this post was submitted on 24 Jan 2024
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An American scientist has sparked a trans-Atlantic tempest in a teapot by offering Britain advice on its favorite hot beverage.

Bryn Mawr College chemistry professor Michelle Francl says one of the keys to a perfect cup of tea is a pinch of salt. The tip is included in Francl’s book “Steeped: The Chemistry of Tea,” published Wednesday by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Not since the Boston Tea Party has mixing tea with salt water roiled the Anglo-American relationship so much.

The salt suggestion drew howls of outrage from tea-lovers in Britain, where popular stereotype sees Americans as coffee-swilling boors who make tea, if at all, in the microwave.

...

The U.S. Embassy in London intervened in the brewing storm with a social media post reassuring “the good people of the U.K. that the unthinkable notion of adding salt to Britain’s national drink is not official United States policy.”

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[–] [email protected] -1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Ironically the English don’t really know how to make tea. Then dump hot water on a tea bag then immediately throw on cold milk, making it impossible to actually brew.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] -1 points 9 months ago

lol the BBC has literally aired specials on this subject

[–] [email protected] -1 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Whats next britain giving advice on how to most effictivly shoot ur fellow shoolchildren?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I think you're doing pretty well in that regard without outside help.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 9 months ago

Therr is always room for improvement

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

It'll stop being funny when it stops being true

[–] [email protected] -1 points 9 months ago

There is a reason everyone calls them the worlds greatest 3rd world country. They are always making it the greatest just never specified at what.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

"agitating the bag"

If you want to create a better cup of tea at least begin with tea leaves, not tea bags.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Care to elaborate? I don't see how having the leaves in a bag is inferior to having them loose

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

With very few exceptions the tea used in teabags is of much lower quality than loose leaf tea. Often it´s just fannings and dust, swept from the floor.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Somehow I doubt tea companies are sweeping dust off the floor and putting it in tea bags. C'mon.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I am not an expert but I have read about such practices again and again over the years. It´s also common knowledge that food companies do much, much worse things.

Dust is what remains after the tea has passed through the grading machine. It is powdery in texture and is often swept off the floor. Dust is considered the lowest grade of tea.

Source: https://teapeople.co.uk/pages/loose-leaf-or-teabags

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

What's wrong with the microwave? Heat is heat (except the 1995 movie which has little to do with heat or thermodynamics at all).

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

You could easily over steep it if you microwave it with the bag in it, but if you're just boiling water it shouldn't make a difference, other than being inefficient vs a kettle.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I don't think I would steep it in the microwave, but I could see myself boiling or reheating tea in it.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Don't knock it til you try it. Cold water and bag goes in a mug in microwave. 1-2 mins later tea comes out. No forgetting about hot water or letting things cool and forgetting about it. I dont care if it's correct. It tastes good to me.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Isn't microwaving the bag bad? Wouldn't it add microplastics and such?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

I had no idea but a quick search shows most teabags have plastics.
Not sure if there's a difference between microwaving a bag in water or letting a bag sit in hot water

[–] [email protected] -2 points 9 months ago

Step 1, grab some tea
Step 2, throw it the fuck out
Step 3, make coffee