An unusual cup of tea - 12th February 2024

A new book about tea made some people unhappy. This was a problem for the US and UK governments.

Michelle Francl wrote the book. She’s a chemistry professor. She studied the taste from different chemicals. Tea tastes nicer with salt.

This is unusual for people in Britain. Tea is an important part of British culture.

In Britain, you boil water in a kettle. You use black tea. You wait for about three minutes. At the end, you add some milk. You can add sugar, but not salt.

The US embassy said sorry to the UK. Salt in tea “is not official United States policy”.

The Boston Tea Party is part of US and UK history. In 1773, Americans put 340 boxes of tea into the sea. They didn’t want to pay the Tea Tax.

But salt in tea is a tradition. It’s common in many Asian cultures. How do you like your tea?