It’s the drink that’s as British as a Cornish pasty or a Bakewell tart. But many of us are making our daily cup of tea in the wrong way, a scientist has said. Dr Stuart Farrimond, an expert in the science of tea making, shows TV presenter Cherry Healey how to brew the perfect cup of tea on a new series of Inside the Factory on BBC Two, which airs on Tuesday night.
And according to Dr Farrimond you have to brew tea for exactly five minutes for a healthier and more delicious beverage, and he also claims the colour of the mug you choose can really make a difference to the taste.
As a nation Brits drink more than 165 million cups of tea in a day, and 96 per cent of them are made using a teabag, according to the programme.
So it’s crucial then to know exactly what to do in order to create the perfect tasting cuppa.
Dr Farrimond told Cherry, who hosts Inside the Factory with MasterChef judge Gregg Wallace, that there are four golden rules to follow to ensure you get a perfect cup of tea every time.
His first tip is to never drink from a styrofoam cup. He said: “Styrofoam absorbs the flavour molecules, reducing the tastiness of the tea.” He revealed there is a lot of psychology behind what we choose to drink from, and it can really affect the taste of our beverage.
Tea drunk from a red or pink mug will taste sweeter than from a white or blue one, research has shown. Studies have found that saltiness is associated with the colours white and blue, while sweetness is associated with red and pink.
Dr Farrimond’s next tip is to always use a filter if you live in an area with hard water before boiling the kettle. He said this will prevent the scum that sometimes forms on top of cups of tea from appearing.
He added: “What happens when you use hard water to make a cup of tea, you sometimes get that scum on the top.
“What’s happening is some of the flavour compounds are reacting with the calcium and they form this scummy layer, so you’re actually losing flavour, the flavour is being lost in that scum.”
Filtering the water first will remove calcium and magnesium residue which will prevent the scummy later from forming. But the most important rule, according to Dr Farrimond, is to always brew tea for five minutes exactly.
Cherry was unconvinced, however, and replied: “Surely the tea will be ruined.” But Dr Farrimond revealed that caffeine and antioxidant levels increase the longer you brew your tea for.
A cup of tea that was only brewed for 30 seconds only contained 35 milligrams of caffine, compared to a mug brewed for five minutes that contained 50 milligrams, a scientific study revealed.
The tea that had been brewed for longer also contained double the antioxidants, the test showed.
When Cherry tastes a cup of tea that has been made according to the four golden rules, and compares it to one of her own making that was only brewed for 30 seconds, she agrees that Dr Farrimond’s method works.
Every week on Inside the Factory, Cherry and Gregg visit a factory in the UK to find out how a specific type of product is made.