How about salt in your tea?

“Tempest in a teapot” . . . “In hot water” . . . “Stirred the pot” . . . “Getting salty over tea” 

Headline writers had a field day with the British response to Steeped: The Chemistry of Tea, published January 24. Author Michelle Francl, a professor of chemistry at Bryn Mawr College, wrote that a pinch of salt improves the taste of tea. Francl looked into that tip from an eighth-century Chinese manuscript and found that salt blocks tongue receptors for bitterness. 

“Absolutely outrageous,” railed an anchor on Good Morning Britain. “That’s lunacy,” harrumphed a host on BBC Radio Coventry.

The American Embassy in London deadpanned that “adding salt to Britain’s national drink is not official United States policy and never will be.”

On this side of the pond, Francl likely was happy for publicity in a nation that prefers coffee. As a tea-drinking outlier, I hope to learn more about my habit from her book, which is based on three years of research. Her exploration of the chemistry of tea went way beyond the effect of salt. Francl investigated the more than 100 chemical compounds found in tea. (For those who don’t know: All varieties of real tea — including black, oolong, green, and white — come from the Camellia sinensis plant. Herbal teas aren’t actually tea.) 

According to the publisher, Steeped “puts the chemistry to use with advice on how to brew a better cup.” Americans apparently need advice. “Americans have some truly awful tea-making habits,” Francl told the BBC, including heating the water in a microwave. “I have had better cups of tea at service stations in Ireland than I have had at fancy restaurants in the US.”  

Francl’s formula for the perfect brew includes warming the pot or cup, boiling water on the stove, and using loose tea. Since maximum contact between the leaves and the water is desired, an infuser, if used, should be large, and the leaves should be agitated during a four-minute steep. If you must use a teabag, dunk it. Whether loose or bagged, tea shouldn’t be reused.

Despite drinking tea for more than half a century, I am not a connoisseur like Francl. She has preferred varieties for different times of day; I drink the same black tea all day. I use loose tea leaves but don’t dump out all the leaves in between every pot. That way I get less caffeine (good) but, according to Francl, also less taste. When served teabags away from home, I don’t object to even plain old Lipton, although I’ll take Earl Grey or English Breakfast if given a choice. 

I did try adding a pinch of salt to a cup of tea. I noticed a difference but don’t prefer it. I’m unfussy about my tea. The only time I recall being served tea I disliked was in a London café, and my objection was that it contained milk. The server informed me that it is expected that tea is taken with milk. Milk is okay, but don’t put salt in it. The British don’t like to mess with tradition.