Interesting — Should you add milk to tea?:

In European salons [in the 1600s], tea was served in delicate fine bone china, easily cracked by the shock of hot tea being poured into the cup. Adding milk first served to reduce the temperature of the infusion, preserving the fragile teaware.

@Miraz Fascinating. I've tried (black) tea without milk a few times, and although I can drink it, I still prefer it with milk. A little to bitter for me without it.

@Miraz second brilliant post I have read this morning. I alway get told off, adding milk to Earl Grey. This post reminded me of the oh so very sweet Pink Chai I tried ☕️🫖

@Munish Well, you do you! If you like milk in your tea then go for it. 😁

@Miraz Interesting article, thanks for sharing! As someone who is lactose intolerant, my personal answer to this question should be obvious 😁 My Kyrgyz host family drinks milk with black tea sometimes, but the usual is black tea with sugar, even for children (who sometimes add two large teaspoonfuls of sugar to their small tea cup to effectively make it sugar with tea 😬) Most people here are shocked when they see that I drink straight tea

@Miraz Ah, I see. Okay, I'll give that a try.

@Miraz That explains a lot. And adds more fuel to the milk first/later debate!

@val I haven't drunk black tea for decades but when I grew up I learned to put milk in it. At some point as an adult I stopped and realised I much preferred it black. Interesting how cultures vary, eh!

@Miraz Interesting indeed! And I didn't even start drinking (real) tea until I was 20 and went to China. Before that, all I had known was (American) southern sweet tea. Which should be written SWEET in all caps