I love putting milk and sugar in my tea and I've heard that it's a British thing...read on?!
Answers: Why is it usually British people, or more specifically, why are the British more recognized for putting milk and sugar in their tea? What's the history behind it? [I want to know this because, well, I would really love to know why and i love Brits!]
as a "brit" [sorry it's just i've never referred to myself as one "brit" normally i just say english person..i guess it's like american people, i've yet to hear one refer to themselves as a yank...] anyway, tea is important to us, everyday no matter where she is in the world the queen will have a cup of tea at precisly 3pm. Yes milk and sugar is very important although traditionally we use sugar lumps. There reason for the milk and sugar? simple, tea tastes awful without them. When i was in America i noticed when i asked for tea i was served black lemon tea and was shocked it was awful. The BEST brands of tea are Earl Grey, Tetley, PG Tips and Yorkshire tea =] p.s Of course tea is even better when served with triangular cucumber sandwitches [crust removed] and Scones with jam and cream
Cultural thing, eh wot? I like a little milk 'n sugar in my tea, too. I picked up the taste while living in Kenya. Funny thing, they like their Tea hot with milk and sugar and their coffee black and iced. Sort of opposite what i was used to, but I have gotten so I do it too! It's just a matter of what you grow up with, what you see people around you doing, and what tastes you develop. Every nationality and culture has their own things that way. I'm not sure there is a definite answer 'why', its just kind of the way things developed over time!
Interesting!! I never thought of it and i was drinking tea with milk and sugar from my childhood. As you can see, i am an Indian. I will look forward for answers.
There was a duchess who had her butler serve tea to her along with snacks around five o'clock. After enjoying that alone she started inviting friends to join in. The trend spread to middle class people who liked imitating the rich. It's been a tradition ever since. The milk and sugar doesn't have much to do with britain in particular.
well this is not a british thing probably thare are other people that do the same thing(i've done it before), which statistics cannot always deternine it (exactly)..ask your friends and other people for their oponion, in person..
tea came from china. the rich people "upper classes" always drank the tea like the chinese did, straight and in porcelain if they could afford it
it was the "lower classes" that started putting milk in tea to dilute it because at that time, tea was expensive and the less money you had, the more milk you put in.
btw, you probably heard the expression "not for all the tea in china" it means you won't do something even if you will be rewarded with all the money in the world.
and while you are at it, look into the opium wars, on how britain, through the east india company, poured opium and drugs into china in exchange for tea because they didn't want to use gold to pay for it. china tried to fight back against the drug trade, but britain came in with gunships and forced china to accept several concessions including china legalizing narcotics leading to MILLIONS of people addicted and thousands upon thousands dead. yeah, you love the brits. murderers....
http://www.teamuse.com/article_010502.ht...
http://teasonline.com.au/catalog/product...
"What is milk tea? To begin, hundreds of years ago, it was the British custom of drinking tea with milk economically. The long journey from the Orient made tea prohibitively expensive. Milk, on the other hand, was cheap and became the condiment of choice among the lower classes. The amount of milk added became a telltale sign of one's social standing. The wealthy took their tea undiluted. The middle class poured the expensive tea and then diluted it with milk. The lower class filled the cup with cheap milk and then added a splash of the costly tea."
http://teasonline.com.au/catalog/product...
excellent article on opium and tea.
http://www.teamuse.com/article_010502.ht...
I think like coffee it is a personal preference. I was born in raised in Canada as were my parents and I always put some milk and sugar in my tea...coffee I only put in sugar though and no milk.
Actually the tradition was milk and honey.And I love that combo in any tea,dark from Ceylon or herb tea from central Europe.When you put sugar,you kill that taste.Try a little bit of dark(very healthy)honey from Germany you'll love it.
Okay i live in scotland i drink lots of tea and coffee
I take my tea with milk and 2 sugars
and coffee again milk and two sugars
anyother way is just plain wrong milk and sugar all the way
I have heard that the British sugar industry promoted putting sugar in tea. Other than that, I agree with the previous answers.