People making tea "the wrong way around"
It really irks me when I see someone making tea by pouring milk into the cup first, dropping in the tea bag, then adding the water - even more so when they have boiled the water, let it stand for a minute, then poured it in.

The tea bag goes in the (preferably warmed up) cup, add boiling water, allow to brew, then add the milk...

It shouldn't bug me, but it does.
( theoriginalsteve <this space intentionally left blank>, Thu 31 Mar 2011, 16:57, 23 replies)

By the great hairy bollocks of the Jolly Green Giant, ^^this^^
I'm frothing at the mouth just thinking about it. I'd better go and have a cup of tea.
(moon monkey is busy making memories worth repressing, Thu 31 Mar 2011, 17:05, closed)

If you use a teabag and you put milk in then you're already making tea wrong.
You tea fail.
( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Thu 31 Mar 2011, 17:09, closed)

hmm... if it's "posh tea" (loose leaf etc), that would mean no milk
if it's a PGtips, Tetley, Typhoo scenario, then I think milk is not only permissable, but essential.
( theoriginalsteve <this space intentionally left blank>, Thu 31 Mar 2011, 17:15, closed)

Teapots
are sadly under-rated.

Any half-decent cup of tea requires a teapot.
( Ugi , it's a game of give and cake, Thu 31 Mar 2011, 17:25, closed)

art of teaness
...and there was me thinking that I was the only person left in the fucking world who knew how to make a cuppa.
Take my ex, for example, still never got it right after 20 odd years.... that's why she's my ex.

I agree with the OP. A hateful way of making a cuppa.

This is my first grrr in many a year on B3TA - be gentle, my virginity has healed back up/
(entropydave hates unnecessary commas on, Thu 31 Mar 2011, 17:28, closed)

That's impressive...
... leaving a partner of 20 years because she didn't know how to make tea! How on earth did you manage to stay so long ? ;-)
( Ugi , it's a game of give and cake, Thu 31 Mar 2011, 17:31, closed)

He made the tea obviously...
Well, that or she gave great head.
( snee held his breath since, Fri 1 Apr 2011, 10:58, closed)

Obviously.

( Ugi , it's a game of give and cake, Fri 1 Apr 2011, 17:26, closed)

YES!

(Sivvus trolley collision in the fruit aisle led to a jam, Thu 31 Mar 2011, 17:55, closed)

This drives me into rage, also.
I had to get up and pace the room when I read this.
(IHateSprouts is baking a huge pie shaped like an enormous pie, Thu 31 Mar 2011, 17:56, closed)

With some people in work who do this all the damn time,
I've started sounding like I'm the killer from Silence of the Lambs as I'll say in a sort-of sing song voice "You put the tea-bag in the cup and then you add the the water."

I realise now I may have serious problems.
( Funkenschlag still likes dogs more than cats, Thu 31 Mar 2011, 17:57, closed)

Are there seriously people who make tea like this?
Would they do the same with coffee? Actually, they probably would.
( .Yeti. El amor en los tiempos del cólera, Thu 31 Mar 2011, 18:24, closed)

use a teabag?
yes, yes they probably would. Making, as Viz suggested, 'toffee'
(pounana Slept well, and dreamed of large women, on, Thu 31 Mar 2011, 19:03, closed)

Indeed
My boyfriend always makes instant coffee like this; on the other hand, he regards the aforementioned method of making tea as a criminal offense.
(bat_fudgie, Fri 1 Apr 2011, 7:43, closed)

Agree about tea
but the coffee thing is different. Instant coffee is total shite anyway, so who cares how it is made? Real coffee will burn if you use water that is at boiling point and it ends up tasting like cigarette ash or something worse. Starbucks are the worst offenders for this.
(ianisme, Tue 5 Apr 2011, 16:59, closed)

You're being entirely rational.
Putting milk in first increases the viscosity of the liquid you're trying to get through the "bag," making it harder - and taking longer - to infuse to the desired strength.
( argyleblanket The man on the roof works for me, Thu 31 Mar 2011, 20:00, closed)

Critically..
... it also makes it colder and very hot water is required to make anything resembling decent tea. The critical components are simply not extracted effectively unless it's very nearly boiling. Sadly, that means that if you add the milk in shortly after then it will scold the milk. However, if you leave it to cool then it will separate because the milk stabilises the tannins, which are not very soluble.

So you can have:

Milk then teabag then water - insipid nastyness

Tea then water then milk - tea but tasting a little off (scolded milk)

Tea then water, remove tea and allow to cool, add milk - separates unless you have perfect timing.

Use a teapot & add the milk to the cups - actual real tea. Yay!
( Ugi , it's a game of give and cake, Fri 1 Apr 2011, 10:49, closed)

Scolded milk
No! Bad milk! Up to your room and no tea for you!

Edit: spot on in your analysis of what order to do things in though. Brew up in a teapot and put milk in the cup first!
(flimflam_machine, Tue 5 Apr 2011, 16:31, closed)

I was taught how to make tea correctly by the man who is the head tea buyer for Whittards.
Seriously, I was.

He says milk in first.
So the rest of you can get bent.
( Mrs Entity is in hiding., Fri 1 Apr 2011, 22:59, closed)

He's replicating the actions of his ignorant customers
So the numpties get a consistent cup of tea. Awful, but consistent.
( SteamedCleaner, Sun 3 Apr 2011, 12:20, closed)

There's a lot of nonsense written about tea
But your post is spot on. Our boss at work had the misfortune to be raised in Australia, where it seems they are ignorant of the basics of making a cup of tea. Every so often he sends out a snotty email to everyone reminding them to leave water in the kettle for the next person. So the "lucky" next person has to use reboiled water. And that, dear tea ignoramuses, is a hanging offence that ranks alongside putting milk in Earl Grey.
( SteamedCleaner, Sun 3 Apr 2011, 12:27, closed)

I'm surprised...
that no-one has pointed out that it's simply a class thing.

You see, back in the day, the upper-class would drink their tea using cups of very, very thin china. If they put the tea in first, the heat of the tea would cause the thin china to crack. However, if you put the milk into the cup first, it prevented the sudden jump in temperature that you'd get when the first splashes of tea landed, and so the ultra thin teacups would not crack.

Note, that this is only relevant when pouring pre-brewed tea from a teapot. Nowadays, if you are brewing tea in your mug, you get a stronger / faster cup of tea by adding the milk after brewing.

Of course, all that I have said can be easily discounted as I drink my Earl Grey (that I have had dutifully shipped out from England by my mum) with milk and sugar (*waits for the mob bearing pitchforks and burning torches to arrive at my door).
(Heggy, Mon 4 Apr 2011, 11:36, closed)

Really?
I thought that the thin china thing was a myth. Thin glass is actually less likely to crack because you don't create a big temperature gradient across it. Is it the same for china?
(flimflam_machine, Tue 5 Apr 2011, 16:39, closed)