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

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.

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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.”

  • NacktmullEnglish
    31•10 months ago

    We are not talking about Tibetan butter tea salt levels here. In the article it is recommended to use just enough salt to tone down the bitterness by blocking the bitterness receptors on the tongue, not so much that the tea actually tastes salty.

    • Jajcus
      11•10 months ago

      Yeah ‘make a better tea by making it taste less like a tea’. I have seen a lot of that from people who just don’t like tea.

      Though, for me that also include Brits, who spoil a good tea by adding milk ;-)

      • CashewNut 🏴󠁢󠁥󠁧󠁿English
        14•10 months ago

        Though, for me that also include Brits, who spoil a good tea by adding milk ;-)

        🤨 Breathe and count to ten. Stop grinding your teeth. No one needs to die. Breathe…

      • flickerEnglish
        6•10 months ago

        I’ll Chime in with my two cents that my experience with coffee and a pinch of salt really cuts the bitterness…

        But I prefer bitter coffee so it’s wasted on me.