TeaChat

My absolute favorites are #2: a bold assam with milk and sugar, and #1: a strongly brewed Earl Grey (one that is heavy on the bergamot) with milk, sugar, and a touch of vanilla extract (I live in an area without much vanilla right now so I am mixing half EG half East Frisian blend). So so so good and warming on a cold morning.

I tend to like the stronger black teas.. so it is often cream or half & half as it is called, and sometimes sugar, german rock sugar or honey - depending on my mood.. those I drink this way are:
Earl Grey (sometimes depending on mood)
English Breakfast
Irish Breakfast
Scottish Breakfast
Ceyleon
Assam
Lapsang Soushong
and almost any other really dark blend.

Nancy

I used to hate, I mean really hate, Scottish Breakfast and Lapsang Souchong (never tried Gunpowder, but I probably wouldn't have liked it). I decided one day that since smokey teas were the only teas I had tried and didn't like, that I would learn to like them.

I got my hands on some smokey Earl Grey, and mixed it half and half with straight Earl Grey, with sugar and milk and vanilla. It was strange at first, but I came to like it. Slowly I changed the proportions, until it was all smokey. Then on to LS. Now I really dig the smokier teas. Mission accomplished!

I rarely use milk or creamer with tea. On odd ocassions I sometimes add to fruit tea, which I don't enjoy as much, because they just seem to go together to me.

I almost always have my black teas with cold milk (skim milk 99% of the time but doesn't really matter) and no sugar. That is just how I have always done it and I like the flavor more.

I can understand your mixed feelings. Golden Monkey is essentially Silver Needle white tea that has been oxidized into a black tea; so it has a very mild flavor that can easily be bullied by milk.

To see tea and milk work together, you need a very assertive tea, often one that has been specifically bred to have the strength to stand up to milk on equal terms. This generally means Assam tea from India, or East African tea (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, etc.), as these are the teas bred to British tastes. Black teas designed for non-British markets are not usually good with milk, although sometimes they will harmonize accidentally. (Some of the non-smoky Fujian black teas from China seem to perform well, for instance. I've had nice ones from Bailin and Panyang that did OK. Also, some tea destined for the Mongolian market, where it is not uncommon to drink tea with clotted cream).

There are many dairy tea styles.

You can have classic British "Builder's Tea", which is generally Assam or Kenyan black tea with whole milk and white sugar.

There's Hong Kong-style milk tea, which uses evaporated milk instead of whole milk.

There's Indian-style tea, which boils the tea in a mixture of half water and half whole milk to make it extra strong. Made with plain black or spiced to make masala chai.

There's East Friesan tea from Germany, which is Assam mixed with a bit of Java tea taken with cream instead of milk, and rock candy to sweeten.

There's Thai-style iced tea, made extra sweet with sweetened condensed milk (this counteracts the rapidly melting ice which would otherwise turn the tea into a watery mess within minutes).

Lots of options!

It is difficult to articulate how much I freakin' love tea!

Referencing Harold McGee's "On Food and Cooking" bible, when milk is added to tea, it binds to the phenolic molecules (such as theaflavin and thearubigens) that cause astringency.

What's interesting is that black tea has larger phenolic molecules, compared to smaller ones in oolong and even smaller ones in green tea. The smaller phenolic compounds like catechin are even more bitter, but milk is not often added to green or oolong tea. Is milk then used to counteract astringency? Milk seems to provide a nice counterpoint to the denser body found in black tea rather.

I find that adding milk to a strong black tea makes it feel decadent, like a dessert. If I'm adding milk to a tea, I will usually munch on something sweet with it too. Assam, chai, and rooibos are the most common teas that I put milk in. I also do it more often when the weather is cold.

djlau wrote:Referencing Harold McGee's "On Food and Cooking" bible, when milk is added to tea, it binds to the phenolic molecules (such as theaflavin and thearubigens) that cause astringency.

That's really interesting... I wonder if that's a dairy-only thing or what other compounds have that binding ability. I've been hoping to find a non-dairy equivalent for my strong black teas, but standard soy/almond/rice/coconut milk hasn't done it for me, and I wonder if that's just because those alternatives don't have the chemical ability to cut the astringency like dairy does?

maybe the right amount of salt will cut the bitterness
just a stab

Interesting quote from McGee. I don't drink coffee anymore, but this is why I always used half and half with it. Even the acidity of black tea is too much for my stomach. That's why I always put a splash of 1% milk in it otherwise I don't enjoy it, even though I know it mutes the flavor. I don't have a problem with green or oolong tea, so nothing added for either of those.

teaisme wrote:maybe the right amount of salt will cut the bitterness
just a stab

I'll use salt to cut bitterness when I don't want to use milk (or when I want just a touch of milk and I'm drinking a poor quality thing that'll be bitter anyway).

I really enjoy milk in the stronger blacks, like English Breakfast, and I find many of the flavored teas do well with some milk as well. I use a 2% "organic" milk (because it's what we have. I find this particular milk seems to feel as rich as other whole milks, for whatever reason, and it adds a nice richness to the teas.

I never add milk or sugar. It would change the flavor.

I just visited TWG for the first time. Nice shop. I found there an amazing treasure: an Earl Grey Puerh!!! Will add milk and sugur most likely after the first taste without.