British scientist claims adding milk to tea first produces 'superior flavour'

A food science expert claims to have discovered a 'superior' way of making a cuppa — and it turns tradition on its head.

British scientist Professor Alan Mackie has stoked controversy with new research that suggests pouring milk onto a teabag before adding boiling water might result in a tastier brew.

The assertion has, unsurprisingly, left many British tea drinkers beside themselves.

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The research, conducted in conjunction with tap manufacturer INTU, found that certain minerals in hard water have the potential to inhibit flavour compounds from forming.

As such, the head of Leeds University's School of Food Science and Nutrition has advised those living in hard water areas add milk prior to pouring boiling water.

"Flavour by and large is produced by the different compounds in tea including tannins in particular," Professor Mackie says.

"The more minerals present in water the more difficult it is for these compounds to develop the flavour – resulting in the dull cuppas you get in hard water areas."

Adding the hot water first can result in the tea tannins turning into solids before they have a chance to develop the flavour properly, he explains.

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"But, if the milk is added at the start of the steeping process then its proteins can bind to the tannins and other minerals in the water – preventing them from turning solid – which in turn gives you a far superior flavour."

While the findings sound controversial, once upon a time when porcelain was very fine and soft and thin, milk was added to the cups first to stop hot tea and a fast temperature change breaking the cups.

The science-backed findings, however scientific, ring of last year's controversial 'tea wars', sparked by an American TikToker's intentionally provocative tea-making tutorial.

The spat culminated in the British military releasing their own tutorial explaining the correct way to make a cuppa.

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