Should you add milk before tea or tea before milk?

Answer 1

If you are referring to adding milk before or after tea supposedly it does taste better before to a connoisseur. Adding the milk before tea, lets the milk warm slowly, cools the tea, so if you have a very fine porcelain cup it does not break from heat, prevents mild curdling and scalding and makes it easier to mix. Adding milk before the tea is the traditional English way of making tea.

If you are asking whether milk should be added to tea at all, that depends on the kind of tea and your taste. Typically green and white teas are not usually served with milk or sugar because of mild flavour. Strong black teas, spiced black teas, and herbal teas are more likely to be served with milk

Answer 2

tea before the milk, and let the tea boil before a bit before putting the milk

Actually, A sceintific study shows that tea tastes like boiled milk if you do it your way. You obvoiusly have half my tastebuds!

Ok. New contributor. To add more detail:

If you are making a traditional cup of English tea you will put the tea in the CUP last.

First:

You put tea leaves in a teapot

Then add hot water.

Leave it to brew for a while (if we're being really traditional we use a tea-cozy to keep the teapot, and therefore the brewing tea, from cooling down).

Now put your milk in the bottom of your teacup.

Lastly slowly pour the tea through a strainer onto the tea.

This way the milk warms gradually and doesn't 'scald'. This is the boiled milk flavour that was referred to by an earlier poster.

Traditionally in the North of England a metal teapot/kettle was used to boil the water, leaves were added and then the teapot was put back on top of the stove to brew/stew for a bit longer. This tea has a completely different flavour and I would imagine has slightly more caffiene than normally brewed tea.

The milk used shouldn't be too creamy. I would say Semi-skimmed would be fine, certainly no creamier than full milk (so no channel island milk or any kind of cream). I would also suggest not much should be used. The purpose of milk in a tea with milk is merely to take the edge of the bitter taste. If you like it bitter then try it with lemon like the French take it.

Answer 3

This is actually a matter of opinion. The real way is to add the milk after you have poured your tea, but if you like to pour tea after milk it will not affect the taste.