The tea is already brewed, and you can’t damage the flavour by putting the milk in the mug first, unless you put in too much milk.

Making tea in a mug with a teabag has a correct order, but there is a trade off between convenience and taste.

Unfortunately, Laura has yet to enlighten us as to how her friend makes the tea, so I’m reserving judgment on whether it’s a crime or not.

tea bag, hot water, milk then sugar………perfect!

OK, here is the great enlightenment which will end all controversy and contention…

The tea was brewed in a pot, then added to the milk which was already in the mug. I never said that this was a crime, only v strange as I hadn’t seen this done before. I prefer to put tea in first and then add milk, depending on the strength of the tea as this seems to make more sense to me and I get v particular about the colour of my tea.

Ah, it’s not strange – it’s the right way! Milk in first, then you don’t scald it. You DO have to be careful not to put too much milk in, though. You need a good eye, and familiarity with your drinking vessel.

That might be true, but I prefer to watch the billows of milky chaos mingle with the clearity of the tea when I pour the milk in! A miniature storm in a tea cup.

you DO NOT EVER EVER EVER put the milk in first it goes last, damn it!

Says someone with a Starbucks mug!

Are you talking about making it with a teabag in a mug or brewed in the pot?

If you put milk into hot tea, the first splash will be scalded by the tea, and you will taste the difference.

If you put the milk into the mug first, then pour in the tea, because at the precise moment of contact, there is more milk than tea, the milk isn’t scalded, and the temperatures of the two liquids meet in the middle.

If, on the other hand, you’re making it in a mug with a tea bag, the milk will have to go in second, otherwise, the milk soaks the tea, it won’t brew properly, and the whole thing will taste disgusting. That is the only way milk should go in last. If you can’t judge the amount of milk you need before you put the tea in, you need more practise at making tea.

While I can see the aesthetic attraction of that, I’d still rather do it the other way round if the tea’s been made in the pot. If you do put the milk in second, it’s interesting to watch the tea stir itself by means of convection.

This is, apparently, a class thing. If you were working class you did milk then tea, if you were upper class you did tea then milk. I am not entirely sure why this but I suspect it’s to do with the fact that you had a choice between lemon or milk and less milk seemed to be seen as more refined, they probably passed the milk jug round as well.
I’m not sure how true it actually is but I find it amusing that my dad (who grew up on a council estate in Wood Green) does milk-tea-sugar-stir and my mum (posh) does tea-milk-drink. I just do whatever comes to hand first.

As a trainee historian, I have to ask, do you have any source evidence to support that theory? If they were that posh, surely they’d have a butler to do it for them, hence I’m slightly sus about ‘passing the milk around’.

God, I’m so pedantic and picky!

From my own point of the view, the order is based on taste and a little bit of science.

Some coffee houses also sold tea in loose leaf form so that it could be brewed at home. This meant that it could be enjoyed by women, who did not frequent coffee houses. Since it was relatively expensive, tea-drinking in the home must have been largely confined to wealthier households, where women would gather for tea parties. Such a party would be a genteel social occasion, using delicate china pots and cups, silver tea kettles and elegantly carved tea jars and tea tables. All the equipment would be set up by the servants, and then the tea would be brewed by the hostess (aided by a servant on hand to bring hot water) and served by her to her guests in dainty cups. Both green and black teas were popular, and sugar was frequently added (though like tea, this was an expensive import); in the seventeenth century though, it was still unusual for milk to be added to the beverage.

The hostess would pour the tea, but it was the responsibility of the men to hand the cups round. If there were no men present, this job fell to the daughters of the hostess or other young women present

Rationing by no means diminished the British enthusiasm for tea. In January 1946, the author and journalist George Orwell published an essay called ‘A Nice Cup of Tea’ in the Evening Standard newspaper, calling tea ‘one of the main stays of civilsation in this country’, and listing his 11 ‘golden rules’ for tea making. He acknowledged the controversial nature of some of them – such as his insistence that the tea should be poured and then the milk added, and that tea should always be drunk without sugar

Certainly for much of the twentieth century, methods of preparing tea were still the subject of some snobbery: in a letter to Nancy Mitford (a social commentator and great satirist of upper class behaviour), the author Evelyn Waugh mentions a mutual friend who uses the expression ‘rather milk in first’ to express condemnation of those lower down the social scale. Nowadays the ‘milk in first or tea in first’ debate is altogether more light-hearted, but nonetheless everyone has his or her preferred method of making tea. Tea has for centuries been a beverage at the very heart of social life in Britain – for millions of people today, just for Dr Johnson nearly 250 years ago, tea amuses the evenings, solaces the midnights and welcomes the mornings.

http://www.tea.co.uk/index.php?pgId=98

I must admit to my knowledge being rather word of mouth but I’m sure the evidence is out there if you look.

Interesting…but not really conclusive! If Evelyn Waugh and Nancy Mitford are taking the pee out of tea snobs, that suggests that even in the upper classes, there was room for debate on the topic!

I think when all is said and done, it’s all down to personal preference and long may that continue to be the case.

“If, on the other hand, you’re making it in a mug with a tea bag, the milk will have to go in second”

thats exactly what i do

Milk and tea and suger first THEN add the water!. I like mine sweet and weak. If you like it strong you should always add the teabag later as you will taste the tea more.

Yes… i am a big tea fan lol

That is OK, then! Milk in with the bag is disgusting!

Milk always has to go in last.

I generally put the milk in last, but I’m not really bothered about the order as long as it’s proper milk.
Part of my ongoing teavangelical work is to gently but firmly inform servers in restaurants that ‘creamers’ (whatever is in those nasty little plastic cups) or coffee cream is not suitable for tea.

Tea first. Only reason milk was ever put in first was so that the hot tea didn’t crack the bone china cups. Can’t afford bone china so why bother?!?! Anyone who adds sugar is spoiling the taste……..

now i always put the milk in first – I think that the hot water then heats the milk, rather than adding the milk after the water, because then surely the milk would then vool the tea down – and cool tea is a no – no – discuss …..

I always put the milk in first, because then you know you have the correct amount of milk, and as a result have the perfect cup every time :).

Hi Carol,

Yes i agree with you, that is how i make my cuppa tea, for the simple reason the hot water warms the milk…lol….
Luv Les, x.

You see, i made my tea in that order for ages, but i found later that adding the milk after, when the tea has brewed a little stops the milk from being scalded and tasting funny. You can also still tell if you have added enough milk by the colour.. simple as.. And this order doesnt effect the temperature of the brew atall… poifect!