Reading tea leaves: Traditions on the boil

Britons, for some misbegotten reason, still assume that tea is British. No wonder they make a fetish about their cuppa, including the perennial debate over whether to add milk before pouring tea or after. Now, a recent survey has revealed exactly how milky they prefer their tea, deduced via an eightpoint shade card complete with regional variations. That more than half of those surveyed opted for shades in the middle of the chart is hardly surprising. But the point to be noted is that teabags dipped into mugs are now the default method, signalling the imminent extinction of traditional china teapots with cups and saucers there. Moreover, as Indian-style masala chai gains ground in western hot beverage markets, insipid teabag versions may soon feel the heat too. The fact that 22% of Britons do not drink tea at all should also be seriously examined by pro-Brexiteers.

Only 64% of Indians drink tea and prefer a darker coloured brew, and teapots have mostly disappeared. However, boiled loose tea rather than teabags remains the desi norm. Tea in India is also more egalitarian and generous when it comes to the proportion of milk and sugar in the brew with the skin, or lactoderm, that forms over the beverage — especially at wayside stalls — signifying quality and abundance of dairy. But that is not everyone’s cup of tea, of course.