A tea question

I was watching an episode of “Good Eats” the other night, and the topic was tea, something about which, being half Irish and a quarter English, I thought I was fairly well versed. One thing Alton Brown said on the show that surprised me, though, was that milk or cream should be put in the cup first, and tea poured into it, rather than the milk or cream being added afterward, as one does with coffee. I can’t think why it would make any difference which goes into the cup first. W ounces of cream at temperature X plus Y ounces of tea at temperature Z are going to wind up mixing into the same thing at the same temperature no matter which goes into the cup first – won’t they? Since Alton usually has a scientific explanation for everything, I presume there is one for this too. Or is it just really a matter of tradition or style?

just like coffee, well prepared, high quality tea shouldn't need any cream or sugar to be enjoyed...it should have plenty of nuance, sweetness and grace without anything added, the rest is preference.

On the subject, I'm also reminded of this article from a while ago:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070108191523.htm

hmmm...i say take your tea the way you like it.

jmc wrote:just like coffee, well prepared, high quality tea shouldn't need any cream or sugar to be enjoyed...it should have plenty of nuance, sweetness and grace without anything added, the rest is preference.

She wasn't asking if she should add milk. She asked if there is a reason to add the tea to milk, rather than the milk to the tea.

There's a short answer on page 440 of "On Food and Cooking," by Harold McGee (a book from which Alton Brown draws a lot of information). McGee writes:

Tea is sometimes mixed with milk. When it is, the phenolic compounds immediately bind to the milk proteins, become unavailable to bind to our mouth surfaces and salivary proteins, and the taste becomes much less astringent. It's best to add hot tea to warm milk, rather than vice versa; that way the milk is heated gradually and to a moderate temperature, so it's less likely to curdle.

Darren72 wrote:There's a short answer on page 440 of "On Food and Cooking," by Harold McGee (a book from which Alton Brown draws a lot of information). McGee writes:

Tea is sometimes mixed with milk. When it is, the phenolic compounds immediately bind to the milk proteins, become unavailable to bind to our mouth surfaces and salivary proteins, and the taste becomes much less astringent. It's best to add hot tea to warm milk, rather than vice versa; that way the milk is heated gradually and to a moderate temperature, so it's less likely to curdle.

So the idea is that even if the final temperature once tea and milk have been mixed is the same in both cases, the temperature of the small amount of milk that first comes into contact with the tea gets hotter when it's milk into hot tea instead of vice-versa.

I'm skeptical, but it seems plausible.

I'm content to rely on McGee for the scientific explanation but as a practical matter--certainly less true today than in high society in Victorian or Edwardian times when thin, bone china was used in tea cups--adding tea to milk would lessen the thermal shock and be less likely to shatter the tea cups. So, my suspicion is that tradition plays a role as well.

Hmmm...I remember reading somewhere long ago that the British refer to someone of upper class as "milk in first". But there is some controversy:

In "Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior" (Warner Books, 1982), Judith Martin indicates that the phrase "She's rather milk-in-first, dear" refers to the fact that nannies and governesses seem to be prone to pouring the milk in before the tea, while all others do the opposite. In her description of serving tea, she says, "[A]sk your guest of honor how she takes it. Using the strainer, pour straight from the pot for strong tea, and dilute it from the kettle for weak. Then add sugar ... and milk, according to her taste."


http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/m971211b.html

Go figure!

My own view is that it doesn't matter much.

George Orwell was quite a food writer in his day, which may surprise some, and had his own thoughts on the matter. See http://www.netcharles.com/orwell/essays ... poftea.htm

Another school of thought argues that putting milk in first -- and the amount of milk used -- is a sign of social class.

As for the argument that you should never add milk to tea, see chai. Milk is also very popular with traditional British tea blends that have flavors that come through the milk.

Darren72 wrote:My own view is that it doesn't matter much.

George Orwell was quite a food writer in his day, which may surprise some, and had his own thoughts on the matter. See http://www.netcharles.com/orwell/essays ... poftea.htm

Another school of thought argues that putting milk in first -- and the amount of milk used -- is a sign of social class.

As for the argument that you should never add milk to tea, see chai. Milk is also very popular with traditional British tea blends that have flavors that come through the milk.

Actually, see: Down and Out in Paris in London...not an obscure work by any means.

Of course then there's the "lemon in herbal, milk in black" rule. It translates to never putting milk in Earl Grey.

Gypsy Boy wrote:I'm content to rely on McGee for the scientific explanation but as a practical matter--certainly less true today than in high society in Victorian or Edwardian times when thin, bone china was used in tea cups--adding tea to milk would lessen the thermal shock and be less likely to shatter the tea cups. So, my suspicion is that tradition plays a role as well.

Science and tradition I can buy, but not the bit about not shattering the tea cup. Bone china is pretty hard stuff, with high resistance to thermal shock.

Christopher Gordon wrote:

Darren72 wrote:My own view is that it doesn't matter much.

George Orwell was quite a food writer in his day, which may surprise some, and had his own thoughts on the matter. See http://www.netcharles.com/orwell/essays ... poftea.htm

Another school of thought argues that putting milk in first -- and the amount of milk used -- is a sign of social class.

As for the argument that you should never add milk to tea, see chai. Milk is also very popular with traditional British tea blends that have flavors that come through the milk.

Actually, see: Down and Out in Paris in London...not an obscure work by any means.

Not sure I'd call Down & Out... food writing, but it certainly has some interesting takes on tea. I'm glad Orwell wrote some good books, because if his legacy came down to painful-to-read food articles like this one from the Evening Standard, I fear he'd be long forgotten by now.

No, question, "milk-in-first" as an adjective applied to a person is a put-down. It implies that they are not quite of the upper classes -- "shabby genteel" at best.

Here's why, as well as why Brown probably recommends putting the milk in first.

The Guardian wrote:Dr Stapley, MA, MEng, PhD, AMIChemE, MIFST, spent two months studying such questions as ... whether the milk or tea should be poured in first, Dr Stapley said science proved it must be the former.

The reason is that when milk is exposed to high temperatures, such as being poured into a cup of piping hot tea, its proteins tend to degrade, or "denature", producing a slightly stale taste.

His conclusions would not have found favour with Orwell, who was adamant that the milk should be added after the tea so that the drinker "can exactly regulate" the final colour....

Dr Julia King, head of the Institute of Physics, said ... Putting the milk in first was a cultural quirk that "has nothing to do with taste", she said. "It is a habit we have retained from the times when only the rich could afford porcelain which, because it isn't as porous as china, could withstand the hot tea being poured in directly.

"Those of us with cheap china had to put the milk in first to cool the tea slightly to prevent our cups cracking."

Having grown up with the Russian tradition of thinly sliced lemon, I never put milk in my tea. My grandfather used to drink his tea from a glass, holding a sugar cube in his teeth.