Tea, milk before or after pour

corglass

I'm keeping things real simple today, :rolleyes:

Simple questions:
Tea, milk before or after pour?

Kannon

My granny is the only person i know who does milk first. Maybe its an older generation thing.

Show_me_Safety

As for adding milk to the tea after it is poured, the RSC issues a stern scientific warning against the practice. It seems that dribbling a stream of milk into hot water makes "denaturation of milk proteins" more likely. And who would want that?


Don't spoil the milk
"At high temperatures, milk proteins - which are normally all curled up foetus-like - begin to unfold and link together in clumps. This is what happens in UHT [ultra heat-treated] milk, and is why it doesn't taste as good a fresh milk," says Dr Stapley.

It is better to have the chilled milk massed at the bottom of the cup, awaiting the stream of hot tea. This allows the milk to cool the tea, rather than the tea ruinously raise the temperature of the milk.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3016342.stm

milk first!

Slaphead07

Kannon wrote: »

My granny is the only person i know who does milk first. Maybe its an older generation thing.

My mother always put milk in first as we used (and I will still only use) loose tea. She believed that having the milk in first kept the leaves in teh bottom of the cup. I have no idea of the science behind it but I know it worked. Although I now use a mesh ball to contain the loose tea I still insist on putting milk in first.

Gran Hermano

I recall hearing 'milk first' dates back to the days of drinking tea from fine bone china. Pouring milk first helped ensure the thin walled cups didn't crack.

phelixoflaherty

Milk first.

corglass

It's funny how the written replys suggest milk first, but the votes suggest tea first?


Anyway, thanks Show_me_Safety for the 'logiced' reply. Makes interesting reading alright...

Slaphead07

corglass wrote: »

It's funny how the written replys suggest milk first, but the votes suggest tea first?
...

Only speaking for myself but I made my point in the post and I don't see the point of voting on the subject.

IpreDictDeatH

I take it this is only for those people who make a pot of tea or who use leaves? If your using a regular kettle how could you pour milk into your cup and then plonk a tea bag on top of that and then the water? ewwww

FTGFOP

Milk last. I'd find it hard to guess the right amount of milk to use if the tea wasn't already in the cup -I go by colour.
As for denaturing milk proteins (the scientific reason you shouldn't put milk in last), you denature egg proteins when you fry an egg, so who says denaturing is a bad thing? I'm all for it. Nobody complains about denatured lattes.
Boo milk first, boo, I say.

IsThatSo?

FTGFOP wrote: »

Boo milk first, boo, I say.

:pac:

I am a veteran tea drinker, its a great tradition going back in my family line. So much so that we boil the kettle after making a cup to be prepared for the next one One of the issues that arose when I first got married is that when we had guests my husband would offer a drink whereas I would offer a cup of tea. To this day it would never dawn on me that someone might prefer an alcoholic beverage to a good cup of tea :eek:

I have now discovered good coffee too:)

I am a milk afterwards person myself. Denatured proteins do not seem to have harmed me so far so I will keep going.

noby

Slaphead07 wrote: »

She believed that having the milk in first kept the leaves in teh bottom of the cup..

We are a tea first family, and the leaves never were an issue.
My MIL is a milk first person, but she puts it down to the fact that she is a nurse.

IsThatSo?, we could be related. There's always a pot on the go at home.

noby

corglass wrote: »

It's funny how the written replys suggest milk first, but the votes suggest tea first?

The tea first people don't feel they have to justify it, perhaps?

oblivious

noby wrote: »

The tea first people don't feel they have to justify it, perhaps?

Tea first is in the bible, somewhere towards the back

noby

oblivious wrote: »

Tea first is in the bible, somewhere towards the back

I think it was in the first draft of commandments, before they trimmed it down to ten.

IsThatSo?

noby wrote: »

My MIL is a milk first person, but she puts it down to the fact that she is a nurse.

How so? Rotten tea in hospitals?

Mr Magnolia

IsThatSo? wrote: »

How so? Rotten tea in hospitals?

Safety I'd imagine. The milk first would mean that the drink in the cup would be cooler.

noby

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

Safety I'd imagine. The milk first would mean that the drink in the cup would be cooler.

Yep.

purplegeko

I have always been a milk first person (the way my parents do it) i asked my mother why she puts the milk in first and shes says she does it because her mother did it that way so its an inherited habit!

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

pawrick

hm my family do the tea first then milk but that said we're all mostly coffee drinkers - ordinary tea is yuk and reminds me of cod liver oil for some reason when i smell it?

rubadub

It would depend. I make tea in a cup so in that case milk obviously goes in last. If I was adding sugar I would add the tea first so it dissolves better, tea, sugar, then the milk. If I am not having sugar I would go milk first, since the tea pouring in after mixes it well and I do not have to bother stirring.

I have heard the cup protection thing mentioned before. I remember my granny telling me some story of a spy who was found out by the way they poured their tea, i.e. in that country they pretended to be from they would not do it that way, most probably an urban myth.

I would usually warm my cup anyway.

muckety

I rarely put milk in tea but if I do it would be last so that I know how much to put in - more if tea is very strong, less if weak....

Khannie

I voted milk first, but it depends on how I'm brewing.....if it's in the pot then milk in mug first, otherwise milk after.

Latchy

Tea first ,slight dash of milk on top .

GalwayKiefer

rubadub wrote: »

If I was adding sugar I would add the tea first so it dissolves better, tea, sugar, then the milk.

Same as, prefer to let the sugar dissolve a little before the milk. Have a friend who makes my tea (when i visit him) milk, teabag, water and...honey... After the second time I ask for coffee anymore!

Squishy*

Tea first. No question.

shivkk06

after pour always loves tea me

biscuits 1

i find it hard to beleive some people are so backwards,milk first just doesn't make any sense what so ever.in a world thats confusing enough as it is, can nothing remain sacred??

Sapsorrow

corglass wrote: »

after pour?

:eek::eek::eek: what? that defies the laws of tea making physics completely

emeraldstar

Tea first, always. It's easier to judge the amount of milk then anyway.

My granny used to always put the milk in first; I think back when people tended to use china cups more often it was a protective measure as there'd be less chance of the cup cracking from the heat?

Sapsorrow

emeraldstar wrote: »

My granny used to always put the milk in first; I think back when people tended to use china cups more often it was a protective measure as there'd be less chance of the cup cracking from the heat?

Thats probably it alright good thinking!