Britons divided over a very milky cup of tea: ‘Literally puddle water’

The pale cuppa garnered hundreds of opinions

There are few things in British culture as polarising as how to make a proper cup of tea – and a rather pale mug has sparked major debate among Britons on Twitter.

The offending cuppa was posted on popular NoContextBrits Twitter account, with hundreds of people offering their opinions on what a good cup of tea should look like.

It should come as no surprise that Britons are so passionate about the topic, considering the UK is the third biggest tea drinker in the world per person, behind Turkey and Ireland.

The tweet by NoContextBrits suggested that making such a milky tea “should be a criminal offence”.

Many people agreed, with one person writing: “To the tower and off with their feet!”

Another added that whoever made the cup should be “cancelled”, while a third said: “Life without parole seems justified.”

Others thought it looked so watered down that it could be “rice water” or “literally puddle water” instead of tea.

One person said they purposely made tea too milky “to people I don’t like so they don’t ask again”.

But there were some people who confessed to liking their tea decidedly milky.

Someone posted a picture of their own slightly less pale cup of tea, adding: “Oh thanks for the reminder… Need a cuppa.”

In response to a reply that jokingly asked if they wanted “some tea with your milk”, they replied: “It had a little dunk.”

Another lover of weak tea posted their own cuppa and added: “Made with three used bags of Yorkshire tea. Have I committed a crime?”

It wasn’t just Britons who had strong opinions about tea, as many social media users from other countries also chimed in to post pictures of what they thought was proper tea.

One person, who claimed to be based in Singapore, wrote: “I can’t drink tea the British way, I drink tea black, only sugar or honey. And the only tea I take with milk is sarbat tea, with condensed milk, and we call it teh Tarik (or pulled tea).”

Posting a photograph of an iced tea with a lemon slice on the edge of the glass, another person added: “Well this is the way we generally have tea in Kansas.”

Both black and herbal tea have been found to “contribute significantly to promotion of public health”, according to a study published in May.

Drinking tea has been linked to reduced cancer, heart disease and dementia risk – so drink up.