American chemist causes stir in Britain by suggesting salt can improve cup of tea

Amna Nawaz:

All right, a few things are more British than a cup of tea.

But Britain was brought to a boil this week over a suggestion by an American chemist on how the classic cup might be improved.

Geoff Bennett:

We asked our own Earl Grey, Malcolm Brabant, to take a look into this brew-haha.

Malcolm Brabant:

Is nothing sacred? The beverage that for centuries has sustained this nation through wars and other crises has been assaulted in the name of science by an American academic.

As newspaper columnist Quentin Letts harrumphs, salt is for tequila, not the traditional British cuppa.

Quentin Letts, Columnist, Daily Mail:

I'm not a complete layer down of the law when it comes to tea, but I did try the addition of salt and making tea with hot milk. And I must say it was a thoroughly unpleasant experience. It was like the worst sort of pre-operation laxative that you could drink.

Malcolm Brabant:

Not since the Boston Tea Party 250 years ago has Britain's national drink suffered such an indignity, so much so that, tongue in cheek, the U.S. Embassy in London issued a reassuring statement that salt in tea was not official American policy and would not affect the special relationship.

Do you have realized how much trouble you have caused?

Michelle Francl, Bryn Mawr College:

I am beginning to understand how much trouble I have caused. I had no intentions of causing a diplomatic incident, but I woke up yesterday morning to find that the U.S. Embassy was weighing in on my science.

Malcolm Brabant:

Michelle Francl is a professor of chemistry at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania.

Michelle Francl:

It begins with an eighth century Chinese manuscript called "Book of Tea" by a tea master Lu Yu, who recommended adding a sort of salt to the tea water.

So I wondered what the chemistry literature had to say. Turns out the coffee chemists know that the sodium ions in the salt block the bitter receptors, so it makes the tea a little bit less bitter.

Malcolm Brabant:

To gauge more British reaction, we tracked down some traditional tea purveyors in the open-minded city of Brighton.

Sonya Mendoza, Yorkshire Tea Aficionado:

Definitely not. Not for me.

Malcolm Brabant:

Manager Jay Fry normally takes his tea black and straight, tea bag, hot water, no messing.

Jay Fry, Manager, That Little Tea Shop:

Yes, I thought it would be a lot more saltier. It seems to kind of blend the tea with a little bit. It kind of adds a little tingle to your tongue, like saltiness, but not — it's not very intense at all. It's pretty spot on by itself, I think. I don't think it needs to be changed.

Malcolm Brabant:

We then touched base at a specialist store where deputy manager Elise Fishpool Grove (ph) reinforced the need to use boiling, not lukewarm, water, as some Americans do. Sacrilege.

Elise Fishpool Grove, Manager:

I think you don't need to add salt to your tea. I think if you're brewing it correctly, it doesn't need to happen.

Malcolm Brabant:

So could the science change Elise's preconceptions?

What do you think?

Elise Fishpool Grove:

No.

Malcolm Brabant:

This is the kind of tea I normally drink, English breakfast. I usually have it with milk without sugar, but I'm going to do what the professor says and just put a couple of grains of salt in, not a teaspoon full, as some Brits have misunderstood.

I feel like I'm a traitor. It's not too bad.

(Laughter)

Malcolm Brabant:

Letts acknowledge that he was heavy-handed with the salt.

Quentin Letts:

I'm just a moldy old Englishman who on a quiet day might put in one sugar. But the thought of even putting a few grains of salt just is so counterintuitive, it just fries my mind.

Malcolm Brabant:

That requires an archetypal British response. Put the kettle on.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Malcolm Brabant in Brighton.

Amna Nawaz:

All right, online, you can read more on the science behind making and flavoring tea. That is at PBS.org/NewsHour.