Anyone who dared to question the One True Way of making tea, read this and repent:
“Tea drinking habits and oesophageal cancer in a high risk area in northern Iran: population based case-control study” by Farhad Islami et al., BMJ 2009;338:b929.
Alternative title: “Adding milk to your tea like a normal person prevents cancer”. You heard it here first eventually.
(H/T Mermaid)
Or the alternative title could be: “Wait until your tea cools down before drinking it as this will prevent cancer.” Grrrr. What’s next? Excessive chocolate consumption makes you fat?
Tea!!!! I had five cups today. I am also wide awake at 3:30 am commenting on blog posts.But I can’t prove causality, so I don’t have to stop drinking so much tea.Right?!! Right?!!!
No, no, no, no, no! No milk in tea! No sugar in tea! And no fucking condensed milk in tea! Thou shalt not sully thy pristine cup of tea with base and impure substances!(Unless it’s bubble tea, in which case the more boba the better.)[end hysterics]
Mmmmmmmm boba. Also, Mad Hatter, c’mon. Thai iced tea with condensed milk is a beautiful thing, no?
mad hatter, milk in tea is the only way to go. 3 cheers for Indian tea, we know how to make that stuff good.
Again I must agree with Mad Hatter: hot drinks (yes also coffee) must be enjoyed without sugar and milk – cancer risk or not!
I know someone who was killed by too much tea without milk or sugar – very suddenly. He was minding his own business on the sidewalk when a full tea urn fell on him from a great height.
LOL at everybody. This whole thread qualifies for comment of the week.
The WHOLE THREAD?! F**king bulls**t. What is this, comment of the week grade inflation?Hmmm … I’m a little cranky right now. I think it’s clearly time for another cup of tea.
No milk for the lactose intolerant!
I’m with Mad Hatter on this one. Milk is acceptable for cocoa. Tea needs to be pristine.
OK, every comment except Ruchi’s.Toaster, have you tried the lactose-reduced stuff? It’s OK, a little too sweet though (I’m a little sensitive to lactose, but not intolerant – small amounts of milk in tea are OK, as are cheese and yoghurt (the bugs eat most of the lactose), but if I drink a whole glass of milk I feel gross for hours).
Unsweetened soy milk isn’t bad either.
That was re: lactose intolerance.
LOL! Cath, I recall some mention of your workplace not allowing tea kettles anymore – am I dreaming here? If not, how on earth are you dealing with that?
SG – wow, good memory! We’re no longer allowed kettles at our desks – but there’s one in the kitchen on the floor below me. It’s a wee bit of a hassle to have to go down there and stand around while it boils (people tend to take the water otherwise), but I’m surviving!
This is all so funny, and it makes me want to have some good, relatively hot, Lapsang Souchong, sans milk, sugar, or anything else white. The only tea fit for 100% cream (not milk) is Earl Grey.If concerned about excessive heat, move to a higher elevation where water boils at a significantly lower temperature. That’s what I did, long before this study came out. Prescient of me, eh?
Ruchi will be hoping we don’t get onto another water boiling / freezing / volume / pressure tangent…
I have been known to use vanilla-flavored rice “milk” in dark, muddy chai (muddy because I’ll steep it for ~20min first). But that’s it; otherwise, only cane sugar.I find soy “milk” to be rather too much emulsion and not enough liquid.