The British claim to know a thing or two when it comes to making a good cup of tea.
The beverage is a cultural institution in the UK, where an estimated 100 million cups are drunk every day.
But now a scientist based more than 3,000 miles (5,000km) away in the US claims to have found the secret to a perfect cuppa that many Brits would initially find absolutely absurd - adding salt.
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It turns out that it is not a new idea - the ingredient is even mentioned in Eighth Century Chinese manuscripts, which Prof Francl analysed to perfect her recipe.
“What is new is our understanding of it as chemists,” Prof Francl said.
She explains that salt acts as a blocker to the receptor which makes tea taste bitter, especially when it has been stewed.
By adding a pinch of table salt - an undetectable amount - you will counteract the bitterness of the drink.
“It is not like adding sugar. I think people are afraid they will be able to taste the salt.”
She urges tea-loving Brits to have an open mind before prejudging her research, which she has documented in her new book Steeped: The Chemistry of Tea, published by the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Brits: “Seasoning? No thanks”
Just call it a spice - they’ll be all in
It works with coffee too.
Was about to say. This is pretty well known science. A dash of salt in coffee will de-bitter it. I would only assume the same goes for tea. Being a tea drinker I have yet to try it, but next time I have a bad cuppa, I’ll have a go at it.
Most people put sugar on grapefruit but I always put salt on it growing up because of the same chemistry. You don’t really need to sweeten the fruit, you just need to halt the bitterness a tad bit and the flavor really opens up.
My dad’s friend in the army used to put a drop of soy sauce in his coffee.
I’ve been putting a couple pinches of salt in my coffee grinds for a while now. It has the same effect.
Whats wrong with straight tea?
It’s not gay enough
It’s not Earl Gay enough
TIL salt is gay
Na and Cl fuck around.
I wonder what makes them male
It’s the electrons that poke into other atoms.
Since you all just learned what salt is, try putting it in your food! It’s what people refer to as a “seasoning”. Crazy right?
Yeah, it’s a super old trick (like the researcher said, she referenced a 1200-year old manuscript to help dial in the right proportions). Here’s a page from some random coffee roaster that goes into the long, long history of salting coffee for the exact same reasons: https://drinkgoldenratio.com/a/blog/salted-coffee
Apparently, cutting the water with sea brine was a popular trick in countries with a lot of coastline, that was how many sailors preferred it, etc.
I’ve heard this years ago. I decided to try it blind, make two cups, one with really a minimal, less than a pinch amount of salt. Then randomize them so I didn’t know which was which.
I could taste this “undetectable” amount of salt and it was worse.
I can just say, try it out like this (blindly). If it works for you, nice, it didn’t for me.
I’d repeat the test with someone else, and do NOT tell them that there’s salt in it. Just ask them if they notice a difference.
