But Britain was brought to a boil this week over## a suggestion by an American chemist on# how the classic cu 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# ma king 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 t I have caused.

I had no intentions# of 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 wa 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 t some traditional tea purveyors in# the open-minded 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 seems to kind of blend like saltiness, but not -- it's not very# intense at all.

It's pretty spot on by i I think.

I don't think it needs to be changed.

MALCOLM BRABANT: We then touched base at# El ise 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 MA LCOLM BRABANT: So could the science# change Elise's preconceptions?

What do you think?

ELISE FISHPOOL GROVE: No.

MALCOLM BR have it with milk without sugar, but I'm# going to do what t just put a couple of grains of salt in, not a# teaspoon full, as I feel like I'm a traitor.

It's not too bad.

(LAUGHTER) QUENTIN LETTS: I'm just a moldy old Englishman# who on 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.