This document discusses the cultural and social history of tea drinking in Britain. It explores how tea was once expensive and smuggled, but fueled the industrial revolution by providing stimulation. It was common for the working class to put milk in their tea first, while the upper class would put milk in last. Over time, putting milk in first became seen as a marker of lower class status. The document also discusses how the modern tea bag was designed to brew quickly in a mug, meaning putting milk in first can interfere with the brewing process.

1. Tea, milk milk, tea
A social, cultural
and scientific
study of
a national
obsession

3. In the 18th Century, tea was:
Expensive
Smuggled
Adulterated

4. Tea fuelled the industrial revolution
Tea for stimulation
Milk for
nourishment
Sugar for energy

5. Working class tea
Milk in first

6. Upper class tea
Milk in first turned to
milk in last…

7. “She’ll get a husband
all right, even if she
does talk about
lunch, and envelope,
and put the milk in
first.”
Nancy Mitford, Pursuit of
Love, 1945

8. “It was a bad thing to
be miffy. Being miffy meant
you were the kind of person
who, when pouring a cup of
tea, habitually put the Milk In
First.
M: And that’s common, is it?
R: Yeah.
M: Why?
R: I’m not sure. It just is.”
Martin Amis, Experience, 2000

10. Science says Milk in First!

12. The tea bag explosion!
By 2007 accounted for 96% of the market
Filled with tea dust
Designed to brew quickly
From teapot to mug brewing
Milk in first interferes with brewing