Milk in your tea?
Those who think the idea of putting milk into a cup of black tea is wrong, look away now.
Why do we put milk into a cup of tea? When the Chinese invented tea they didn’t, so why do we now?
Well, the reason doesn’t have anything to do with the actual taste of the tea, it’s more to do with the properties of the cup itself. In the 18th century bone china was incredibly delicate and liable to fractures and breakages. It was also very expensive and hard to replace, so some canny people decided to reduce the overall heat of the tea as it hit the china some milk could be used to limit any possible damage.
Another idea put forward by historians is that we British put milk in our tea to stop the tea from staining the cups.
Once everyone got used to the idea of putting milk in tea it grew in popularity until today it is still widely accepted as the most preferred way to enjoy tea, although black and green teas, best without milk, are becoming increasingly popular.