MIF/TIF

 Ok, you probably saw that and didn't know what you were getting into, but this is an extremely innocent but passionate debate that has been raging for years across the ocean in Britain. 

Milk in First or Tea in First? 

Or

That's been a giant debate, despite how ridiculous it might sound. There are reasons on both sides. 

Milk first can sometimes prevent the milk from clumping or scalding when the tea is added, protecting the proteins within. Milk first can also protect old tea-cups that would be stressed by the change in temperature. 

Tea first means you know how strong the tea is before you add milk, so you don't add too much, and it makes it alot easier when you're brewing one cup of tea with a bag. 

Part of the problem is that it got used as a social divide for a while. Those with the good china didn't need to worry about the temperature shift, so doing milk first was seen as a lower-class thing. 

Either way, the debate is probably the British equivalent of 'is a hotdog a sandwich?', and it should surprise no one that there was a 6 page paper written to give a scientific opinion of this in 1980, with a revision done in 2019. 

That paper got an Ig Nobel Award for Literature, alongside the physics winner who wrote a paper on the optimal method for dunking a cookie, and a sociology award to the guy who wrote a study about Canadian donut shops. I might be insane, but I think the Ig Nobel prize committee might have been hungry when making their choices. 

So, next time you want a cup of tea, take a moment to wonder why this is a debate and, depending on what tea you're drinking, wonder what it would taste like if your peppermint tea had milk in it, then cringe and move on. 

Since I've been talking about it so much, please let me know what kind of tea you're going to get now. I'm going for a fruit tea I really like called 'Blood Orange' that has orange peel, rosehip, and hibiscus that helps my with my citrus cravings right now. Have fun with your tea, and I'll see you again soon. 

Sources:

International Standards Organizations-- ISO 3103:2019, the revised paper

Past Ig Nobel Winners

Beyond those two, if you google the debate, you'll get lots of articles about preferences and the history of the debate. I'll let you pick which ones you like.