https://www.vahdam.com/blogs/tea-us/milk-first-or-last-the-s...
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.
When you pour hot tea into an empty cup, the innermost layer of the cup goes from room temp to ~80C within a fraction of a second.
When you pour hot tea into a cup that already contains a fair amount of milk, it goes from $milkTemp to ~60C gradually over a few seconds as the tea mixes with the milk, giving enough time for the cup to expand evenly.
I visited a fascinating museum with a ceramics collection, and it included an exhibit with a history of ceramics. Earlier ceramics had this problem. Apparently, bone china -- with some bone mixed in -- created a tougher material that was less prone to cracking under the rapid temperature shock. As ceramics improved over the decades, it became a non-issue.
I suspect that letting the heat spread out over a larger area at the bottom of the cup might have alleviated cracking. That's a speculation of course.
I wonder if this is why the Russians drank tea from glasses. My mom has some lovely Russian tea glasses with silver holders.
Also, mass manufacturing was in its infancy.
However, I do wonder whether some people are confused and think milk first means the teabag goes into the milk. This would explain why some people seem inexplicably horrified by it.
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!
But is said to still be a class marker.
I am genuinely curious because this seems to be a near-universal thing in Britain, and I just... don't get it.
It also binds with some other compounds making them less active too, but the astringency is an easy point to understand.
https://www.reddit.com/r/tea/comments/mb1tku/tempering_astri...
> The null hypothesis is that the subject has no ability to distinguish the teas
Since the hypothesis was invalidated, we can begin investigating _how_ she's able to distinguish it, which is what you're getting at.
I was alway told the milk-last 'scalds' the milk, and I do prefer the taste of milk-first, especially with the first pour of the pot.
If making teabag tea, it's better to let the tea brew (and cool) for a few minutes before adding milk. Adding the milk just after the water gives a terrible cup.
Id anything I would think there should be more caramelization in the TBM case because there should be more heat in the larger volume of tea and so the milk should get hotter at the point of initial contact.