American woman's 'hot tea' recipe leaves people shocked: 'This hurts my soul'

She spoons mixture into mug of microwaved water

An American woman living in the UK has gone viral after sharing her sugar-laden recipe for “hot tea”.

This week, Michelle, who goes by the username @jchelle36 on TikTok, uploaded a clip to the site, where she said that she gets “a lot of questions about hot tea” so wanted to share her preferred recipe.

In the video, which has since been viewed more than 72,000 times, Michelle begins by explaining that she mixes “a lot of ingredients together” – before combining a recipe of instant tea, Tang orange mix, powdered lemonade, sugar, cinnamon and cloves.

“So first is one cup of instant-tea,” she says, as one of her three daughters pours the tea into a bowl. “Two cups of Tang, country time lemonade, one cup of sugar, another cup of sugar, a little bit of cinnamon, a little bit of cloves, mix it all together.”

According to Michelle, the next step involves filling a mug with water, and heating the water in the microwave, before adding a few teaspoons of the tea mixture to the hot water.

@jchelle36

Hot tea “this American girl” likes 😊 ##americanintheuk ##fyp @nichole.caroline

♬ original sound – jchelle36

“Give it a little stir, and that’s what I like for hot tea,” Michelle concludes.

The video has been met with confusion and horror on TikTok, with many viewers suggesting the drink Michelle made is not “tea”.

“That’s not tea that’s sugar water with cinnamon,” one person commented.

Another said: “That’s literally just sugar in warm water, also please get a kettle.”

“Why are you microwaving water?! Why has no one arrested you?!?” someone else asked.

Others questioned why the mother-of-three chooses to use powdered Lipton tea instead of just using a teabag – while one person joked the recipe could be enough to have Michelle removed from the country.

“I’m fairly certain we can get you kicked out of the country for this,” they wrote.

Despite the criticism, Michelle has defended the drink, telling one viewer: “I like it.”