Add salt to a cuppa tea? Storm brews between UK and US over outrageous suggestion

Colombo (News 1st) - The humble tea pluckers of Sri Lanka’s central highlands may not know it, but their world famous cuppa is at the centre of an unusual storm that is brewing between the United States and the United Kingdom.
On Wednesday (24th), the UK Cabinet Office put out an official statement, disputing the method of making tea that had been suggested by the U.S. embassy in London.
”In response, to the statement put out by the US Embassy in the UK: We appreciate our Special Relationship, however, we must disagree wholeheartedly… Tea can only be made using a kettle.” the UK Cabinet Office said on X (formerly Twitter).
Hours before, the US embassy had stated, perhaps tongue in cheek, that the proper way to brew a cuppa is “by microwaving it”.

The British drink an estimated 100 million cups of tea a day, and consider it their national drink.
Sri Lanka’s tea industry has not yet commented on this extraordinary controversy. Ceylon Tea is the undisputed king of global teas, and Sri Lanka is one f the largest exporters of tea in the world.
The storm in a teacup began when Prof. Michelle Franci, a chemistry professor at Bryn Mawr College in the US state of Pennsylvania, advanced a hypothesis that “a tiny amount of salt will take away the bitterness” in tea. Franci has written a book a book on the molecular science behind the methodology of brewing a cuppa.
She met with a bitter storm from the Brits on social media. “A scientist from the country where you can find tea being made with lukewarm water from the tap claims to have found the recipe for a perfect cuppa,” the UK Guardian newspaper retorted.
“Professor Francl insisted her findings were solid, despite coming from a country where tea plays second fiddle to coffee – and is usually served iced,” the Daily Mail added sarcastically.
This led to the U.S. embassy statement. “Media reports of an American professor’s recipe for the perfect cup of tea has landed our special bond with the United Kingdom in hot water. Tea is the elixir of camaraderie, a special bond that unites our nations. We cannot stand idly by as such an outrageous proposal threatens the very foundation of our special relationship. Therefore, we want to ensure the good people of the UK that the unthinkable notion of adding salt to Britain’s national drink is not official United States policy, and never will be. Let us unite in our steeped solidarity and show the world that when it comes to tea, we stand as one. The U.S. Embassy will continue to make tea in the proper way – by microwaving it.”

Incidentally, tea served as a flashpoint in the first war between the two nations - the sparks for the US War of Independence from Britain began when American traders, incensed at high taxes from the British crown, dumped a shipload of tea imported to the US into Boston Harbour, an incident that became known as “the Boston Tea Party”. The UK government considered it “an act of treason” and attempted to respond harshly, ultimately leading to the war.

For her part, Prof. Franci says she never expected such a heated reaction.

"I certainly did not mean to cause a diplomatic incident. My emails have been going crazy today. I did not anticipate waking up this morning to see loads of people talking about salt in their tea," said Prof. Francl.