What happened to never?
That would be outside the conventions of British Tea Drinking, a practice that is defended with deadly seriousness by that small island nation between the North and Atlantic seas.
its so weird. we have ties with india and never grew up drinking nice darjeeling. all we get is the most awful blends of assam and ceylon known to mankind.
and apparently pg tips take only the top two tips? How did they get away with that lie for so long
Ironically, many people in India and South Asia in general don’t drink darjeeling tea either. In most households tea is prepared using cheap teabags (Tetley, PG tips, even Lipton) and then doctored with milk, sugar, and spices. TBH, I don’t know how accessible the finer darjeeling teas are to folks there. My relatives who visit from overseas are impressed by some of the Irish breakfast and Teavana-quality teas available in the US, which probably wouldn’t pass muster with serious tea drinkers.
Yeah ive been to India a few times, and sri lanka once. im not into sweet chai. its a bit tooooooo much
I add milk to black tea, and usually add it in last, because to add it in first seems to yield a thinner mouth feel, although that’s just my taste.
I have absolutely no idea how people find black tea enjoyable without milk, but am glad that everyone finds their stride with tea somehow. I also come from an east Indian family, so I grew up drinking it that way.
maybe you’re drinking the wrong black tea.. im enjoying a cup of unmolested black tea as i type, cheerio. lol
No wrong way to enjoy tea, yo!
That said, I’m always on the hunt for teas that don’t beg for additions, but have found very few so far.
I think it’s hilarious when people say if you add anything to tea, you mus tnot like the flavor of tea. Guess we shouldn’t be adding any toppings to burgers then, or pizza, or having our pasta in pasta sauce. Or icing on cake, because to do so would mean we don’t like the flavor as is.
Off to drink my molested tea!
(lol worst word ever)
keychange — I was making fun of the use of the word unmolested. It conjured some interesting images! I have no issue with adulterating a beverage in general :)
Oh yes it is a funny way to describe tea! and my comment wasn’t really directed at anyone in particular :).
Few people actually care about how other people take their beverages.
For me, origin has a lot to do with whether I add anything. I prefer Chinese black teas which I never add anything to. I find them delicious on their own – cocoa, sweet, honey, spicy, bold, all sorts of things but not bitter. Indian or Ceylon teas though, I add a small amount of milk and honey because I find those bitter. Nilgiri is sort of in between, ditto tea from Nepal. Basically I prefer sinensis to assamica.
if im adding milk and sugar IF, i add the sugar first so that the milk/cream, if cool, does not chill the tea, which would cause the sugar to not dissolve as easily.
I like black tea with milk and without. I add milk after. Usually the first few cups of the day are a strong malty tea that takes milk well.
Pouring the tea first is a sign of wealth. In classical times, fine (high-fired) porcelain was only available to the upper classes, and cheap porcelain would crack if hot tea was poured directly into it. Thus the lower classes would add the milk first, to protect the cups.
Also, the upper classes had nice tea services with creamers to pour the milk. Lower classes poured the milk straight from the jug and then…I dunno…hid the jug?
Instead of considering milk before or after, we, like to “boil” the black tea and the milk for several minutes. The tea milk will then be poured out through a strainer both to filter the tea leaves as well as to make the tea smoother. It is the Hong Kong-style milk tea. Most Hong Kong people is addicted to it. Both the hot and iced tea milk are yummy! Try next time if you drop by Hong Kong.
Know more: http://travel.cnn.com/hong-kong/drink/hong-kongs-best-milk-tea-616471
i drink all black tea with milk, as it is the only way my stomach can tolerate the tannins….so never say never…if it means you could never have tea again, you rethink that “never” pretty quick! I use milk last, so if i run out of space in the cup, the tea will be strong instead of weak….
I like black tea with milk, but it depends on what type of tea I am drinking. I have a mango black tea that I enjoy in the mornings that I don’t drink with milk, only with a hint of sugar. Right now I’m drinking Violet Femme from Zhi Tea which is an earl gray assam with vanilla. I like to balance out the astringency with a little bit of milk and sugar. I always add my milk after brewing.
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