Milk: Before or After...?

This much-debated topic has divided tea drinkers for centuries. Which approach do you favour?

“Milk in before or after pouring tea? There is no doubt that the two practices give very different taste results. The fats in the milk are affected in different ways by either having very hot tea poured slowly into the milk, so that these fats never overheat, or by suddenly plunging milk into a large cup of hot tea. Some also claim that adding the milk afterwards counter that putting the milk in first gives a milkier, more caramelized flavour that dominates the taste of the tea.

Perhaps the most decisive argument is that it is much easier to judge the correct quantity of milk in relation to the strength of the brew when adding afterwards. The Wolseley favours this approach.”

An excerpt from ‘Breakfast at The Wolseley’ by A.A. Gill.