How to make the perfect cup of tea – how long should you leave the teabag in and should you put milk in first?
BRITS are constantly debating the best way to make the perfect cup of tea - and it's safe to say that everyone has their own theories.
From the amount of milk to how long to brew for, here are the dos and don'ts of making Britain's favourite hot drink...
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How to make the perfect cup of tea?
Scientists recently claimed to have discovered the method for the perfect cup of tea.
Experts at the University of Northumbria's School of Life Sciences spent 180 hours working on the formula – with a panel of volunteers consuming 285 cups in a lab to come up with the formula.
Step 1: Add 200ml of boiling water to a tea bag in a cup and leave for two minutes
Step 2: Remove the tea bag and add 10ml of milk
Step 3: Add sugar (if you wish)
Step 4: Leave it for six minutes so it reaches the perfect temperature of 60C
*Note: Be careful not to leave it for too long – if it drops below 45C it will be past its best, ruining the “all round sensory experience”.
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When are you supposed to add milk to your tea?
This debate has raged on across Britain for decades - and there are STILL multiple theories about when the best time is to add the milk.
Yorkshire Tea's buyer, Suzy, explained why it's best to add the milk AFTER brewing.
She said: “To get the best infusion possible, black tea really needs freshly boiled water (as close to 100°C as possible).
"When you put milk into infusing tea you lower the temperature of the water so a proper infusion can’t take place.
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Despite this, scientists from Loughborough University believe that you should always add milk BEFORE the tea.
Research revealed that pouring cold milk into your teaming mug causes the fluid to heat unevenly and clump together.
This could affect the taste and contribute to the skin or film that forms on the top of your cuppa.
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Does it matter if you use re-boiled water?
Apparently, for a truly delectable cup of tea you need to use water you’ve only boiled once.
Chairman of the Tea and Infusions Association, William Gorman, told the Telegraph: “Usually when people’s tea goes cold they reboil the kettle and make another cup. But doing this you are guaranteed to give yourself a dull cup of tea."
The issue is that repeatedly boiling takes the oxygen and nitrogen out of water, which makes tea taste a bit rubbish.
As if that wasn’t mind-blowing enough, William advises people to make their faithful cuppas in the MICROWAVE if it’s gone cold.
That’s because it doesn’t have the same impact as reboiling water, so the taste will stay the same.
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How long should you brew your tea for?
Waiting for the kettle to boil and then leaving your cuppa for more time to brew can feel like a bit of a faff.
But taking these extra minutes could really improve your bog standard cup of tea.
Twining's tea company advises: "We recommend that you allow the teabag to brew for two and a half to three minutes.
"This allows the flavour to fully develop."
The longer you leave the tea, the more caffeine that makes it into your cup.
This is why leaving the teabag in for more than five minutes can make the hot drink taste bitter, as too many molecules called tannins are steeped into your mug.
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