Ask Fuzzy: Can you tell if the milk went in before the tea?
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Question: Should we pour the milk or the tea first?
In Gulliver’s Travels there was conflict over whether an egg should be cracked at the big or the little end, and today we still can’t agree whether to pour the milk or the tea first.
Science can’t say what taste you prefer, but it can suggest whether you can tell the difference. Are we really able to sniff the aroma, swish the brew onto our fore-palate, and know which went in first?
Camellia sinensis is the basis of the most popular drink in the world, after water. The botanical name is derived from a combination of Rev Georg Kamel, and sinensis which means ‘from China’.
The complex flavours come from intimidating-sounding compounds such as phenols, flavonoids, isoflavones and terpenes, and the bitterness comes from catechin. Milk contains casein which binds to the catechins and reduces bitterness.
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