An American scientist has sparked a trans-Atlantic tempest in a teapot by offering Britain advice on its favorite hot beverage.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/11138800

An American scientist has sparked a trans-Atlantic tempest in a teapot by offering Britain advice on its favorite hot beverage.

Bryn Mawr College chemistry professor Michelle Francl says one of the keys to a perfect cup of tea is a pinch of salt. The tip is included in Francl’s book “Steeped: The Chemistry of Tea,” published Wednesday by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Not since the Boston Tea Party has mixing tea with salt water roiled the Anglo-American relationship so much.

The salt suggestion drew howls of outrage from tea-lovers in Britain, where popular stereotype sees Americans as coffee-swilling boors who make tea, if at all, in the microwave.

…

The U.S. Embassy in London intervened in the brewing storm with a social media post reassuring “the good people of the U.K. that the unthinkable notion of adding salt to Britain’s national drink is not official United States policy.”

  • Itsamelemmy@lemmy.zipEnglish
    2·
    10 months ago

    As an American that also uses a kettle the occasional times I make tea, is it that they think the microwave is unhealthy, or just that a kettle is better. Because I know with the kettle I can set the temp, and from what I understand some teas are better brewed at different temps. With the microwave, you kinda just have boil.

    • Anamnesis@lemmy.worldEnglish
      38·
      10 months ago

      The microwave is literally faster if you’re just making one cup of tea. Why should I sit around for a whole kettle to boil if I can just microwave one cup for two minutes? Plus it’s already in the container you’re going to drink it out of. Absolutely silly.

      • Psaldorn@lemmy.worldEnglish
        13·
        10 months ago

        You don’t fill the whole kettle, do you?

        Just full it to minimum for a single cup.

      • Alxe@lemmy.worldEnglish
        5·
        10 months ago

        I have an electric kettle of ~1.6L capacity. I fill it with the minimum 0.5L and it boils in less than a minute.

        If you’re using a stove kettle, I understand why Microwaves can be faster, but outright saying so is a bit of an exaggeration.

      • Echo Dot@feddit.ukEnglish
        3·
        10 months ago

        Two minutes. It takes less than that to boil water in a kettle.

        What kettle are you using?

      • Patch@feddit.ukEnglish
        2·
        10 months ago

        1. You don’t fill a whole kettle, you just put in the water you need.

        2. British kettles legitimately boil faster than ones stateside because of our higher mains electricity voltage. A quick boil kettle in the UK is far quicker than a standard domestic microwave.

        Edit: I just timed my kettle (I was craving a cuppa anyway); one cup of water, 53 seconds. I bet your microwave can’t top that (mine certainly can’t).

      • Noel_SkumEnglish
        21·
        10 months ago

        In the UK they have proper electricity in domestic properties and kettles boil quickly…