4 ms·
I find it kind of funny that milk tea is tied to Asian identity. afaik for traditional Chinese adding milk to tea is a faux pas kind of like adding Coke to wine
by Jack000 6y ago
I find it kind of funny that milk tea is tied to Asian identity. afaik for traditional Chinese adding milk to tea is a faux pas kind of like adding Coke to wine. I think the modern practice of adding milk to tea started with the British, who imported it via Hong Kong. The Taiwanese then added tapioca + sugar which became bubble tea.
There are traditional milk teas in other countries though, like India and Mongolia. The Mongolian version is salty instead of sweet.
- legulere 6y agoI don’t know why you see Indians drinking tea with milk more traditional than British doing that, considering that British brought tea to India.
- packetlost 6y agoHistorically, yes. But masala chai is distinctly Indian, and one of the more notable examples of a tea where milk is a core ingredient instead of an optional addition.
- iljya 6y agoThat tea is - for the most part - known as "chai" in India suggests a different origin (the world's languages are largely divided on the first sound in the word for tea: either Te or Ch). It is true that the British brought large scale tea production to India, but the plant is endemic to India and its local consumption long predates the British (though the exact origins are somewhat obscure). https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_tea_culture https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_tea_culture
- flobosg 6y agoIt seems that words for tea that derived from "cha" spread across land, while the ones originating from "tea" developed over sea routes. https://qz.com/1176962/map-how-the-word-tea-spread-over-land-and-sea-to-conquer-the-world/ https://qz.com/1176962/map-how-the-word-tea-spread-over-land...
- aksss 6y agoA guy I know in India once remarked that, say what you will about the British but one good thing they brought was milk in tea.
- redisman 6y agoSame reason Italians love tomatoes and Thais love chili peppers I guess. Non-native ingredients seem to sometimes have a much greater influence in the new place than it’s original one
- ljm 6y agoI don't know about wine and coke being a faux pa. Kalimotxo is a fantastic addition to a drinking game. Just...don't use the good stuff.