@GirlGoneLondonofficial If you can see your teaspoon in the cup then the tea is too weak. It should be strong enough to stand your spoon up in it. I just have sweetener in mine. Can't be bothered putting milk in. It's such a chore. If you do take milk and sugar then the sugar should go in first. Only amateur tea drinkers who don't understand molecular science put the milk in first
Twinings English Breakfast, 2 sugars, dash of milk, squeeze the teabag against the side before removing, stir I'm aware that squeezing the bag makes the drink more bitter, but that's part of the flavour
Tea is the remedy to any shock or upset in the UK. When my wife collapsed and I called for an ambulance the paramedics started CPR, and one of them immediately made me a cup of tea to deal with the shock.
Giving you the tea also keeps you out of the way while they work as CPR can be pretty brutal and having distressed and panicking loved ones there doesn't help. I hope that your wife is OK.
I can’t believe the paramedic actually made you a cuppa tea?! I live in Canada and that would never happen here and for sure that would definitely never happen in America.
@@jholly5747 Ambulance crews also often make arrangements for pet care if the owner is being taken to hospital and has no one else at home to feed them. This could be with family, neighbours or a charity.
Tea was actually highly taxed in Britain during the 18th century. It wasn't just something imposed on the American colonies. It was a way of taxing the rich, since they were the only ones who could afford it anyway. And since it came by ship from China it was relatively easy to tax at point of entry. That didn't stop smuggling of course. Grocers actually advertised Gothenburg tea, from Sweden. Which the dastardly Swedes imported from China then re-exported without paying duty. Naturally importing this in Britain was illegal, but it was rumoured that excisemen were less than diligent in suppressing the trade under pressure from their wives, as it was so much cheaper than the legally imported kind.
Last week I went to the Boston Tea Party Museum in Boston, USA and ironically it’s the one place I had some nice refreshing hot cups of tea. There were mugs, milk, sugar and some earthy tasty original blend teas from the time. I had 3 mugs. Ironically the only place I fulfilled my desire for a hot tea my whole trip!
An American stating, "Add salt to your tea", has resulted in minor earth tremors in graveyard and cemeteries from England to Ireland to Kenya to India to China to Japan to Australia, as millions of bodies turn.
Actually the Earth stopped spinning for a short while in response to those billions of spinning bodies in their graves, that's what caused the tremors.
A Yank here. Electric kettle, Yorkshire, usually a little milk, unsweetened (will use sweetener if iced tea). If sick, like it black with with lemon and honey. Never use microwave to prepare, but will use it to reheat.
"Yorkshire" is simply Indian ASSAM tea. This is a Very strong, Very malty, and can be too soon in getting Very Bitter. Get used to something that you can't stand a teaspoon in it anymore & doesn't turn your teeth brown. Something like Ceylon. ""Yorkshire" - is sold on a very obvious advertising foundation - but Taylor's, the blenders, just happen to be based in a little Spa Town in the North of England.( like "Hoover" for Vacuum cleaners ) - but it certainly doesn't represent The World of Tea. Unless you have to have everything 'strong' to enjoy it.
Just buy a whistling kettle that sits on the cooker doesn't have to be electric .I am quite happy drinking hot tea on the hottest days of summer very refreshing .
Hi Kalyn, thank you for trying to diffuse the tense situation. We are all entitled to have tea in our own way and I think it's all just been a storm in a teacup.
Tea originated in China about 4,000 thousand years ago, and is still commonly drank as green tea in China. When it was exported to Europe, it was found that green tea could not take the long moist sea journey too well, and deteriorated in quality. However, it was discovered that black tea (oxidised tea) fared the sea journey very much better and lasted longer than green tea. That was why black tea became popular in Europe and the UK. Due to the bitter nature of black tea, sugar and milk was added to take away some of the bitterness.
I expect it was first exported overland on the trading roads ( eg The Silk Route )by the Caravans of Mules, Horses - and Camels. They would be able to carry more- dried.
As a Brit, I grew up drinking tea with milk, but when I got to university we had an issue with milk thieves in my shared kitchen, so I stopped buying milk for tea and learned to like it black - and 25 years on, I still do. Which does make life a lot easier! Unlike coffee, people who drink black tea tend to have it weaker than those who have milk in, because the milk dissolves the tannins that otherwise give a bitter taste when tea is brewed strong. To make really good tea, the water needs to be absolutely boiling when it hits the teabag/leaves (and you always pour the water onto the tea, not drop the tea into the hot water), and that's really hard to achieve if you use a microwave to heat it. That said, if you just buy cheap supermarket teabags then you probably won't notice much of a difference. On holiday in Spain last year, we didn't have a kettle in our apartment, so we had to use a pan on the stove (we ruled out using the microwave!) and it really wasn't a big deal, not as convenient as a kettle but not too much of a chore either.
I stopped taking sugar in my tea as a result of my kids using all the sugar in their cereal, and milk for the same reason. I still don't take sugar in my tea, but milk has crept back in.
As an Australian there is nothing better than making black Ceylon tea (Dilmah) over a campfire. No milk involved as milk does not last too long in 35+ degree days. Nothing better than black tea with sugar (with the background of eucalyptus) with damper and Cocky's joy (golden syrup) after a hot day's work.
Aeons back, when I worked in the hotel and restaurant business, we used to put a couple of shakes from a salt cellar, into the coffee grounds, before drip brewing the coffee. It eased off the bitter taste of the coffee, especially when the pot might have been sitting for 30 - 40 minutes, when things started to slow down. Sitting so long on a hot plate, some water would evaporate, and concentrate all the flavours of the coffee. That would really make it bitter. We tossed any remaining coffee if the pot sat for that long, and would only make another pot, if someone ordered coffee. I cannot see doing that with tea at all, because even if you steep a tea well, the tannins are readily mollified by a splash of milk. Being a Canadian from the Maritimes, I would say that most here will drink Orange Pekoe with a splash of milk. Most of the rest of Canada will stick with coffee. Just like most of the USA. I won't mention Cape Breton tea..... that is a beast unto itself! Love your channel Caitlin, especially reading the comments. Fun to see how some common things change, depending where you are in the world. Cheers! 😊 My apologies... just clued in that your name is Kaylin. Need to have my hearing checked I guess.🙄
Properly, in the UK you wouldn't add milk or sugar to something like Earl Grey, or other full flavour teas. Milk and sugar tend to be added to builders' tea, or breakfast blends.
I love the concise manner you handle each subject, and am impressed that you do it without notes, your American perspective makes whatever you comment on unique, just love your vlogs.
Thank you so much Alex!! I'll let you in on a little secret - I do use a lot of notes, they're underneath the camera, I just make them very big and easily readable so I can glance and keep talking. Thank you for watching!
Hello grew in UK but live in New Zealand now. My nan and grandad taught me how make a proper cup of tea over 50 years ago. I do NOT AND NEVER WILL PUT SALT in my tea. I also do not put water in a microwave to heat up for a cuppa
I think most of us as kids start off with sugar being an essential addition to a cuppa. As we get older, many of us dispense with sugar in our tea, to the point where, in accidentally taking a swig of sugared tea, a loud “UGH!” can be heard.😬
Unconvinced most stop taking sugar/sweetener. Some do. I merely reduced the amount. You'll get an, "Ugh!", out of me if you haven't sweetened mine, because that's the normal reaction to unsweetened tea.
I mostly drink Ceylon OP with breakfast and Assam TGFOP in the evening, both loose leaf and without milk and sugar. The water is boiled in an electric kettle, and brewed in a teapot.
Kalyn, bless you. This made my day, I was laughing so much I nearly spilled my tea (Earl Grey, weak and black). As a Brit I feel it my duty to go through a minimum of four big mugs a day but as a symbol of our Special Relationship I shall try a cup with salt. But I won't make it in the microwave - I'm not a complete heathen!
Aw it made my day to hear it made your day Robert!! Glad to know how you take your tea - I don't blame you for not microwaving, the kettle is far superior. :D
I said I'd try it and know what? I like it! Now I often add just a pinch of salt to my Earl Grey. It doen't taste salty but, oddly, a little sweeter - who knew?
Aussie here. Like my tea white with one sugar. We also have a strong tea culture but not as strong as you pommies. I'd say coffee to tea would be 60/40. However go camping out in the bush and tea is always the drink of choice. You make tea in a Billy Can when in the bush. If you are out for lunch in town coffee would now be the more popular drink.
Drinking tea on a hot day is a good thing, it raises your internal body temperature to somewhere near that of the day so that you don't overheat and perspire too much.
@@noelsalisbury7448 Drinking hot beverages may make you sweat more yes but it's more about equalising your internal temperature to the outside temperature.
Most workplaces in the uk had tea-breaks. Formal 10-20 min breaks in the working day, for a cuppa. One in mid morning, one mid afternoon. Much less frequent these days, now more informal. We used to have a tea-lady (usually ladies) that brought around an urn of tea, on a trolley, at tea-time. It was free. Though the sandwiches, cakes and biscuits were not free. Tea from a vending machine somewhat took over in the 80's. Horrible stuff. As vending machines struggle to make decent tea, workplace kitchens and tea areas have largely taken over.
My Jamaican grandmother always put a pinch of salt in coffee so that isn't so shocking to me. What is funny is that my son, who is now 26, never liked coffee until I told him to try it with a pinch of salt. Suddenly the whole world of coffee opened up to him and he is now a daily imbiber or coffee. Love the channel ❤
I love the deep dive format and that you have jumped unashamedly on this tea bandwagon. I also love the clever remarks/puns and the self congratulation for these. I am upset with Twinings because Lapsang Souchong is now called Distinctively Smoky and it isn't the same, I believe it is a supply issue but it just isn't the same. I am not even addressing the salt thing, it is too ridiculous!
As an additional litle "fact" I was once told by someone whose job it was to visit catering establishments to show/tell them how to make a good cup of tea. (He worked for Tetley a tea producer). Whether using looose tea or tea bags, the water must be boiling and poured on the tea. It should then be left for four minutes as the leaves open out and release more flavour.
Perfectly understandable why Americans don't have kettles - with the standard voltage in the US being 110 and in the UK it being 240, kettles take twice as long to boil in the US! I am a Brit, born and bred, still live here and do not use a kettle... (I have one in the loft for emergencies though). I have a boiling water tap. Have had one for about 13 years now and you can make tea immediately without waiting for the kettle. I drink around 7-10 mugs of tea a day, milk, no sugar. Tea bag in mug, fill with boiling water from the tap, wait for a minute or two, stir and remove the teabag, add milk, drink while saying ahhhhhhhh after the first sip. Colour would be between He-Man and Tannin Salon.
Still faster than other ways of making boiling water though. Alex Technology Connections talked about it. He said the reason for not having an electric kettle is just because Americans a) aren't that into tea, and b) have electric coffee machines. The electric coffee machine is a lot less common in UK homes. We're more likely to either use instant soluble coffee, or a non-electric coffee device like a French press or manual pour-over.
Salt does the same to black coffee. With milk it does have a different effect in tea. That will curdle . My love to all Bostonians 😊 All the best from Scotland to you and yours. Rab
We have pantries in the UK, more of a walk in food storage area, than a cupboard. Now living in Australia I import British tea (Ringtons) as I have not found a tea I like here. I do not pollute my tea, I drink it black without sugar. As for adding salt, I have heard the same hack for coffee. Not all kettle are electric, before the days of electricity you would heat the kettle on the shove, and some people still use a stove top kettle.
As a Yank who spent 4 months working at a British company in Uxbridge UK back in the late eighties (acquired by the international company I worked for then) I learned to use British electric tea kettles (220 volt). Many a great of tea was brewed, especially after I learned to descale the tea kettle quite often. My great disappointment was when I bought a 110 v electric tea kettle, it took twice as long to boil the water. Sorry for boring anyone. I love Clipper and Yorkshire Gold teas with half & half and honey. Still a coffee drinker in the AM, though.
As someone who is now British, you should be calling it the American War of Independence and not the American Revolution. 😉 Brandon F has done a great video on how much it was costing us to defend the American colonies and how the minimal amount raised by the new taxes went nowhere near covering the cost of this.
I’m an avid tea drinker, but I’m not really sure why we are known as “a nation of tea drinkers”. We do actually consume more coffee than tea. The drop in mortality rates following the popularity of tea might also be a result of a reduction in alcohol consumption. The absence of potable water meant fermentation was used to make liquids safe to drink. There is a theory that people in the west have more tolerance to alcohol than those in the east because the former used fermentation while the latter boiled the water. It is well known among food scientists that salt can be used as a sweetener, which can be confirmed by dropping a pinch of salt in a glass of tonic water. Indeed manufacturers of processed foods often add salt to keep the sugar content down, or conversely, add sugar to make up for the lower proportion of salt.
It's that video where she included a teabag. Nothing wrong with using a microwave to boil water, though there's no control to ensure it has boiled. Surely salt can't remove the bitterness, only mask it. It's a different set of taste buds, sweet & bitter use closer bio chemistry.
OMG! The tea being poured at 6:25 is what my Nan would have called "maid's water" - also sometimes referred to as "gnat's piss". So weak it needs a ladder to get out of the pot. Kettles are essential for making a decent cup of tea as the water needs to be _boiling_ when poured over the tea leaves. But not all kettles are electric - some do still use traditional kettles on the hob.
I bet you're a "Yorkshire" tea person. AKA "Builder's Tea" . ASSAM tea. Very strong, very- Malty. Tea you can stand a teaspoon up in it. A bit similar to Guinness. Tea is what you get used to. I drink Ceylon & Darjeeling tea. Refreshing & uplifting. And those teas don't make your teeth browny-yellow.
Great video, thanks😊 I really enjoyed the deep dive and found it very interesting. As a dual citizen and one of us now, I think you need to put more effort into enjoying tea 😂 At least you’re talking about proper tea because I’ve heard a few American types say “I only like peppermint tea” at which point one of my eyes start twitching and I can’t stop myself from screaming “THAT’S NOT TEA”. See you next time 😊
Rooibos (/ˈrɔɪbɒs/ ROY-Boss; Afrikaans: [rɔːibɔs], meaning "red bush"), or Aspalathus linearis, is a broom-like member of the plant family Fabaceae that grows in South Africa's fynbos biome. The leaves are used to make a herbal tea that is called rooibos (especially in Southern Africa), bush tea, red tea, or redbush tea (predominantly in Great Britain). What does Earl Grey taste like? The prime flavouring in Earl Grey tea is bergamot, a type of citrus fruit with similarities to the Meyer lemon.
As I understand it, Americans don't use kettles as much because the standard electricity voltage is lower, so it takes forever for them to boil. I don't see any problem with using a microwave to boil the water, provided it does boil and you pour it on the tea.
I am sure I read in the article that warmed milk should also added to tea with the pinch of salt. That, to me, is the real crime, tea should be with cold milk. I remember asking for a cup of tea when visiting Germany and was given it without milk. On asking for milk, they promptly added hot milk which, to us Brits, is unheard of. I'm afraid I left 80% of it and ordered a hot chocolate instead!
No mention of tea pots and tea cosies? In our Royal Navy, (and, to a lesser extent, our RFA,) a 'tea boat' might be set up. That is where a group of friend or maybe co-workers will chip in some cash to buy the makings for tea, ie the tea/milk/sugar. That is then their 'tea boat'.
Note The Boston Tea party was Tea Merchants protesting being undercut and losing their monopoly on Buying and selling Tea - the Tea that was thrown into the Harbour was cheaper than the Tea they were selling, and was to be sold to anyone not just the Merchants, because the East India Company couldn't sell it elsewhere It was however after genuine Tea tax protests, when the American colonies were being taxed more than the UK for imported Tea ...
Americans associate Tea, particularly Liptons, with English gentility, but Thomson Lipton was Scottish. He was born in Glasgow in the infamous Gorbals slums.
I've tried a Long Island iced tea, that was nice, but for general consumption it has to be hot, strong "builders" tea, sweetened to taste, with a dash of milk. Stay away from fancy varieties like Earl Grey, they taste weird (I assume must be an acquired taste).
Next tea-related controversy: do you boil the water for tea in an electric kettle, in a kettle on a hob, in a pan on a hob, or in a microwave... The US Ambassador to London suggests that only the microwave is appropriate: and I take that as deliberate but mild trolling
I'm a Brit of course and a heavy tea drinker, though I have lived in he USA and waited for hours for the kettle to boil 🙂 It was a british company so we had huge bags of british tea shipped over for teh Brits. So me, boil in a kettle (in UK) , dont over brew and add milk. However, back to USA. One of my brothers now lives in Texas, again he tried teh kettle but its frustratingly slow so he uses the microwave to boil his water, and I agree it makes sense and is much faster when there. I found tea bought in the US to be of poor flavour, yes Liptons is not to the British palate and often when out and about if you asked for a hot tea thhen they would provide a tepid cup of water and Liptons T bag, eurgh! I never really got into the cold tea thing so tended to drink sodas instead. At least our office and appartment in Atlanta had a kettle and a good supply of english tea.
when I first moved to Japan it was the middle of summer, I was entertaining an American one afternoon. I asked what she wanted to drink, and she asked for tea (weirdo!). Anyway, I got the kettle out, but went to the fridge and discovered I was out of milk. I walked back to the living room, clutching my kettle, and apologised for the lack of milk. She burst out laughing - she meant ice tea - back then a complete mystery to me.
Curiously, I remember my dad in the ‘60s putting salt in his tea. I suspect the reason was, him being in a strenuous manual job in a foundry, it was understood that it replaced sodium that was lost by sweating? Only a pinch mind, so I don’t expect it affected the flavour!
I am English and have been drinking tea, never coffee, for, probably, 60+ years without adding salt. I don't think I will start now. This was perfect for your discussions. You just got me. I was about to pickup my cup of tea only to find I never made one. 😕
Hi Kaitlyn, I can’t believe Americans or water in the microwave to make a cup of tea?! I am Canadian and I’m pretty certain that most Canadians have an electric kettle or a kettle that they would heat on the stove to make a cuppa tea or a cup of hot chocolate, or even a cup of soup. I enjoy mostly herbal tea just because her health reasons I’m not allowed to have caffeine. But I really love to have milk of my tea and if I don’t have it, it’s not a great cup of tea for me. I placed the herbal teabag in my cup, pour the hot water in and then add milk.
I'm Scottish and I very rarely have a cup of tea but when I do I have it really strong with a dash of milk. I also drink more regularly Twinings lemon & ginger tea, especially if I have a cold or sore throat. I love Iced Tea. I used to drink Lipton's Iced Tea, lemon or peach, which was very sweet. Nowadays Lipton's Lemon, Peach & Raspberry Iced Tea has Artificial Sweetener in it. It's not as good as the original but is nice enough and a lot less calories. I also get Iced Tea from Costa Coffee Shop during Spring & summer as I don't like coffee as it gives me heartburn. For hot drinks I prefer to drink hot blackcurrant squash.
That remark at the bottom was a joke as most of the staff are British at the US Embassy as only the Diplomats and Spies are American and the tea will be made for them.
I'm an American who definitely prefers tea over coffee. I was looking forward to encountering the British tea experience when I visited in the summer of 1984. I ordered tea every time I visited a restaurant in the UK, and every time, I was told, "We don't have tea, actually." I thought the stories about British tea-drinking were a myth. In the last couple years, someone here on RUclips told me that all the tea-producing countries had a tea embargo against the UK in 1984. If that's true, you'd think one of my waiters or waitresses would have told me that rather than just looking at me weird.
As an American, I discovered English tea blends in the mid 90s and developed the habit of ordering a hot tea with the tea bag on the side. I would then use my own teabag. Since I moved to the UK 12 years ago, I'm so happy I don't need to do the same here. And yes, I prefer Yorkshire tea for home. Black. No sugar. Why buy a good tea and then try to mask some of the flavour?
Prefer coffee, but can't drink anything but water (and apparently Mac D's milkshakes) due to tea, coffee and most other drinks being an irritant (for me at least) also chocolate etc, well that it enough fascinating/ tedious stuff to appease the great Google algorithm Gods. :) Well done on the rebirth of your channel. x
Thank you Kaylin. Very interesting. So the key point where the USA started getting it wrong is when the Americans rejected tea as their primary refreshing daily drink. I don't want to harp on about it, but forward 250 years or so and now look at the political landscape in the USA... If only you'd all stuck with tea, America wouldn't have this fractured, splintered and toxic in fighting between political parties. There is hope though. It's never too late to savour the flavour of a proper brew.
Did you know that Thames Water company uses cups of tea as a unit of measurement? Square meters are boring, so they quote usage charged in various units, such as baths, showers or cups of tea. When my last bill came in quoting an increase of 236,000 cups of tea in a quarter, I suspected that something was amiss, even for a tea drinker like me. PG Tips fan, but starts the day with Twinings Strong Breakfast Tea. Dash of skimmed milk, no sugar.
I noticed you still refer to cooker as "stoves" makes me chuckle here just i see Americans spelling cheques as "checks" or spelling flavour. colours, etc, without the "r." Thank God! am taught the English way, the RIGHT WAY, and the ONLY WAY. Am a dual citizen like you, Nigerian, and British, being living here over 25 years now.
NEVER NEVER NEVER use a microwave to make tea. Always use a kettle plus electric jug kettles are very energy efficient as you only boil water for the amount needed.
Earl Grey tea is a flavored tea and not treated as a black tea. The Brits add milk to black tea, but not to flavored teas and not to green tea. In northern US, ordering tea will get you hot tea. In southern US, ordering tea with get you iced tea. Both Americans.and Canadians prefer tea differently from British. The Twinings likely sat in storage a long time and then sat on the shelf a long time. It is not different British tea. Canadian tea is very mild. Most Canadian foods are milder than American foods. Also note that in America milk isn't used in black tea and more water is used. We had a South African girl and an Australian girl staying at our house and they would put half a cup of water in the microwave and barely give a tea bag any time at all in the water. Then they would add milk.
As a committed coffee drinker, I have been aware of the controversy regarding whether milk should be put in the cup before or after the tea. I understood that it should be first so as to protect a possibly fragile cup from scalding water. I didn't know it was acceptable to drink tea from a mug rather than a cup - it is a cuppa, after all.
Once overheard a French waiter in a Scottish hotel restaurant explain about the milk first idea. It was exactly as you intimated to protect the inferior tea cups (those not the higher class "real" china) from cracking. Of course, it was said in a tone only a haughty French waiter could master.
Bone China is made from ground-down-to-dust- BONES. And the powder, mixed with clay, is why the china is So Very Strong, even when Boiling Water is poured on it.
A typical electric kettle in USA will take twice as long to boil as a typical electric kettle in UK. This is because of the lower voltage which means for the same power you need a lot more current. The US sockets do not have enough current capacity for this, so they have to fit a lower power element.
Which country is Lipton tea from? Lipton Teas and Infusions is an American-British private company based in Rotterdam, Netherlands, that produces tea and other herbal drinks. Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton, 1st Baronet KCVO (10 May 1848 - 2 October 1931) was a Scotsman of Ulster-Scots parentage who was a self-made man, as company founder of Lipton Tea, merchant, philanthropist and yachtsman who lost 5 straight America's Cup races.
It probably costs about $1 for 10 tea bags but in the UK you can probably buy 100 tea bags for £1 due to economies of scale and more demand. But coffee has now becomming more popular even overtaking especially in cafes.
I am a Brit but will drink 2-3 cups of coffee (lungo with a tiny spot of milk) and 3-4 cups of tea per day. The tea is Yorkshire (it must be good as I am a Manchester lad and the only other good thing to come out of Yorkshire is the road...😄). I follow the advice of the ancient lore masters of that company and use fresh water from the tap, brew for at least 3 or 4 minutes and don't mash the teabag in the cup - just throw it away. Then a spot of milk, no sugar. Having said that I have had tea and coffee all over the US and other parts of the world. I like the milky chai you get in India and have had Tibetan tea (made with butter and salt) in the Himalayas and that was very comforting in cold weather so I shall have to try some salt in my next brew.
Thanks for sharing the latest tea controversy - I had no idea!!!! Hilarious! Brit here who dislikes tea.....I know.... Interestingly, Canadian/ British Resident Alanna, on her 'Adventures and Naps' channel, did an experiment boiling 1 Litre of water in an electric kettle in Canada, and 1 litre of water in an electric kettle in UK. She found that, due to the much lower electrical voltage in North America, it took over 6 minutes to boil in the Us, as against the UK's well under 3 minutes. So a kettle doesn't make as much sense there as here. One thing I am always surprised at is the shock expressed by US reactors to the amount of tea drunk per person per day in the UK. They say in shocked voices "That must work out at 4 or more cups a day for those who drink it!" I'm going..........at least! I'd suggest most tea drinkers have 5 or more. I guess it's the cultural part tea drinking takes in our typical day, and the fact that most tea drinkers don't drink anything else all day ( until they may swap to alcohol in the evening!)
Up until my mid twenties I always drank tea in the traditional way, with milk. I subsequently developed an intolerance to milk so had to find another way to enjoy it without the milk. A breakfast tea or 'regular' tea such as Tetleys or Yorkshire are terribly strong without milk so I settled on Earl or Lady Grey tea which is a much more delicate blend and perfect to have black. Now, I find tea with milk ghastly and wouldn't go back.
TO THE GOVERNING BODIES : with reference to your recent messages that tea can be only made using a kettle or a microwave , please note for future reference realists do use a teapot , tea leaves and a sieve and any source of boiling water ( pan of water on the hob or a kettle but certainly not a microwave unless you state it must stand for a while ) No flag , No Embassy ! R.S.V.P.
I wonder if the salt idea is similar to the notion that the Sami people in the Nordics puts salt in their coffee. They do/did, but only a tiny amount. Since the water is so pure it lacks the natural salts that are in other water sources, so it's good measure to add a bit of salt to it
The one thing I agreed with the American professor on was her assertion that loose tea was always better than tea bags. Absolutely right! (And makes good compost as well.) Not surprised to see that the Irish just pip the Brits in their tea drinking. I'd say that, as in many questions of popular culturr, there is a continuum starting with Ireland and then going UK, NZ/Australia, Canada, USA. Other English-speaking countries presumably slot in somwhere along the line. (On a much more trivial matter, Kalyn, do most Americans say 'verse' for 'versus' or is that just an individual thing? Just asking out of idle curiosity.)
I would love to see the tea continuum as it relates to English speaking countries! I definitely agree with your assessment! Many Americans do say verse, yes - I get a lot of comments saying that it's not a word and I'm saying "versus" incorrectly, but it's not an uncommon usage in the US particularly among my age range. I say it naturally without thinking, so if it is wrong - oops!
Stronger tea like the British have turns out to be high in Tannins. Turns out Tannins have health benefits. Problem with Tannins is that it blocks the absorption of iron. The higher the Tannins and the longer you brew the tea the more bitter it gets. I have experienced this with PG Tips when I brew it longer than the recommended amount of time. So if you can not handle the bitter taste of tea black instead of adding salt reduce the brew time or add milk like the Brits do. Then you can consider adding a sweetener if you want, but most Brits drink their tea with milk. People in Asia especially China always drink their tea black. They think it is silly to add milk/sweetener like the British. Also it turns out cows milk reduces the amount of antioxidants and benefits you get from the tea, which is similar to coffee, so it is better to drink it black or use a milk alternative if you care about antioxidants and want to get the maximum health benefits from the drink otherwise continue drinking it the way you like.
On my last trip to NYC, the first thing we did on the day we arrived, was to pop into Dwayne Reade and buy an electric kettle to make tea in our hotel room. It didn't occur to us that Americans don't usually use kettles and that we may bot be able to buy one. They, in fact, had a number of different types in stock. It currently sits in my suitcase, waiting for the next trip to the US.
So, to be fair adding salt to hot drinks does improve the flavour slightly. (this works with tea, coffee and cocoa) BUT this is only true when the drink is still quite hot, as it cools to drinking temperature it tastes off. personally its not to my tastes either salted tea or coffee. but the biology and chemistry does check out. for a example commonly used look at salted caramel.
Americans boil water in the microwave because, typically, in the US, using a microwave to boil water is much faster than using an electric kettle. It takes an electric kettle nearly twice as long to reach the boiling point in the US than it does in the UK. This is because electricity in the US typically runs at half the voltage it runs in the UK.
Very interesting 👏....OK you are the first person I'm confessing this to but, since the energy hike, and reading advice for cutting costs I have started making tea, if alone in the day, in the microwave. It's faster and a little cheaper than the kettle. But makes horrible coffee. Oh and pantry for a tall kitchen cupboard is used in the UK, probably by more older people👍👍👍👍👍
@@GirlGoneLondonofficial 🤣 my bad! I wasn't making tea alone when no one was looking...I meant if there was more people around its easier to make several cups from the kettle. But if its just me I'll bung a cup in the microwave 😉
I don't like bitter tea and I don't like it stewed (left for several minutes). As to milk first or last it depends how you are preparing it. Most people use tea bags and mugs these days so tea in first, with or without sugar and then milk added when you remove the tea bag. . However, if you are using a teapot and bone china, the tea is already brewed in the teapot and bone China can crack if you add boiling hot tea so milk in first to prevent this. I can't stand milky tea and the water must be fresh and fully boiled.
Please tell me, because I know you want to - how do you take your tea?
Oolong tea. Hot and with a striking absence of milk.
That's how we roll, baby.
All sign the petition to get the microwave making tea Americans removed from Britain immediatelyg
@GirlGoneLondonofficial If you can see your teaspoon in the cup then the tea is too weak. It should be strong enough to stand your spoon up in it. I just have sweetener in mine. Can't be bothered putting milk in. It's such a chore. If you do take milk and sugar then the sugar should go in first. Only amateur tea drinkers who don't understand molecular science put the milk in first
Twinings English Breakfast, 2 sugars, dash of milk, squeeze the teabag against the side before removing, stir
I'm aware that squeezing the bag makes the drink more bitter, but that's part of the flavour
Noisily and with biscuits……. HobNobs.
Tea is the remedy to any shock or upset in the UK. When my wife collapsed and I called for an ambulance the paramedics started CPR, and one of them immediately made me a cup of tea to deal with the shock.
Oh my gosh!! I hope she's okay now, great example of "tea fixes everything"...or almost everything!
Giving you the tea also keeps you out of the way while they work as CPR can be pretty brutal and having distressed and panicking loved ones there doesn't help.
I hope that your wife is OK.
I had a cup in hand when my husband cut his hand open on a tuna can. First thing I did was hand him my tea.
I can’t believe the paramedic actually made you a cuppa tea?!
I live in Canada and that would never happen here and for sure that would definitely never happen in America.
@@jholly5747 Ambulance crews also often make arrangements for pet care if the owner is being taken to hospital and has no one else at home to feed them. This could be with family, neighbours or a charity.
Tea was actually highly taxed in Britain during the 18th century. It wasn't just something imposed on the American colonies. It was a way of taxing the rich, since they were the only ones who could afford it anyway. And since it came by ship from China it was relatively easy to tax at point of entry.
That didn't stop smuggling of course. Grocers actually advertised Gothenburg tea, from Sweden. Which the dastardly Swedes imported from China then re-exported without paying duty. Naturally importing this in Britain was illegal, but it was rumoured that excisemen were less than diligent in suppressing the trade under pressure from their wives, as it was so much cheaper than the legally imported kind.
Last week I went to the Boston Tea Party Museum in Boston, USA and ironically it’s the one place I had some nice refreshing hot cups of tea. There were mugs, milk, sugar and some earthy tasty original blend teas from the time. I had 3 mugs. Ironically the only place I fulfilled my desire for a hot tea my whole trip!
Did you have to drink it out of the harbour?
@@hughtube5154 luckily not 😂
An American stating, "Add salt to your tea", has resulted in minor earth tremors in graveyard and cemeteries from England to Ireland to Kenya to India to China to Japan to Australia, as millions of bodies turn.
😅😅
Some of those places already put salt in their tea.
Actually the Earth stopped spinning for a short while in response to those billions of spinning bodies in their graves, that's what caused the tremors.
Don't forget if anyone has been hurt in an acident, there is always somebody to say ''never mind dear, have a cuppa tea!''
British War veterans would always be content in a British war hospital because the nurses would offer and know how to make a good cuppa tea
A Yank here. Electric kettle, Yorkshire, usually a little milk, unsweetened (will use sweetener if iced tea). If sick, like it black with with lemon and honey. Never use microwave to prepare, but will use it to reheat.
Reheat? Reheat? Where's the runs around screaming icon?
@@grahamstubbs4962 and they’d so nearly got it all right too. Such a pity 😢😢😢
Yet more Earthquakes, as people are spinning in their graves.
You should be ashamed of yourself, letting the tea get cold, so that you want to heat it up again.
"Yorkshire" is simply Indian ASSAM tea. This is a Very strong, Very malty, and can be too soon in getting Very Bitter. Get used to something that you can't stand a teaspoon in it anymore & doesn't turn your teeth brown. Something like Ceylon.
""Yorkshire" - is sold on a very obvious advertising foundation - but Taylor's, the blenders, just happen to be based in a little Spa Town in the North of England.( like "Hoover" for Vacuum cleaners ) - but it certainly doesn't represent The World of Tea. Unless you have to have everything 'strong' to enjoy it.
Just buy a whistling kettle that sits on the cooker doesn't have to be electric .I am quite happy drinking hot tea on the hottest days of summer very refreshing .
Hi Kalyn, thank you for trying to diffuse the tense situation. We are all entitled to have tea in our own way and I think it's all just been a storm in a teacup.
It's probably been brewing for a while
Oooooh..... Bad Nick Savage..... Bad Boy....@@nicksavage567 🤣🤣 (that is a good / bad one)
If you're prepared to drink iced tea, I wouldn't put it past you to add salt.
Salty iced water. That's Titanic territory.
"My heart will go on" - looking forward to a nice cup of tea.
Tea originated in China about 4,000 thousand years ago, and is still commonly drank as green tea in China. When it was exported to Europe, it was found that green tea could not take the long moist sea journey too well, and deteriorated in quality. However, it was discovered that black tea (oxidised tea) fared the sea journey very much better and lasted longer than green tea. That was why black tea became popular in Europe and the UK. Due to the bitter nature of black tea, sugar and milk was added to take away some of the bitterness.
I expect it was first exported overland on the trading roads ( eg The Silk Route )by the Caravans of Mules, Horses - and Camels. They would be able to carry more- dried.
As a Brit, I grew up drinking tea with milk, but when I got to university we had an issue with milk thieves in my shared kitchen, so I stopped buying milk for tea and learned to like it black - and 25 years on, I still do. Which does make life a lot easier! Unlike coffee, people who drink black tea tend to have it weaker than those who have milk in, because the milk dissolves the tannins that otherwise give a bitter taste when tea is brewed strong.
To make really good tea, the water needs to be absolutely boiling when it hits the teabag/leaves (and you always pour the water onto the tea, not drop the tea into the hot water), and that's really hard to achieve if you use a microwave to heat it. That said, if you just buy cheap supermarket teabags then you probably won't notice much of a difference. On holiday in Spain last year, we didn't have a kettle in our apartment, so we had to use a pan on the stove (we ruled out using the microwave!) and it really wasn't a big deal, not as convenient as a kettle but not too much of a chore either.
I stopped taking sugar in my tea as a result of my kids using all the sugar in their cereal, and milk for the same reason. I still don't take sugar in my tea, but milk has crept back in.
I gave up having milk in tea about 30yrs ago. Milky tea to me now just tastes a bit sickly.
As an Australian there is nothing better than making black Ceylon tea (Dilmah) over a campfire. No milk involved as milk does not last too long in 35+ degree days.
Nothing better than black tea with sugar (with the background of eucalyptus) with damper and Cocky's joy (golden syrup) after a hot day's work.
Tea is for sure perfect to drink when watching TEA V
Liptons started off as British and its now Brirish-American with its headquarters in The Netherlands
Aeons back, when I worked in the hotel and restaurant business, we used to put a couple of shakes from a salt cellar, into the coffee grounds, before drip brewing the coffee. It eased off the bitter taste of the coffee, especially when the pot might have been sitting for 30 - 40 minutes, when things started to slow down. Sitting so long on a hot plate, some water would evaporate, and concentrate all the flavours of the coffee. That would really make it bitter. We tossed any remaining coffee if the pot sat for that long, and would only make another pot, if someone ordered coffee.
I cannot see doing that with tea at all, because even if you steep a tea well, the tannins are readily mollified by a splash of milk. Being a Canadian from the Maritimes, I would say that most here will drink Orange Pekoe with a splash of milk. Most of the rest of Canada will stick with coffee. Just like most of the USA. I won't mention Cape Breton tea..... that is a beast unto itself!
Love your channel Caitlin, especially reading the comments. Fun to see how some common things change, depending where you are in the world. Cheers! 😊
My apologies... just clued in that your name is Kaylin. Need to have my hearing checked I guess.🙄
Properly, in the UK you wouldn't add milk or sugar to something like Earl Grey, or other full flavour teas. Milk and sugar tend to be added to builders' tea, or breakfast blends.
I love the concise manner you handle each subject, and am impressed that you do it without notes, your American perspective makes whatever you comment on unique, just love your vlogs.
Thank you so much Alex!! I'll let you in on a little secret - I do use a lot of notes, they're underneath the camera, I just make them very big and easily readable so I can glance and keep talking. Thank you for watching!
Tea entertains the evening, solace’s the midnight and welcomes the morning. Samuel Johnson.
Love that quote!
Hello grew in UK but live in New Zealand now. My nan and grandad taught me how make a proper cup of tea over 50 years ago. I do NOT AND NEVER WILL PUT SALT in my tea. I also do not put water in a microwave to heat up for a cuppa
I think most of us as kids start off with sugar being an essential addition to a cuppa. As we get older, many of us dispense with sugar in our tea, to the point where, in accidentally taking a swig of sugared tea, a loud “UGH!” can be heard.😬
Unconvinced most stop taking sugar/sweetener. Some do. I merely reduced the amount. You'll get an, "Ugh!", out of me if you haven't sweetened mine, because that's the normal reaction to unsweetened tea.
@@WideCuriositywhile I respect your opinion, you are incorrect.
Have a good day.
Hi I live in the UK. I do like your deep dives videos, very enjoyable.
I mostly drink Ceylon OP with breakfast and Assam TGFOP in the evening, both loose leaf and without milk and sugar. The water is boiled in an electric kettle, and brewed in a teapot.
Kalyn, bless you. This made my day, I was laughing so much I nearly spilled my tea (Earl Grey, weak and black). As a Brit I feel it my duty to go through a minimum of four big mugs a day but as a symbol of our Special Relationship I shall try a cup with salt. But I won't make it in the microwave - I'm not a complete heathen!
Aw it made my day to hear it made your day Robert!! Glad to know how you take your tea - I don't blame you for not microwaving, the kettle is far superior. :D
I said I'd try it and know what? I like it! Now I often add just a pinch of salt to my Earl Grey. It doen't taste salty but, oddly, a little sweeter - who knew?
Aussie here. Like my tea white with one sugar. We also have a strong tea culture but not as strong as you pommies. I'd say coffee to tea would be 60/40. However go camping out in the bush and tea is always the drink of choice. You make tea in a Billy Can when in the bush. If you are out for lunch in town coffee would now be the more popular drink.
American here. Australia has some really good coffee.
It's the WATTAGE of the kettle that brings it to the boil.
Watts= Power.
Volts = The speed at which that power is delivered.
Drinking tea on a hot day is a good thing, it raises your internal body temperature to somewhere near that of the day so that you don't overheat and perspire too much.
That's also an Asian jungle trick.
Does that also make someone sweat more, so that sweat evaporating cools the skin surface down.?
@@noelsalisbury7448 Drinking hot beverages may make you sweat more yes but it's more about equalising your internal temperature to the outside temperature.
Tea, Mmmm... Cures everything don't you know. 😊
Most workplaces in the uk had tea-breaks. Formal 10-20 min breaks in the working day, for a cuppa. One in mid morning, one mid afternoon. Much less frequent these days, now more informal. We used to have a tea-lady (usually ladies) that brought around an urn of tea, on a trolley, at tea-time. It was free. Though the sandwiches, cakes and biscuits were not free. Tea from a vending machine somewhat took over in the 80's. Horrible stuff. As vending machines struggle to make decent tea, workplace kitchens and tea areas have largely taken over.
My Jamaican grandmother always put a pinch of salt in coffee so that isn't so shocking to me. What is funny is that my son, who is now 26, never liked coffee until I told him to try it with a pinch of salt. Suddenly the whole world of coffee opened up to him and he is now a daily imbiber or coffee. Love the channel ❤
Interesting!! I will have to try it! Thanks for watching!
I was told some chefs add a small pinch of salt to their coffee, as it brings out the flavour but I have never tried it.
@@martinbobfrank Give it a go, it really works. Just a pinch, mind 👍🏾
@@_Churchy Damn, I will. It's now on my list of things to do straight after finishing my cup of Early Grey tea.
Yep !
Works with Coffee.
NOT with Tea
I love the deep dive format and that you have jumped unashamedly on this tea bandwagon. I also love the clever remarks/puns and the self congratulation for these. I am upset with Twinings because Lapsang Souchong is now called Distinctively Smoky and it isn't the same, I believe it is a supply issue but it just isn't the same.
I am not even addressing the salt thing, it is too ridiculous!
I always add milk for tea and coffee to make ot less bitter which is common in the UK.
As an additional litle "fact" I was once told by someone whose job it was to visit catering establishments to show/tell them how to make a good cup of tea. (He worked for Tetley a tea producer). Whether using looose tea or tea bags, the water must be boiling and poured on the tea. It should then be left for four minutes as the leaves open out and release more flavour.
Green tea is best with a slightly lower water temperature, to keep it from getting bitter.
Perfectly understandable why Americans don't have kettles - with the standard voltage in the US being 110 and in the UK it being 240, kettles take twice as long to boil in the US! I am a Brit, born and bred, still live here and do not use a kettle... (I have one in the loft for emergencies though). I have a boiling water tap. Have had one for about 13 years now and you can make tea immediately without waiting for the kettle. I drink around 7-10 mugs of tea a day, milk, no sugar. Tea bag in mug, fill with boiling water from the tap, wait for a minute or two, stir and remove the teabag, add milk, drink while saying ahhhhhhhh after the first sip. Colour would be between He-Man and Tannin Salon.
Yes, definitely! A boiling water tap - I've never heard of that! Sounds amazing!
Still faster than other ways of making boiling water though. Alex Technology Connections talked about it. He said the reason for not having an electric kettle is just because Americans a) aren't that into tea, and b) have electric coffee machines.
The electric coffee machine is a lot less common in UK homes. We're more likely to either use instant soluble coffee, or a non-electric coffee device like a French press or manual pour-over.
Salt does the same to black coffee. With milk it does have a different effect in tea. That will curdle . My love to all Bostonians 😊 All the best from Scotland to you and yours. Rab
We have pantries in the UK, more of a walk in food storage area, than a cupboard. Now living in Australia I import British tea (Ringtons) as I have not found a tea I like here. I do not pollute my tea, I drink it black without sugar. As for adding salt, I have heard the same hack for coffee. Not all kettle are electric, before the days of electricity you would heat the kettle on the shove, and some people still use a stove top kettle.
As a Yank who spent 4 months working at a British company in Uxbridge UK back in the late eighties (acquired by the international company I worked for then) I learned to use British electric tea kettles (220 volt). Many a great of tea was brewed, especially after I learned to descale the tea kettle quite often. My great disappointment was when I bought a 110 v electric tea kettle, it took twice as long to boil the water. Sorry for boring anyone. I love Clipper and Yorkshire Gold teas with half & half and honey. Still a coffee drinker in the AM, though.
As someone who is now British, you should be calling it the American War of Independence and not the American Revolution. 😉 Brandon F has done a great video on how much it was costing us to defend the American colonies and how the minimal amount raised by the new taxes went nowhere near covering the cost of this.
Will have to check out that video!
@deanstuart8012 But they were British at the time so I shouldn't be called either. 😁
I’m an avid tea drinker, but I’m not really sure why we are known as “a nation of tea drinkers”. We do actually consume more coffee than tea.
The drop in mortality rates following the popularity of tea might also be a result of a reduction in alcohol consumption. The absence of potable water meant fermentation was used to make liquids safe to drink. There is a theory that people in the west have more tolerance to alcohol than those in the east because the former used fermentation while the latter boiled the water.
It is well known among food scientists that salt can be used as a sweetener, which can be confirmed by dropping a pinch of salt in a glass of tonic water. Indeed manufacturers of processed foods often add salt to keep the sugar content down, or conversely, add sugar to make up for the lower proportion of salt.
It's that video where she included a teabag. Nothing wrong with using a microwave to boil water, though there's no control to ensure it has boiled.
Surely salt can't remove the bitterness, only mask it. It's a different set of taste buds, sweet & bitter use closer bio chemistry.
OMG! The tea being poured at 6:25 is what my Nan would have called "maid's water" - also sometimes referred to as "gnat's piss". So weak it needs a ladder to get out of the pot.
Kettles are essential for making a decent cup of tea as the water needs to be _boiling_ when poured over the tea leaves. But not all kettles are electric - some do still use traditional kettles on the hob.
Fortnight tea... too weak
I bet you're a "Yorkshire" tea person.
AKA "Builder's Tea" . ASSAM tea. Very strong, very- Malty. Tea you can stand a teaspoon up in it. A bit similar to Guinness.
Tea is what you get used to. I drink Ceylon & Darjeeling tea. Refreshing & uplifting. And those teas don't make your teeth browny-yellow.
Great video, thanks😊 I really enjoyed the deep dive and found it very interesting. As a dual citizen and one of us now, I think you need to put more effort into enjoying tea 😂 At least you’re talking about proper tea because I’ve heard a few American types say “I only like peppermint tea” at which point one of my eyes start twitching and I can’t stop myself from screaming “THAT’S NOT TEA”. See you next time 😊
Haha! I don't like peppermint tea either, so equal opportunity. I'll try harder on the tea front. Thanks Steve. :)
Rooibos (/ˈrɔɪbɒs/ ROY-Boss; Afrikaans: [rɔːibɔs], meaning "red bush"), or Aspalathus linearis, is a broom-like member of the plant family Fabaceae that grows in South Africa's fynbos biome.
The leaves are used to make a herbal tea that is called rooibos (especially in Southern Africa), bush tea, red tea, or redbush tea (predominantly in Great Britain).
What does Earl Grey taste like?
The prime flavouring in Earl Grey tea is bergamot, a type of citrus fruit with similarities to the Meyer lemon.
Lol! I'm a Brit. and had to stop drinking tea, because it makes me ill! That said...I have been known to add a pinch of salt to coffee.
As I understand it, Americans don't use kettles as much because the standard electricity voltage is lower, so it takes forever for them to boil. I don't see any problem with using a microwave to boil the water, provided it does boil and you pour it on the tea.
I remember when I used to visit Arizona I made tea using a plastic container that would get hot within a short time .
I am sure I read in the article that warmed milk should also added to tea with the pinch of salt. That, to me, is the real crime, tea should be with cold milk. I remember asking for a cup of tea when visiting Germany and was given it without milk. On asking for milk, they promptly added hot milk which, to us Brits, is unheard of. I'm afraid I left 80% of it and ordered a hot chocolate instead!
No mention of tea pots and tea cosies? In our Royal Navy, (and, to a lesser extent, our RFA,) a 'tea boat' might be set up. That is where a group of friend or maybe co-workers will chip in some cash to buy the makings for tea, ie the tea/milk/sugar. That is then their 'tea boat'.
Note The Boston Tea party was Tea Merchants protesting being undercut and losing their monopoly on Buying and selling Tea - the Tea that was thrown into the Harbour was cheaper than the Tea they were selling, and was to be sold to anyone not just the Merchants, because the East India Company couldn't sell it elsewhere
It was however after genuine Tea tax protests, when the American colonies were being taxed more than the UK for imported Tea ...
Americans associate Tea, particularly Liptons, with English gentility, but Thomson Lipton was Scottish. He was born in Glasgow in the infamous Gorbals slums.
I've tried a Long Island iced tea, that was nice, but for general consumption it has to be hot, strong "builders" tea, sweetened to taste, with a dash of milk. Stay away from fancy varieties like Earl Grey, they taste weird (I assume must be an acquired taste).
Next tea-related controversy: do you boil the water for tea in an electric kettle, in a kettle on a hob, in a pan on a hob, or in a microwave...
The US Ambassador to London suggests that only the microwave is appropriate: and I take that as deliberate but mild trolling
I'm a Brit of course and a heavy tea drinker, though I have lived in he USA and waited for hours for the kettle to boil 🙂 It was a british company so we had huge bags of british tea shipped over for teh Brits. So me, boil in a kettle (in UK) , dont over brew and add milk.
However, back to USA. One of my brothers now lives in Texas, again he tried teh kettle but its frustratingly slow so he uses the microwave to boil his water, and I agree it makes sense and is much faster when there.
I found tea bought in the US to be of poor flavour, yes Liptons is not to the British palate and often when out and about if you asked for a hot tea thhen they would provide a tepid cup of water and Liptons T bag, eurgh!
I never really got into the cold tea thing so tended to drink sodas instead.
At least our office and appartment in Atlanta had a kettle and a good supply of english tea.
Me, watching this video, obviously drinking a cuppa
Me too 😂
that means you passed the test!
"Tea's Up".
when I first moved to Japan it was the middle of summer, I was entertaining an American one afternoon. I asked what she wanted to drink, and she asked for tea (weirdo!). Anyway, I got the kettle out, but went to the fridge and discovered I was out of milk. I walked back to the living room, clutching my kettle, and apologised for the lack of milk. She burst out laughing - she meant ice tea - back then a complete mystery to me.
Curiously, I remember my dad in the ‘60s putting salt in his tea. I suspect the reason was, him being in a strenuous manual job in a foundry, it was understood that it replaced sodium that was lost by sweating? Only a pinch mind, so I don’t expect it affected the flavour!
I am English and have been drinking tea, never coffee, for, probably, 60+ years without adding salt. I don't think I will start now. This was perfect for your discussions. You just got me. I was about to pickup my cup of tea only to find I never made one. 😕
:D Hope you go make that cuppa now!
Hi Kaitlyn, I can’t believe Americans or water in the microwave to make a cup of tea?!
I am Canadian and I’m pretty certain that most Canadians have an electric kettle or a kettle that they would heat on the stove to make a cuppa tea or a cup of hot chocolate, or even a cup of soup.
I enjoy mostly herbal tea just because her health reasons I’m not allowed to have caffeine. But I really love to have milk of my tea and if I don’t have it, it’s not a great cup of tea for me. I placed the herbal teabag in my cup, pour the hot water in and then add milk.
I'm Scottish and I very rarely have a cup of tea but when I do I have it really strong with a dash of milk. I also drink more regularly Twinings lemon & ginger tea, especially if I have a cold or sore throat. I love Iced Tea. I used to drink Lipton's Iced Tea, lemon or peach, which was very sweet. Nowadays Lipton's Lemon, Peach & Raspberry Iced Tea has Artificial Sweetener in it. It's not as good as the original but is nice enough and a lot less calories. I also get Iced Tea from Costa Coffee Shop during Spring & summer as I don't like coffee as it gives me heartburn. For hot drinks I prefer to drink hot blackcurrant squash.
That remark at the bottom was a joke as most of the staff are British at the US Embassy as only the Diplomats and Spies are American and the tea will be made for them.
I'm an American who definitely prefers tea over coffee. I was looking forward to encountering the British tea experience when I visited in the summer of 1984.
I ordered tea every time I visited a restaurant in the UK, and every time, I was told, "We don't have tea, actually." I thought the stories about British tea-drinking were a myth.
In the last couple years, someone here on RUclips told me that all the tea-producing countries had a tea embargo against the UK in 1984. If that's true, you'd think one of my waiters or waitresses would have told me that rather than just looking at me weird.
1984 is of course 40 years ago. No embargo now.
As an American, I discovered English tea blends in the mid 90s and developed the habit of ordering a hot tea with the tea bag on the side. I would then use my own teabag.
Since I moved to the UK 12 years ago, I'm so happy I don't need to do the same here.
And yes, I prefer Yorkshire tea for home. Black. No sugar.
Why buy a good tea and then try to mask some of the flavour?
Prefer coffee, but can't drink anything but water (and apparently Mac D's milkshakes) due to tea, coffee and most other drinks being an irritant (for me at least) also chocolate etc, well that it enough fascinating/ tedious stuff
to appease the great Google algorithm Gods. :)
Well done on the rebirth of your channel. x
Thank you Kaylin. Very interesting.
So the key point where the USA started getting it wrong is when the Americans rejected tea as their primary refreshing daily drink.
I don't want to harp on about it, but forward 250 years or so and now look at the political landscape in the USA...
If only you'd all stuck with tea, America wouldn't have this fractured, splintered and toxic in fighting between political parties.
There is hope though. It's never too late to savour the flavour of a proper brew.
Did you know that Thames Water company uses cups of tea as a unit of measurement? Square meters are boring, so they quote usage charged in various units, such as baths, showers or cups of tea. When my last bill came in quoting an increase of 236,000 cups of tea in a quarter, I suspected that something was amiss, even for a tea drinker like me.
PG Tips fan, but starts the day with Twinings Strong Breakfast Tea. Dash of skimmed milk, no sugar.
I noticed you still refer to cooker as "stoves" makes me chuckle here just i see Americans spelling cheques as "checks" or spelling flavour. colours, etc, without the "r." Thank God! am taught the English way, the RIGHT WAY, and the ONLY WAY.
Am a dual citizen like you, Nigerian, and British, being living here over 25 years now.
I stopped using a kettle when I discovered the Breville One Cup water heaters, more energy efficient - it still makes a good hot mug of tea
It's well known that salt is a flavour enhancer, which is why we put it on our dinner.
NEVER NEVER NEVER use a microwave to make tea. Always use a kettle plus electric jug kettles are very energy efficient as you only boil water for the amount needed.
I'm a Brit and a morning coffee and afternoon tea person. My favourite tea is Assam, very dark but not bitter.
Earl Grey tea is a flavored tea and not treated as a black tea. The Brits add milk to black tea, but not to flavored teas and not to green tea. In northern US, ordering tea will get you hot tea. In southern US, ordering tea with get you iced tea. Both Americans.and Canadians prefer tea differently from British. The Twinings likely sat in storage a long time and then sat on the shelf a long time. It is not different British tea. Canadian tea is very mild. Most Canadian foods are milder than American foods. Also note that in America milk isn't used in black tea and more water is used. We had a South African girl and an Australian girl staying at our house and they would put half a cup of water in the microwave and barely give a tea bag any time at all in the water. Then they would add milk.
As a committed coffee drinker, I have been aware of the controversy regarding whether milk should be put in the cup before or after the tea. I understood that it should be first so as to protect a possibly fragile cup from scalding water. I didn't know it was acceptable to drink tea from a mug rather than a cup - it is a cuppa, after all.
Once overheard a French waiter in a Scottish hotel restaurant explain about the milk first idea. It was exactly as you intimated to protect the inferior tea cups (those not the higher class "real" china) from cracking. Of course, it was said in a tone only a haughty French waiter could master.
Bone China is made from ground-down-to-dust- BONES.
And the powder, mixed with clay, is why the china is So Very Strong, even when Boiling Water is poured on it.
A typical electric kettle in USA will take twice as long to boil as a typical electric kettle in UK. This is because of the lower voltage which means for the same power you need a lot more current. The US sockets do not have enough current capacity for this, so they have to fit a lower power element.
So interesting!
Works on coffee aswell adding salt doesnt have to loads takes the bitterness away put a sprinkle on chocolate makes it sweeter
I grew up with iron buddha tea. A strong, very strong tea, in the traditional Chinese way of drinking it plain.
Which country is Lipton tea from?
Lipton Teas and Infusions is an American-British private company based in Rotterdam, Netherlands, that produces tea and other herbal drinks.
Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton, 1st Baronet KCVO (10 May 1848 - 2 October 1931) was a Scotsman of Ulster-Scots parentage who was a self-made man, as company founder of Lipton Tea, merchant, philanthropist and yachtsman who lost 5 straight America's Cup races.
Lipton's isn't an American tea company thank you very much, it's now an ANglo American Co. but was started in Scotland!
I don't do anything until I have a cup of tea in the morning.
It probably costs about $1 for 10 tea bags but in the UK you can probably buy 100 tea bags for £1 due to economies of scale and more demand. But coffee has now becomming more popular even overtaking especially in cafes.
To use an old saying this is just "a storm in a teacup." Meaning - of no consequence, of little import, trivial.
I use green tea but also use flavoured teas. Salt in tea is a big NO the author, IMHO, just wanted to stir things up 🤣
I am a Brit but will drink 2-3 cups of coffee (lungo with a tiny spot of milk) and 3-4 cups of tea per day. The tea is Yorkshire (it must be good as I am a Manchester lad and the only other good thing to come out of Yorkshire is the road...😄). I follow the advice of the ancient lore masters of that company and use fresh water from the tap, brew for at least 3 or 4 minutes and don't mash the teabag in the cup - just throw it away. Then a spot of milk, no sugar. Having said that I have had tea and coffee all over the US and other parts of the world. I like the milky chai you get in India and have had Tibetan tea (made with butter and salt) in the Himalayas and that was very comforting in cold weather so I shall have to try some salt in my next brew.
I drink decaffeinated iced tea, as decaf coffee is terrible. If I am drinking hot tea, Earl Grey is my preference.
Thanks for sharing the latest tea controversy - I had no idea!!!! Hilarious!
Brit here who dislikes tea.....I know....
Interestingly, Canadian/ British Resident Alanna, on her 'Adventures and Naps' channel, did an experiment boiling 1 Litre of water in an electric kettle in Canada, and 1 litre of water in an electric kettle in UK. She found that, due to the much lower electrical voltage in North America, it took over 6 minutes to boil in the Us, as against the UK's well under 3 minutes. So a kettle doesn't make as much sense there as here.
One thing I am always surprised at is the shock expressed by US reactors to the amount of tea drunk per person per day in the UK. They say in shocked voices "That must work out at 4 or more cups a day for those who drink it!" I'm going..........at least! I'd suggest most tea drinkers have 5 or more. I guess it's the cultural part tea drinking takes in our typical day, and the fact that most tea drinkers don't drink anything else all day ( until they may swap to alcohol in the evening!)
Oooh, great experiment on her part! So interesting! Glad to have another fellow tea disliker. I can't help it!
Up until my mid twenties I always drank tea in the traditional way, with milk. I subsequently developed an intolerance to milk so had to find another way to enjoy it without the milk. A breakfast tea or 'regular' tea such as Tetleys or Yorkshire are terribly strong without milk so I settled on Earl or Lady Grey tea which is a much more delicate blend and perfect to have black. Now, I find tea with milk ghastly and wouldn't go back.
Please try both Soya Milk and Rice Milk.
TO THE GOVERNING BODIES : with reference to your recent messages that tea can be only made using a kettle or a microwave , please note for future reference realists do use a teapot , tea leaves and a sieve and any source of boiling water ( pan of water on the hob or a kettle but certainly not a microwave unless you state it must stand for a while )
No flag , No Embassy !
R.S.V.P.
I wonder if the salt idea is similar to the notion that the Sami people in the Nordics puts salt in their coffee.
They do/did, but only a tiny amount.
Since the water is so pure it lacks the natural salts that are in other water sources, so it's good measure to add a bit of salt to it
The one thing I agreed with the American professor on was her assertion that loose tea was always better than tea bags. Absolutely right! (And makes good compost as well.)
Not surprised to see that the Irish just pip the Brits in their tea drinking.
I'd say that, as in many questions of popular culturr, there is a continuum starting with Ireland and then going UK, NZ/Australia, Canada, USA. Other English-speaking countries presumably slot in somwhere along the line.
(On a much more trivial matter, Kalyn, do most Americans say 'verse' for 'versus' or is that just an individual thing? Just asking out of idle curiosity.)
I would love to see the tea continuum as it relates to English speaking countries! I definitely agree with your assessment!
Many Americans do say verse, yes - I get a lot of comments saying that it's not a word and I'm saying "versus" incorrectly, but it's not an uncommon usage in the US particularly among my age range. I say it naturally without thinking, so if it is wrong - oops!
Never microwave tea or any other water based beverage as you lose the oxygen in the water which is what makes it taste brighter.
Bought some hot green tea because I was feeling sick by the middle of the day I notice the sickness had gone away.
Definitely a great cure for many things!
I’m from the South, so I like my tea sweet.
Stronger tea like the British have turns out to be high in Tannins. Turns out Tannins have health benefits. Problem with Tannins is that it blocks the absorption of iron. The higher the Tannins and the longer you brew the tea the more bitter it gets. I have experienced this with PG Tips when I brew it longer than the recommended amount of time. So if you can not handle the bitter taste of tea black instead of adding salt reduce the brew time or add milk like the Brits do. Then you can consider adding a sweetener if you want, but most Brits drink their tea with milk. People in Asia especially China always drink their tea black. They think it is silly to add milk/sweetener like the British. Also it turns out cows milk reduces the amount of antioxidants and benefits you get from the tea, which is similar to coffee, so it is better to drink it black or use a milk alternative if you care about antioxidants and want to get the maximum health benefits from the drink otherwise continue drinking it the way you like.
I drink my tea black no milk no sugar and leave the tea bag in till the last drop has been drunk black and strong 👍
On my last trip to NYC, the first thing we did on the day we arrived, was to pop into Dwayne Reade and buy an electric kettle to make tea in our hotel room. It didn't occur to us that Americans don't usually use kettles and that we may bot be able to buy one. They, in fact, had a number of different types in stock.
It currently sits in my suitcase, waiting for the next trip to the US.
Remember US electric runs on a lower voltage, so it might not be compatible - (never mind the different socket/plug issues)
@noelsalisbury7448 The kettle in question is 120v, so can only be used in N. America.
So, to be fair adding salt to hot drinks does improve the flavour slightly. (this works with tea, coffee and cocoa) BUT this is only true when the drink is still quite hot, as it cools to drinking temperature it tastes off. personally its not to my tastes either salted tea or coffee. but the biology and chemistry does check out. for a example commonly used look at salted caramel.
But salted caramel, despite the current fad id 'orrible ❗
Americans boil water in the microwave because, typically, in the US, using a microwave to boil water is much faster than using an electric kettle. It takes an electric kettle nearly twice as long to reach the boiling point in the US than it does in the UK. This is because electricity in the US typically runs at half the voltage it runs in the UK.
I love hot Yorkshire Tea, with oat milk.
I love your videos Kalyn, very interesting. Keep up the fantastic work.
Very interesting 👏....OK you are the first person I'm confessing this to but, since the energy hike, and reading advice for cutting costs I have started making tea, if alone in the day, in the microwave. It's faster and a little cheaper than the kettle. But makes horrible coffee. Oh and pantry for a tall kitchen cupboard is used in the UK, probably by more older people👍👍👍👍👍
Thank you so much for sharing, it's a safe space here, don't worry. ;) Thanks for watching!
@@GirlGoneLondonofficial 🤣 my bad! I wasn't making tea alone when no one was looking...I meant if there was more people around its easier to make several cups from the kettle. But if its just me I'll bung a cup in the microwave 😉
I don't like bitter tea and I don't like it stewed (left for several minutes).
As to milk first or last it depends how you are preparing it.
Most people use tea bags and mugs these days so tea in first, with or without sugar and then milk added when you remove the tea bag.
.
However, if you are using a teapot and bone china, the tea is already brewed in the teapot and bone China can crack if you add boiling hot tea so milk in first to prevent this.
I can't stand milky tea and the water must be fresh and fully boiled.