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Gallery, Projects and General => Gallery => Topic started by: Spurry on June 05, 2019, 09:53:14 AM

Title: Anyone for tea?
Post by: Spurry on June 05, 2019, 09:53:14 AM
This was a solution to a problem that appeared at our dining table recently.
My visiting old mum, (94 almost) was having difficulty tipping the right amount of milk into her white cup for her cup of tea. (Her vision is not all that, and she is registered as blind.)
I knocked up this small item in black plastic, so she can just about see the level of the milk because of the difference in colours.
Her hands are quite steady, so she can tip the milk into the gadget, then transfer it to the cup, so hey presto, a satisfying cuppa.
The base was going to be thinned down but the additional weight makes it very stable, so I left as is.
Pete
Title: Re: Anyone for tea?
Post by: John Rudd on June 05, 2019, 10:19:45 AM
Nice touch Pete.... :thumbup:

Amazing to what we put our machines to use
Title: Re: Anyone for tea?
Post by: allanchrister on June 06, 2019, 02:30:07 AM
 :bugeye:

....but I don’t understand, the milk is supposed to go in after the tea, so she would be able to see the contrast????

 :Doh:
Title: Re: Anyone for tea?
Post by: AdeV on June 06, 2019, 03:32:48 AM

the milk is supposed to go in after the tea


Nooo!!!!

There's 2 reasons why the milk goes in first - one scientific(ish), one historical...

Historically, High Tea was served in the finest Bone China tea service. Trouble is, Bone China isn't very strong, and pouring the hot tea directly into the cup could cause the wafer thin vessel to crack. Putting the milk in first reduces the thermal shock, making a leaking (and socially unacceptable!) teacup an unlikely occurrence.

Scientifically - pouring milk into hot tea "scalds" it - the volume of hot tea overheats the milk. Doing it the other way around, again, lessens the thermal shock experienced by the milk, which in heating more gently results in a better flavour.

Plus, as any fule no, adding milk to tea is just NOT the done thing dahling!

 :)
Title: Re: Anyone for tea?
Post by: Spurry on June 06, 2019, 05:10:12 AM
Thanks for the comments.

It's easy to see who has not had experience of telling a 94 year old that what they have been doing all their life is wrong. :)

Interesting discussion regarding milk or tea first. Our family has always been milk first. The problem as I saw it was the actual quantity; although someone
with good eyesight could gauge the amount of milk required by the change in tint of the tea, if the milk was last. I think we tend to take this for granted when our eyes are good.

Happy tea drinking.

Pete

Title: Re: Anyone for tea?
Post by: John Rudd on June 06, 2019, 06:06:44 AM
Errrmmmm, coffee for me every time....tea...yeuk... :coffee:


Title: Re: Anyone for tea?
Post by: Spurry on June 06, 2019, 10:02:49 AM
Errrmmmm, coffee for me every time....tea...yeuk... :coffee:

Me too, John.  :clap:
Title: Re: Anyone for tea?
Post by: awemawson on June 06, 2019, 10:23:41 AM
Tea if I'm doing hard physical work, and coffee if the work is cerebral  :clap:


But definitely milk in first - what ARE these colonials like  :lol:
Title: Re: Anyone for tea?
Post by: chipenter on June 06, 2019, 02:07:17 PM
Just Tea and more Tea!
Title: Re: Anyone for tea?
Post by: BillTodd on June 07, 2019, 04:31:03 AM
Quote
, Bone China isn't very strong, and pouring the hot tea directly into the cup could cause the wafer thin vessel to crack

I have seen somewhere a  bone china cup glowing red from the kiln and plunged into cold water, it did not crack.

The tv programme was about the English ceramic revolution and how Spode and others had cracked (pun intended) the making of fine china.
Title: Re: Anyone for tea?
Post by: allanchrister on June 07, 2019, 04:43:41 AM
No, no, no.  Milk goes in last.  If you’re a Brit that is.  Check out YouGov.gov.uk for the definitive answer.  Every other Brit I know follows this sacred rule. :wave:
Title: Re: Anyone for tea?
Post by: awemawson on June 07, 2019, 07:27:25 AM
Absolute rubbish ! (no offence meant)

Every Brit I know puts milk in first, including me as a Brit  :lol:

Where do these colonials get their ideas from  :clap:
Title: Re: Anyone for tea?
Post by: RussellT on June 07, 2019, 08:17:34 AM
I've checked the link - which should be https://yougov.co.uk/topics/food/articles-reports/2018/07/30/should-milk-go-cup-tea-first-or-last (https://yougov.co.uk/topics/food/articles-reports/2018/07/30/should-milk-go-cup-tea-first-or-last)

I think there is another issue here as well - which is whether you make your tea in a pot or in the mug.  The traditional way (in a pot) makes putting milk in first easy - but with the rise of teabags and making tea in a mug it doesn't work very well to put the milk in first.  If you put the milk in the mug before the hot water then it doesn't brew as well and you have to top it up after you've taken the tea bag out.  If you put the hot water in first then when you take the tea bag out it leaves space for the milk.

I think this accounts for the difference between age groups mentioned in the link as well as the change in behaviour of the population.

I can't believe that I've just bothered to write this. :doh: :doh: :Doh: :Doh: :bang: :bang:

Russell
Title: Re: Anyone for tea?
Post by: allanchrister on June 07, 2019, 12:53:19 PM
I’m not a colonial, i’m In the US trying to help them to make tea properly. 

The posters who disagree are from the southern or midlands part of the UK, (I’m from the real North), so there is obviously regional difference as well as social status as the article infers.  MIF’s vs MIL’s....as well as mugs vs porcelain cups.

M I first causes the milk fats to emulsify when hot tea is added on top, which changes the taste of the tea.

Thanks RussellT for the support and logic.

How long can this go on?

Title: Re: Anyone for tea?
Post by: charadam on June 07, 2019, 01:09:05 PM
My valet brings me my tea, prepared to my liking.

I have no wish to pry into below-stairs activity, so will never know his recipe.
Title: Re: Anyone for tea?
Post by: awemawson on June 07, 2019, 01:11:49 PM
Excuse me, I'm from Yorkshire - I just happen to live in the soft underbelly of the country !
Title: Re: Anyone for tea?
Post by: AdeV on June 07, 2019, 04:59:07 PM
And I'm from Chester, in what I like to think of as the civilised half of the county  :lol:
Title: Re: Anyone for tea?
Post by: AdeV on June 07, 2019, 05:03:12 PM
M I first causes the milk fats to emulsify when hot tea is added on top, which changes the taste of the tea.

In fairness, Russell's right about making tea directly in a mug - it has to be milk after in that case; because tea HAS to be made with boiling (not just hot, which is why you can't make a decent mug of tea in the USA in most hotels, because they only have drip coffee machines, no kettles) water - and adding boiling water to milk does cause it to change.

However, tea brewed in a pot has cooled somewhat, so doesn't have the same deleterious effect on the milk.
Title: Re: Anyone for tea?
Post by: tom osselton on June 07, 2019, 06:38:14 PM
I would think that if you have a given amount of tea that will fit in the cup if you add the milk first you will change the taste unless your measuring it out, adding milk after you can see by the colour when there is enough to keep it a consistent taste.
Mind you being a cheap bastard I don’t use milk well maybe if I splurge and get some Condensed milk just to be proper!
Title: Re: Anyone for tea?
Post by: Pete. on June 08, 2019, 01:47:44 AM
I would think that if you have a given amount of tea that will fit in the cup if you add the milk first you will change the taste unless your measuring it out, adding milk after you can see by the colour when there is enough to keep it a consistent taste.
Mind you being a cheap bastard I don’t use milk well maybe if I splurge and get some Condensed milk just to be proper!

All you're doing then is changing the colour by adding milk plus you don't know how strong you've made it before the milk goes in. With the milk and tea bag in first you add water then keep stirring it with the tea bag in until you get the colour you want then remove the bag. So long as you always use the same amount of milk you get a perfect (to your taste) cuppa every time.
Title: Re: Anyone for tea?
Post by: allanchrister on June 08, 2019, 03:19:10 AM
What is going on.  You should not stir your cup with the teabag in it  :Doh:

The point is to let the tea brew, unstirred, in the hot water for a couple of minutes to let the flavors reveal themselves, and then add milk. Stirring does not let the tea brew.

What is the world coming to?  :doh:

Sorry, Chester and Yorkshire are still the south/midlands to me  :)

Everyone enjoying this with a cup of tea??
Title: Re: Anyone for tea?
Post by: Will_D on June 08, 2019, 02:39:34 PM
Historically, High Tea was served in the finest Bone China tea service. Trouble is, Bone China isn't very strong, and pouring the hot tea directly into the cup could cause the wafer thin vessel to crack. Putting the milk in first reduces the thermal shock, making a leaking (and socially unacceptable!) teacup an unlikely occurrence.

I disagree, bone china is a form of porcelain and as such is much more thermally stable. It was also frighteningly expensive in the early days so only the rich could afford it (Until the dutch stole the recipe from the chinese, and then the english stole if from the Dutch). So the posh nobs like to show off by adding the milk separatley!!

The poor used much cheaper clay based pottery that was not so stable and added the milk first to lessen thermal shock.
Title: Re: Anyone for tea?
Post by: PekkaNF on June 09, 2019, 02:05:30 AM
TEABAGS%(%¤)=?

Who in the right mind uses teabags? Specially Lipton. Those belong to dire emergenicies like army rations (and maybe fishing trips), or motels. Worst tea ever is i any budget airline.

Tea can be good. Coffee can be good. But tea bags and instant coffees are not.

Then again my emergency only -situation can be new normal to someone else. Then again: Long time ago in RSA, near Durban on one site offcie thre was a lady that could nice tea: good tea simply brewed, no milk, when very hot some lemon and if I caugh cold some honey.

Pekka
Title: Re: Anyone for tea?
Post by: Fergus OMore on June 09, 2019, 04:22:07 AM
For Latin scholars

Caesar ad sum iam forte :coffee:

and
Brutus et erat
Caesar sic in omnibus
Brutus sic in at  :drool:

from the other side of the Roman Wall- well, just :loco:
Title: Re: Anyone for tea?
Post by: PekkaNF on June 11, 2019, 10:04:14 AM
Caesar 'ad some jam for tea?

No, thank you, if goes onto a toast.
Title: Re: Anyone for tea?
Post by: AdeV on June 11, 2019, 12:41:15 PM
I'm fairly sure it goes on to say that Ceasar was poorly whilst on a bus.... not sure what the deal with Brutus is though.
Title: Re: Anyone for tea?
Post by: Fergus OMore on June 11, 2019, 01:48:38 PM
Brutus ate a rat- and invented Ratatouille.

then  recovered sufficiently after being sick in his hat, helped to kill Caesar.

Shakespeare recalls it "et tu, Brute" :hammer: Obviously took a dim view

Isn't a classical education wonderful said he coughing discretely







Title: Re: Anyone for tea?
Post by: howsitwork? on June 12, 2019, 03:23:33 PM
Now with potted tea ie brewed properly in a tea pot ( which preferably has been in use for at least two generations to properly acclimatise ) you definately add tea to already poured milk in the cup or mug. The tea having been allowed to infuse properly has matured and developed its flavour fully.

You DO NOT under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES boil the tea bags in a pot ( as happened on a trip to USA when I asked how they had managed to make the tea taste like it did and they asked would I like it boiled for longer...,😗😝)

With tea in a mug  for speed ( and in emergencies eg car journey etc using thermosflask for the hot water ( hangs head in shame) but I was desperate ).It is acceptable to stir and add milk having removed the tea bag to give room for the milk ( also from thermos so nice and cold).

As a monkey hanger I think I’m qualified as northern .

Coffee should always be in a mug as you get more....

Ian
Title: Re: Anyone for tea?
Post by: allanchrister on June 12, 2019, 09:49:32 PM
 Ian,
Monkey hangers in right county to qualify as a Northerner  :) disappointed though that you’re a MIF’er.
Still not far enough North but as a monkey hanger you’ve got another thing wrong. MIL  forever! I guess it’s similar to diluting acid. Always add acid to water last.