Reply With QuoteWhat's embarrassing about it?
Ps Yorkshire hard water, green box, about 12 mugs a day.
Guys. I'm confused. I'm half British but never really understood the attraction of British tea. I'm confused as to why people drink it so frequently, and in particular why they commit the aberration that is putting milk into it. Finally why does it seem to represent something calming when it has caffeine in it? Frequently you see on TV after a particularly stressful event someone say 'I'll make you a nice cup of tea'or something like that.
Would love it if someone could explain what the attraction is as frankly I find the concept a tad bizarre and almost embarrassing.
What's embarrassing about it?
Ps Yorkshire hard water, green box, about 12 mugs a day.
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
I mean just how it makes Brits look when viewed by foreigners. Kind of makes Brits look a bit pathetic with this dependency on tea and milk in a mug. Not exactly awe inspiringOriginally Posted by seikopath
I think you might be reading a bit too much into it. It just tastes good.
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Mongolians drink fermented mares milk. They are not embarrassed about that at all.
Tibetans drink salted butter tea. They are both proud of the identity their drinks give them and proud of their culture. Tibetans drink almost more tea than we do.
There are many great tea drinking cultures. China and Japan. They drink it differently than we do. I experimented with oolong in my youth but have never gone back.
I thought you were a rampant multiculturalist? Nowt wrong with tetley, lad. Stand proud.
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
Ryan you only got half the British genes so it's little surprise you don't get it. I don't understand why you would eat cake for breakfast as in mainland Europe.
I've had Tibetan Yak milk tea in Lhasa. Utterly revolting.
I do like Jasmine tea but only with no milk in it. It's just people here drinking more than 4 cups a day I'm kind of thinking they may be addicted lol.
My wife is Thai so we usually have noodles or curry for breakfast. Seriously:)
Why would any non British person judge drinking tea with milk pathetic?
Many people from different countries drink coffee with milk or cream , should that be deemed pathetic too ?
Half British? Now that's something new, never mind tea.
Fas est ab hoste doceri
Embarassing? Over the fact Brits like a cup of tea? Seriously? I think I have heard it all now.
There's no such thing as yak milk tea. If you tell a tibetan that he won't stop laughing.... Maybe that's why it was disgusting??? The word yak is only used to describe the male of the species. Its like saying 'would you like some bull's milk in your tea vicar?'
I've had it many many times, had some tonight actually. Its always different, sometimes it is really really rank, especially if the butter is old. Sometimes it is delicious.
No doubt though at altitude the added fat is really really welcome. It's a very practical drink.
Tea is central to british culture. First time I went to France on a school trip I struggled to get a decent cup of tea and just couldn't understand why. Now I'm a bit older I sort of understand it. Vive le difference.
If you're going to moan about british drinking culture then alcohol is an easier target methinks. Leave our tea alone.
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
Sounds like you've gone from the sublime to ridiculous matey ..... :)
I wish I was Russian so I could have vodka instead of milk in my breakfast cuppa
I take a supply of tea with me when I go abroad.
Nothing stopping you.... I know a guy who has orange juice on his muesli in the morning instead of milk. He isn't even foreign ffs.
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
Me too Ian. Even if I go to great tea growing areas.
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
On that note it's kind of strange that people eat specific types of food at breakfast but not at other times. Why is toast a morning thing and soup an afternoon/evening thing? There's no nutritional reason for this.
More "Brit" bashing. As it's in the pub I won't bother to comment further.
I’m half British. I drink several mugs of tea every day. Loose leaf, made in a warmed pot, brewed for three minutes and strained. With milk. No embarrassment here- what a strange thing to say...
No need to be a Russian to do that, I'm sure that pi$$ heads the world over partake . . .
F.T.F.A.
I simply adore left over Chinese or Indian takeaway for breakfast.
Russians like jam in their tea apparently, I would like to try that sometime.
Quite. Love Tibetan tea. There was a joint just off Leicester Sq ages ago serving decent one, used to go with one if my Buddhist mates for a cuppa (always thought of it as a meal though).
Just looked in the cupboard and I have eight different teas, all single estate, type, can't stand these awful 'blends'. Absolutely love a nice, freshly brewed cuppa as the evenings get colder and darker. Lapsang Souchong milk or no milk would be one of the flavours I'm drawn at the long winter nights..
Last edited by VDG; 29th September 2018 at 21:04.
Fas est ab hoste doceri
I only drink black coffee, hate tea.
I've never liked tea, not sure why.
Tea is a great drink. I've drank it with milk in the UK to the mountains in Afghanistan with the Mujahedeen (without milk) how's that for multiculturalism you said I was ignorant about.
Not sure why people are getting so upset. I've made a light hearted jab at tea and now there's some real spite.
Tell you what, and this isn't a fit of pique due to this thread rather it's something I've been thinking of for a while but I'm offski from this site. It's become a nasty place with a rather right wing agenda in places. And before the expected 'don't close the door on the way out' comments from the usual suspects I'll leave you with my legacy which is raising over £3k for the fundraiser via the PSAs, the offering of cut price and hard to find watches to the forum and also lots of industry insider news.
You all have a great evening folks
Pretty much. Low-grade trolling.
I think the milk thing in tea comes from the type of tea you had.
English tea, whether Assam (India) or China, was a black, strong tea. Adding milk made it milder to drink.
The Dutch, who supplied the rest of Europe, favoured milder teas, like the orange pekoe. Ergo, most of the continent doesn’t add milk to their tea.
There is a legend that says milk was added to stop china from cracking.
First, tea pots were china too, and boiling water was poured directly in it. And two, I was told when I was younger that tea first was posher as it demonstrated a superior quality of china, whereas milk first was for those who didn’t trust their china so much.
Finally, tea was drunk in china cups on the continent too.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Tea is very 'Brit' to me - I equally do not understand the coffee obsession elsewhere?
Live and let live!.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Interesting stuff
I had a hard time a couple of years ago when I was advised to stop all dairy. I did kind of get used to black tea but after some experimentation with substitutes I found that cashew milk was OK. Ive now got used to it, though when I was in the States last month couldn't find any so went back to black for a couple of weeks.
First time I had green coffee, made by a couple of Saudi guys, it knocked my socks off. So, so different to how I think of a cup of coffee.
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
Toast is good anytime, supper for example.
Supper?
So last century.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Hmm, drinking tea with NDS/ANA whilst boosting their LE capacity is one thing but muj? (Going totally off tea topic here sorry)
Fas est ab hoste doceri
I love tea and coffee but I really don't like either with milk or sugar added. My father-in-law pretty much only drinks milky tea, I don't think I've ever seen him have a glass of water.
Saint-Just - is that where the - milk in first debate comes from ?
Not whether you brewed your tea in a mug and had to add milk second .
Ordering tea this side of the Atlantic is s nightmare for a Brit .
- Can I have a cup of tea?
-No , hot tea.
- can I have some cold milk
- no not coffee half and half
Best you do is a mug of water at about 6o degrees with s spoon standing in it and a packet of Liptons.
If you don’t specify you get a cold sweet yellow liquid of dubious origin .
While I’m on a rant - Liptons tea
Step 1 Sweep the floor on the tea factory
Step 2 feed it to your favorite rodent
Step 3 dry the resulting poo, bag it and sell it to Americans
And that’s all I have to say about that .
I admit to never having the chance to try green coffee.
But was invited to a very traditional tea ceremony by a colleague outside Tokyo. I was very scared to make a faux pas. And as it was before the omnipresent internet and finding out how to behave was part of the challenge.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
When I were a lad a real winter treat was to make toast in the evening cooked on a toasting fork on the fire. Then add lashings of butter. Delicious!
As for tea, my wife's French family are utterly mystified by how anyone can like the way we brits drink but know it's important to me (can't start the day without at least two cups) so go out of their way to accommodate it when I go over there.
I read somewhere our penchant for tea may historically be due to lack of something in our diet that tea contains, zinc rings a bell.
Tea was taxed lower than coffee I seem to remember reading in Niall Ferguson's 'Empire'. We became accustomed to drinking tea and shipped the coffee to Europe. Drinking tea is evolved muscle-memory.
The Afghans make a good brew, albeit in a little glass rather than a mug. 😁 I was stuck at the Kyber Pass for a day so they kindly made a brew for us.
Look away now if you're feeling a little thin-skinned:
"A man of little significance"
A couple of people are upset…. Sometimes the discenters become amplified….
There is no doubt you’ve helped many on the forum and contributed more than most to the fundraiser
I believe you’re perceived as a ‘good guy’
There are those (not my cup of tea😀) who have ‘interesting political views’ on here but there are more than you’d think on here who have views from the opposite end of the spectrum…
Don’t sweat it…. Come back :-)
Ben
Ps…. I like normal tea but am also mildy addicted to various flavours of Pukka tea
Last edited by Wolfie; 29th September 2018 at 22:39.
You know of another now, I much prefer OJ than milk on morning cereals.
WRT tea, I can't abide it with milk, it tastes disgusting to me.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
I like tea with milk and sugar. (although I prefer coffee if it's available)
People in other countries have different drinks they like.
I don't view them as 'pathetic' for their 'dependancy' on them.
And I think it's rubbish saying they feel that way about us.
Ian.
The way I was told was that we were originally coffee drinkers, loads of business and politics took place in coffee houses, until the crop failed for a couple of seasons. Tea was used as a substitute and the rest is history.Tea was taxed lower than coffee I seem to remember reading in Niall Ferguson's 'Empire'. We became accustomed to drinking tea and shipped the coffee to Europe. Drinking tea is evolved muscle-memory.
In case anyone were wondering..
Fas est ab hoste doceri
So do I bags of it and I make foreigners a cup with milk most of them enjoy it.
Don’t take it to heart,stay.
This is how SHMBO has her cereal each morning, though I've also now got her hooked on Yorkshire tea which we take with us wherever we go..
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
Red or green?
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
Red,
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
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