Salt Tea? WHAAAAAT?! says Brits

So, in some funny, lighter news, some recent findings about tea shed light that it could taste better with a pinch of salt.

Link to an article

Basically, the gist is that salt helps to neutralize some of the bitter elements in tea, the national beverage of the England (and perhaps the UK at large?).

Well, they had a lot to say about this as apparently adding salt to tea is about as bad as microwaving your tea. Some choice quotes:

"This feels like a crime," "Good Morning Britain" posted on social media Wednesday, sharing a video of one of its anchors saying such an addition is "absolute craziness."

"I mean I've never heard anything like it," the anchor said. " ... Don't mess with a cup of tea. You can't add salt and warm the milk. I don't know what she's thinking."

"What will America recommend today, we wonder?" the account posted on Thursday. "Onions in a bowl of cereal? Mustard on Jaffa Cakes?"

The US Embassy even had to get involved!

What say you, Gamespot OT?

I'm trying to wrap my mind about this because the sheer idea seems poposterous, but I also can't completely scoff at it because I haven't tried it. I understand the complaints towards the bitterness of black tea though. I normally have some Yogi brands of tea around, along with Sleepytime and twinings. Just checked and I don't have any actual black tea on hand.

Jangles, are you going to test this out?

1. Boil your water (kettle)
2. Steep the teabag/leaves
3. Add milk if preferred
4. Add sugar if preferred

Brilliantly easy, and anything more is an affront to us British. TBH, I think adding things like this dates back to ancient china, and there are multiple varieties of tea and added condiments.

All this being said, anyone who microwaves water for tea should be publicly flogged.

I am not even close to British... well, besides 97% of my ancestry... but that is neither here nor there, as a filthy American even I cringe at the thought!

I'll try it

@Stevo_the_gamer: It's truly sacrilegious. Shit, kettles are common place... Even us commoners can buy espresso machines nowadays lol.

Think you need your head checking if you think Salt Tea is a suitable drink

BWahahaha nice to get an "official" response from a British person.

Out of curiosity, what % would you say add milk? And sugar?

I've been drinking my tea without both, but I had some milk lying around the other day and tried it out, it was nice. Sort of helped with the bitterness.

I have to ask: what exactly is so sacrilegious about the salt? Are additives just a no-no, do you folks not drink chai? Or is the context that this is just a pure cup of black tea and should not be messed with?

I did and it works, believe it or not.

Really does take the bitterness out. Does not taste salty.

I really like it because I use loose-leaf tea and make it 1.5 L at a time. It's my main source of hydration, I tend to drink the pot from like 5AM to 8AM.

The problem is the tea, even after I remove the leaves, continues to get bitter (I guess from residual tea particles or whatever) so that perfect first cup is nice but an hour later the pot has gotten a bit bitter for me. The salt helps remove the bitterness (or, according to the article, helps my tongue masks the bitterness).

So yeah, I'd say it works.

I did 1/2 tsp for my 1.5 L pot of loose leaf English breakfast tea (black tea).

I might try less salt next time. Like I said, it wasn't salty, but there was a very very very subtle note of brine/saline. It wasn't remotely unpleasant but it was, you know, different lol.

Yeah, no, that's not right at all.

I will reheat tea in the microwave sometimes, when I urgently need to throw something hot down my throat. Ruins the taste and leaves a horrible scum on the top. I don't recommend it.

Milk and sugar is solely preference. Some people prefer more milk and sugar and variations of. Personally, a little milky with maybe 1/2-1tsp of sugar. It also depends on the type of tea... Earl Grey is seemingly popular in NA, but not a personal fave (though I rarely drink tea nowadays).

It's only sacrilegious in comedic terms. Though it's definitely not a staple with English tea, like I said, it's been used for centuries in China.

All-in-all, enjoy tea as you like, but don't f*cking boil water in a microwave!!!

@mrbojangles25: For English breakfast tea, that's probably a fair bit less leaf than most people would add, but it's going to depend on the blend. Most Brits chuck a teabag in the cup, which is maybe a slightly rounded teaspoon, at a guess. Leaf tea is often higher quality, tippier tea, so you can probably go for about half a teaspoon per cup, or closer to a teaspoon if it looks more like shreds than granules.

Milk, I reckon 10-15% of the volume is about safe for guests. Got to judge it by colour really. Generally you want a sunny golden colour for Assam-heavy blends like most English breakfasts and aim for paler if it's straight Ceylon, which also works great with milk.

Is it as bad as breaking pasta in half... in Italy? Hmm. It might be close. Y'all do love your tea.

How much did you use? You have my curiosity now... and if it equally causes lundy to wince... is that a win?

Edit: Nevermind, I completely oversaw the second half of the post. It's only 7pm... I have no excuse for the idiocy. X_X

agreed, i read that water molecules know when they were heated via fire or hot coil vs. electromagnetic radiation and purposefully decide to taste worse as a "**** you" to the heathen who dared heat it that way.

Boiling does remove free oxygen, and heating on a stove takes longer.

It's also safer to boil water in a kettle (via stove or coil or induction or what have you), as microwaved water can boil without visually boiling, and when you agitate the vessel the water is in, it can hyperboil suddenly and dowse you in hot water.

Me personally, I like an electric kettle with various temp settings as green tea needs a specific water temp vs black tea and so on.

@mrbojangles25: I'm not sure Britains will be open to adding anything new to their tea. Isn't their whole thing conquering countries halfway across the globe for spices and then not using them?

lol

Actually didn't know putting salt in tea was a thing, and I drink tea every day. Told my gf about it, and she was like "you didn't know? What are you, an idiot? Ancient china bla bla..". Now that I do know, it doesn't sound preposterous at all. Can it dial back the bitterness without messing up the flavor, I'm all for it. Gonna try it for green tea.

Personally boil water with a kettle(!) and usually do some earl grey with a little bit of milk and honey.

I think it's because an electric kettle will heat it to the right temperature for the tea (no hotter than 200°F) so you don't scald it (which makes the tea more bitter).

With a microwave you won't know the exact temperature you heat it to.

"My grandpa didn't fight in some hellhole 3000 miles away in the Great Tea War so we can put SALT in our TEA! Where my country gone!?"

Yeah, that sounds about right.

Is this where we are heading?

That sounds disgusting.

@horgen: That's gold

How so?

Yeah, that whole conversation was hilarious.

The way it started you're like "Oh wow, bless your heart, you simple child" but then it got to the stoves and putting the mug on the flame directly 🤣

OK so I've been doing this for a few days now and I am sold on it.

Dialed down the salt to 1/4 tsp per 1.5 L of regular black tea (loose leaf, about 4 Tbsp) steeped for 4 minutes.

Not salty, not briny, just tea flavor...slight hint of bitterness, which is good, without having that drying astringency you sometimes get.

Salt! In my Tea?? Good lord no!!

As the Microwave, the last time I did that was only because my kettle was busted!

Haha fair enough, I respect your right to a traditional "cuppa", as I think you folks call it.

Just to be clear, though, we aren't talking about enough salt to make the tea actually taste salty.

People often think of adding salt as making something salty, and that's definitely a concern if overseasoned, but a properly seasoned anything doesn't actually taste salty it just tastes....well, good. Flavorful.

@horgen: Probably one of the most funny things I've ever read.

So... Like a few grains of fine salt if only for one cup?

I use Kosher salt, less iodine (so less chance of imparting flavor) but yeah either kind of of salt works. I reckon grains, flakes, or even rock salt would dissolve just fine.

This is what do when fast. Electrolytes.

Like... I am willing to try, but I am not a big tea drinker.

Makes sense. As Alton Brown pointed out years ago, doing this same thing w/ coffee cuts the bitterness.

omg I didn't even think about this. I will have to try that next.

Salt is incredible. I don't get how some people don't season their food.

Much processed food is already high in salt. Which is something like 70% of intake in America.

Now coffee is something I drink regularly.

I guess one got to specify about adding salt to non-processed food.