Brits and the never-ending tea dilemma....

[Voltigeur]

https://yougov.co.uk/news/2018/07/30...first-or-last/

https://yougov.co.uk/news/2018/05/22...here-you-live/

[irish]

What has always confused me as an American is when is the proper tea time? All I can remember are the lyrics from Live with Me by the Stones. This must not have been the ideal time to take tea.

"I got nasty habits, I take tea at three"

Jack

[hagwalther]

As I know things milk was only used to stop the cup cracking under the heat of the boiling water with tea added. Therefore milk was always added first to cool the bottom of the cup and take some of the heat out of the hot tea that followed.

As the pottery manufacturers discovered the secret of making porcelain (something the Chinese has found out years before hence not a problem for them as they never used milk in their tea) the milk preamble was no longer required as the new British porcelain cups could cope with boiling water.

However, the custom was established and became a matter of taste and not necessity.

So, strictly to following custom milk should be added first.

Regards,

Chris

[wardog]

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt...es-for-dummies
https://www.projectbritain.com/food/meals.htm
Regards, Paul.

[cga00]

Don't forget 'Techie Tea-break' at 10.00! I think that's true for all arms of the forces - but definitely for the RAF.
10 o'clock brew up (tea/coffee) and biscuits (or bacon & halloumi rolls, depending on where in the world you were). Consequently, trying to phone someone in the military about that time was always a bad idea.
Craig

[badjez]

Originally Posted by irish

What has always confused me as an American is when is the proper tea time? All I can remember are the lyrics from Live with Me by the Stones. This must not have been the ideal time to take tea.

"I got nasty habits, I take tea at three"

Jack

Jack,

A little back to front. The question posed by most tea drinking Englishman is when is it not an appropriate time to drink tea? I suggest tea is partaken upon the following occasions:

a) in bed upon waking, served by the Butler
b) with breakfast (never drink coffee like those infernal Europeans)
c) mid-morning (time adjusted depending upon when shift starts)
d) lunch, to wash down large cheese and pickle sandwich (unless a beer is permitted in the workplace)
e) mid-afternoon if blue collar, or about 4pm if a lady of leisure
f) Dinner time- nah, prefer a beer...
g) as an alternative to coffee before bed
h) any other time when life gets stressful or you have a meeting of friends.

Stephen.

[rmarsden]

Tea breaks in a typical English factory.
10am & 4pm with frequent cups before during and after these times, toast, buns and jam doughnuts optional.

Unless of course you happen to be working on a Sunday where continual observance of the ritual is mandatory.

[Hawthorn]

Remember as a young Recruit at the Guards Depot dreading being picked for the 10.00 o'clock tea run down to the Cookhouse from the Old Spiders in D Lines. (Old Wooden Barrack Blocks).

You had to grab the highly polished fire bucket and get yourself down and back as fast as possible without spilling a drop and trying to avoid the wrath of any passing Instructors who would be stalking the Depot area. You then had the pleasure of dipping your black boot polished mug into the tea which now tasted of Brasso from the fire bucket! Happy Days!

Simon.

[rac1944]

Can’t remember the source but I have a vague memory of Arnhem being involved, an officer describing the tea his NCO brewed ‘he made a mug of tea so strong it would make a cat sing!’ Wonderful.
John

[irish]

Well this is just wonderful. It can and will be observed as fancy dictates.

I had this romantic picture in my mind of the whole country grinding to a halt somewhere late afternoon. Buses and cars left running where they sat, all business at a stand still. Similar to the scene in the “the day the earth stood still” when all power around the globe had been shut off. Large racks of pastries and cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off being ushered up and down the streets. Everyone seated with a small napkin on their knee holding a fine porcelain cup of tea to their mouth with the pinky finger extended. Or something there’s about. I love the British.

Jack

[leigh kitchen]

Originally Posted by hagwalther

As I know things milk was only used to stop the cup cracking under the heat of the boiling water with tea added. Therefore milk was always added first to cool the bottom of the cup and take some of the heat out of the hot tea that followed.

As the pottery manufacturers discovered the secret of making porcelain (something the Chinese has found out years before hence not a problem for them as they never used milk in their tea) the milk preamble was no longer required as the new British porcelain cups could cope with boiling water.

However, the custom was established and became a matter of taste and not necessity.

So, strictly to following custom milk should be added first.

Regards,

Chris

Albert Steptoe drank his tea milk first, Harold tea first.
Albert drank his from the saucer, a practise that Harold disapproved of but that I endorse - tea from the saucer, beer from the slops tray, baked beans drunk straight from the can, fine British traditions that I continue to hold to and to wear.

[rmarsden]

Originally Posted by irish

Well this is just wonderful. It can and will be observed as fancy dictates.

I had this romantic picture in my mind of the whole country grinding to a halt somewhere late afternoon. Buses and cars left running where they sat, all business at a stand still. Similar to the scene in the “the day the earth stood still” when all power around the globe had been shut off. Large racks of pastries and cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off being ushered up and down the streets. Everyone seated with a small napkin on their knee holding a fine porcelain cup of tea to their mouth with the pinky finger extended. Or something there’s about. I love the British.

Jack

Jack, I grew up in the Irish community in West London and believe me they are far worse. Metal teapot brewing on the stove all day long tea so strong the tannin made your tongue curl you needed three heaped teaspoons of sugar to ease it down.
Ron.

[leigh kitchen]

That's not tea - that's napalm.

[rmarsden]

Originally Posted by leigh kitchen

That's not tea - that's napalm.

Maybe that’s why it was always in an enamel mug!
Ron.

[Voltigeur]

The Americans had grown used to seeing Tommies move up to the front with the ever-present white enameled tea cups dangling from their field packs.They had even come to accept the carefree British habit of having their "spot of tea" in full view of the ennemy, a habit that, dumfounded GIs commented on from the Gothic Line to Nijmegen.But when tea time-preferably at ten in the morning and four in the afternoon- happened to coincide with war's more pressing demands and the Briish insisted on brewing their "spot of tea" anyway,the Americans lost their patience.
Troops of the US 83rd Infantry Division,involved in the Battle of the Bulge near Rochefort,failed to understand why their relief by the British 53rd Division suddenly ground to a halt on the morning of 1 January 1945.A hurried investigation revealed that,since it was ten o'clock,the British column had halted in the middle of the road and the soldiers were engrossed in boiling ta on their small one-burner stoves.
Such incidents unfortunately did more than just make the Americans lose patience with British troops,they also made them lose confidence in them.

From:The Crash of Ruin: American Combat Soldiers in Europe During World War II.
Peter Schrijvers


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/even...myths-WW2.html

http://www.formerdays.com/2012/05/te...ers-drink.html