Salt‑in‑tea Argument

An American scientist has started a tempest(风暴) in a teapot by offering Britain advice on its favorite drink: tea."A tempest in a teapot" is an expression to describe an angry reaction to something small or unimportant.

Michelle Francl is a chemistry professor in Pennsylvania. She said tea drinkers should add a little salt to make a perfect cup of tea. That advice is included in her book Steeped:The Chemistry of Tea(\"浸泡:茶里的化学\"). The book has recently been published by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Mixing tea with salt water has never gone well for British-American relations. In 1773, American colonists (殖民者) in Boston, Massachusetts, were angry at Britain for adding more taxes. So they threw British tea into the sea. The event became known as "the Boston Tea Party" .

Francl's suggestion caused outrage (愤怒) among tea lovers in Britain, which has a long history of drinking tea. They see Americans as coffee drinkers who know nothing about tea. And they think even if Americans drink tea, they just heat water in a microwave(微波炉).

Even the US Embassy (大使馆) in London joined the tempest in a teapot. In a social media post, it promised "the good people of the UK that the unthinkable idea of adding salt to Britain's national drink is not official United States policy(政策)" .

"Let us show the world that when it comes to tea, we stand as one," the embassy said in the post. "The US Embassy will continue to make tea in the proper way—by microwaving it," it added.

The advice, Francl's book's publisher said, comes from three years of research. The book, the publisher added, "puts the chemistry to use with advice on how to brew(冲泡)a better cup of tea" .

Francl said adding a small amount of salt—not enough to taste—makes tea seem less bitter. She also suggested making tea in a warmed pot, shaking the tea bag around, and serving tea in a short and wide cup to keep the heat. And she said milk should be added to the cup after the tea and not before. Francl has been surprised by the reaction to her book in Britain.