Is this too much? How much milk should you add to hot tea?

by Stefanie Jackson

Sep 30, 2022

Do you like to get milky with it?

Last month, a cup of tea ignited a war. A Twitter war, that is.

Users were left gobsmacked by this cup of tea. Specifically, the amount of milk in this cup of tea… which could possibly be just a glass of warm skim milk and water, we can’t be sure.

Making tea like this should be a criminal offence. pic.twitter.com/FV63CLMpLY

— No Context Brits (@NoContextBrits) August 8, 2022

While this is undeniably a ridiculous amount of milk, I also must say I like my tea on the milky side. Obviously not as milky as the tweet above, I’m not a sociopath.

While journeying down this Twitter road, I happened upon the way Queen Elizabeth took her tea – and then began to worry that I too, might be doing it wrong. According to reports, former royal chef Darren McGrady once confirmed that QEII’s tea had to be made with “absolute boiling water”, and steeped for no less than a full five minutes.

Dear reader, I do not have time to steep for five minutes. My teabag gets four jiggles – at best – before I whip it out, pop in the milk and get on with my morning.

It turns out I’m not alone. According to a recent study from Lipton, 11% of Aussies are guilty of taking the tea bag out too soon. Other major tea-making faux pas include 57% of tea drinkers leaving the bag in the cup, and 10% who put the milk in before the tea (who even are you people?)!

Queen Elizabeth ll has a cup of tea while in Northern Ireland on a royal visit in 1977. Source: Anwar Hussein/Getty Images

To set us all on the straight and narrow, Lipton asked their tea expert, Cheryl Teo, for her tips on making perfect cuppa. Are you getting it wrong?

STEEPING TIME

Cheryl says your standard black tea should only be steeped for three to five minutes, otherwise it will become bitter. Strong tea fans might want to consider dropping in an extra bag, rather than leaving one in your cup for half an hour. Squeezing the tea bag is a big no-no, the increased extraction also leads to a bitter flavour. Drips be damned.

THE MILK

It’s official folks, water before milk. Adding milk at the end will allow you to control the strength of your tea, the other way around just leaves you flying blind.

SUGAR OR HONEY?

Cheryl says most people add sweeteners to their tea to mask bitterness – which means you should head back to step one, and start whipping that teabag out quicker than you’re used to.

HOW TO DRINK IT

The way you hold your cup doesn’t affect the taste of your tea – but when it comes to etiquette, you should definitely be using the handle. Your choice of cup, however, will definitely change the way it tastes.

A tall ceramic cup will keep tea warmer for longer in winter, and a wide porcelain teacup is perfect for summer brews. Just like all other beverages (hello wine), tea from a polystyrene or plastic cup will not taste as good as it should.

And as for putting your pinkie up? It’s not a thing, but you go ahead and do you.