Milk in Tea: The Debate Rages On
Hey there, Tea People!
Are you having fun reading about tea? The health benefits of tea, the different kinds of loose teas, how long to leave your tea bags in—all that stuff? Those guys seem to know what they’re talking about. I’d listen to them.
I’ve got a little something different for you. Those other stuffed shirts might like to talk about how tea is made, and the difference between white tea and black tea, loose leaf tea vs. tea bags, or whatever. Well, all I care about is how good the tea tastes.
I’m not saying hot tea isn’t already delicious. I like it as much as the next girl, of course. But sometimes, I want a little something extra. So today I’m going to tell you a little bit about something I put into my tea sometimes—milk.
Milk is a huge deal, especially overseas. It’s thought to have started back when Great Britain was conquering all kinds of places, and bringing back stuff. So somewhere in the late 17th century was when it first started becoming, you know, a “thing.”
In fact, it’s quite a big deal at what point you put in the tea. Some say it even reflects how high or low class you are—if you pour tea in first you’re high class, but if you pour the milk into your cup first, then you’re lower down the class ladder. They say that this is from back when only rich people had porcelain cups, which could handle boiling water, while poorer chaps had to pour milk in first to cool it so their poorer quality cups wouldn’t crack.
There’s also a whole debate about it as far as tea quality goes. Some (George Orwell among them!) say that it’s easier to make sure you get the right tea/milk proportion if you put the tea in then stir in the milk after. Others say that if you pour in the milk first, it mixes as you add the tea, eliminating the need for stirring. I’m hearing now that the official answer is that pouring the milk first cools the tea quickly and reduces the risk of “protein denaturation and scalding the milk fat.”
There are alternatives to milk, of course. As a general rule, follow the same rules I’ve already told you about. But I don’t suggest using cream—it’s too heavy and will really kill the flavor of the tea. I’ve also heard that if you’re using soy milk, you should add it first, since adding it after can result in a weird coagulation and little flaky bits in your tea. Ugh!
Now, if you’re one of these people that are drinking tea because you want to enjoy the (LINK) health benefits tea provides, then you should know something else about milk—don’t do it. A recent study seems to have proven that milk actually blocks all the antioxidant effects of tea. It doesn’t hurt you or anything, but the health benefits—strengthening of defenses against the effects of aging, dementia, cancer, heart disease, and other areas—are gone.
But hey—tea isn’t just about health, right? It’s also delicious, and soothing, and…well, we drink tea cause we love it! So if you want to add some milk in there once in a while, I say go ahead and do it!
Tags: antioxidants, cream, flavor, Informational, loose leaf, loose tea, Milk, tea
