The 1967 British TV series The Prisoner, episode A Change Of Mind, prescribes the milk-first method, as part of a general instruction on how to make “a decent cup of tea”.
Lady tasting tea
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Re: Lady tasting tea
#42George Orwell has entered the chat https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwel... ... one should pour tea into the cup first. This is one of the most controversial points of all; indeed in every family in Britain there are probably two schools of thought on the subject. The milk-first school can bring forward some fairly strong arguments, but I maintain that my own argument is unanswerable. This is t…
Right, because it's much harder to measure a specific amount of milk in isolation than to eyeball how much of it you've just added to something else.
If you were concerned about regulating the amount of milk you were adding, tea first wouldn't even be a possibility.
Re: Lady tasting tea
#43I heard about this recently but I can't remember where. Was the topic of this tea test on a podcast or something recently?
Re: Lady tasting tea
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wonder how many valves would be needed to build an "AI-capable" computer? And how much electricity would it consume? Although the heat it generated would probably boil the Great Lakes!
Shouldn't need a lick of electricity! If by valves you mean fluidics [1]... at which point, harnessing the Niagra Falls and building out a fluidized supercomputer covering the great lakes would probably suffice. No worries about the waste heat, though, it's water cooled! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluidics
Apologies, I meant a vacuum tube:
Re: Lady tasting tea
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
With a very thick glass, you definitely can crack it with boiling water. I didn't know if earthenware is similarly susceptible, but anything that is both brittle, and has a high enough rate of thermal expansion would be.
And low enough rate of thermal conductivity.
Sure, thermal expansion can crack ceramic. More my question is, did this really happen? The operating parameters for a ceramic cup are well known. A cup that is ok for 90C tea vs 100C tea seems like terrible design which would run you out of business if your competitor could make cups that were not known for breaking if you did not let the water cool long enough.
Re: Lady tasting tea
#46George Orwell has entered the chat https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwel... ... one should pour tea into the cup first. This is one of the most controversial points of all; indeed in every family in Britain there are probably two schools of thought on the subject. The milk-first school can bring forward some fairly strong arguments, but I maintain that my own argument is unanswerable. This is t…
Right, because it's much harder to measure a specific amount of milk in isolation than to eyeball how much of it you've just added to something else. If you were concerned about regulating the amount of milk you were adding, tea first wouldn't even be a possibility.
I assume you are being sarcastic.
Drinking vessels come in all different sizes, from dainty little tea cups to mugs that hold an entire litre.
Measuring the milk requires both measuring the steep time exactly, and using a separate measuring cup. This wastes time and adds unnecessary cleanup.
Stirring as you add milk to the tea allows you to tell exactly the right amount for that cup (and for how long the tea was steeped) based on the colour of the beverage.
Re: Lady tasting tea
#47George Orwell has entered the chat https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwel... ... one should pour tea into the cup first. This is one of the most controversial points of all; indeed in every family in Britain there are probably two schools of thought on the subject. The milk-first school can bring forward some fairly strong arguments, but I maintain that my own argument is unanswerable. This is t…
Right, because it's much harder to measure a specific amount of milk in isolation than to eyeball how much of it you've just added to something else. If you were concerned about regulating the amount of milk you were adding, tea first wouldn't even be a possibility.
The line where he points out that you need to stir continuously is important. He's saying that by mixing the milk and tea reliably, you can eyeball the colour of the tea. Indeed, this helps you regulate the flavour over multiple cups as the tea may be stronger (and therefore darker) if you have not removed the tea leaves. Conversely humans are terrible at measuring volumes in isolation in a container thar may differ in size.
If you're concerned about regulating the tea (to water) to milk ratio, i.e., obtaining a reliable flavour), milk first wouldn't even be a possibility.
Re: Lady tasting tea
#48Re: Lady tasting tea
#49Wasn't this demonstrated by the Royal Chemical Society that pouring the milk into the tea creates a detectable trace of caramelization of the milk sugar or protein denaturation due to the momentary high temperature on the milk while the tea:milk ratio was very high at the initial pour? https://www.vahdam.com/blogs/tea-us/milk-first-or-last-the-s...
I've always preferred the taste of milk-first, and it never crossed my mind that the difference wasn't noticeable. I didn't realise it was a class marker until someone described it as "a bit MBT" (milk before tea.) Apparently where they were from this subtle social shading really mattered.
The milk first and milk second thing has been around for as long as I can recall (I'm 53). Mis and mif! Never a class marker but just a preference.
My mum was half Manc and half Devonian (to one gen) and my dad is half Irish and half North Hants to one gen. I can easily claim all UK nationalities within two generations and German within four. Cornwall, 14th gen via mum, Padstow. I've got the lot!
In reality, you end up with a tea pot going cold with stewed tea in it and you wack some milk and tea in a cup.
Get a grip and drink tea and stop pontificating about the stuff. Its just tea. Yummy!
Re: Lady tasting tea
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
Right, because it's much harder to measure a specific amount of milk in isolation than to eyeball how much of it you've just added to something else. If you were concerned about regulating the amount of milk you were adding, tea first wouldn't even be a possibility.
I assume you are being sarcastic. Drinking vessels come in all different sizes, from dainty little tea cups to mugs that hold an entire litre. Measuring the milk requires both measuring the steep time exactly, and using a separate measuring cup. This wastes time and adds unnecessary cleanup. Stirring as you add milk to the tea allows you to tell exactly the right amount for that cup (and for how long the tea was stee…
Measure is not being used as a literal verb. It's being used as an approximate measure. The same way we measure how much time we spend doing a task without a clock.