this post was submitted on 14 Jan 2026
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Casual UK

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Who comments on other’s liquid level in a mug?

[–] ruuster13@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 day ago

Brits talk about everything rounds to the nearest 10 in metric and then use 1.5cm for asinine shit.

[–] moopet@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago

When it's a little less than this, my mother and grandmother would call it "curate's tea" or "vicar's tea" because of the white collar in the mug, and pass it back for us kids to sort it out.

[–] KarlHungus42@lemmy.world 20 points 2 days ago (2 children)

TIL that people get ragged on for not having enough tea in their cup.

_Well, well, look at ol two sips over ere. Twice as many cups as the rest of us today. Looks like the tide's all the way out on this one. _

[–] CXORA@aussie.zone 7 points 1 day ago

A fundamental law of the universe is Brits will take the piss out of anyone for any reason. It is a sign of affection, and also a sign of intense dislike.

[–] fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk 9 points 2 days ago

"Are you feeling a bit pessimistic?"
"Pessimistic?!?"
"Your cup's half empty :) "

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Can confirm. Btw, this is bean tea.

[–] ruuster13@lemmy.zip 17 points 2 days ago (7 children)

TIL Brits put a little tea in their milk

[–] azertyfun@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 day ago (3 children)

They also just drink "tea" and don't conceptualize the different kinds thereof. English Breakfast vs Earl Gray vs an Oolong and all the aromatic teas... AFAIK they traditionally just drink English Breakfast black tea, which is why the Lipton yellow bags aren't even labelled.

The more I learn about British tea culture the more confusing it gets. Drinking unlabeled black tea in a bag is disgusting bottom-of-the-barrel type stuff. No wonder they drown it in milk.

[–] filcuk@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

As someone with 2 cupboards full of different teas, herbs and infusions, I'm almost offended when guests reply "just regular tea?", like there only is the one.
Not everyone likes a ton of milk though, people often prefer but a 'splash'.

On the other hand, I do also buy 600 x breakfast tea bags pack...

[–] tetris11@feddit.uk 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It's the tannins in british tea that help it mix with the milk. All those black teas you get in europe and asia just turn milk into a swirly mess.

British tea is legitimately its own thing

[–] azertyfun@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

The color of my mug after a (admittedly high-end) black tea leads me to believe it's not lacking in tannins. I've not tried to put milk in it since I was a kid at my grandparents' who always had some good teas as well.

My understanding is that the "default" British tea is English Breakfast tea. Which is not a bad tea at all, but it's not "special", it's unflavored black tea. I don't refute that the tea culture is unique over there but I don't think it has much to do with the leaves themselves which famously don't even grow in England lol

[–] tetris11@feddit.uk 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Of course, but the type that we import tends to be of the high tannin Assamica variety from China/Sri Lanka, whereas the european varieties tends to be lighter and more aromatic as you say, making it harder for the milk to bind

[–] azertyfun@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Since we don't have a tea culture I don't know that it's possible to generalize European tea in any way. Feels like half the time when I ask for tea someone pulls out a box with a bunch of aromatic leaves but literally not a single tea leaf (not exaggerating, I've had to drink some herbal mix because I didn't want to be impolite). If they do have some actual tea, it's either litpon yellow (tasteless and inoffensive) or English Breakfast/Earl Gray (actual proper tea that I suppose you could mix milk in just fine).

Habitual tea drinkers such as myself do have the good stuff though, aromatic or not, and we don't put milk in it. That behavior eludes me, if you don't like the taste but want caffeine just drink coffee and milk, and if you do like the taste why dilute it with some hyper-caloric stuff? I posit that's what makes British tea culture, y'all put milk in your black tea because you don't like the strong taste but still you drink it for cultural reasons.

[–] tetris11@feddit.uk 2 points 1 day ago

It tastes good though! It's a hot morning broth almost.

When I was living abroad, I genuinely missed having a nice creamy tea to tide me over. Tea instead became this meditation thing I now had to "sip" whilst inhaling the steam. That's an alien thing in of itself!

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[–] i078@europe.pub 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Yeah, first they make it super strong by just leaving the bags in. Then they add milk because it’s too strong.

I love them anyway

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[–] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

This reminded me of the worst thing about getting tea at a cafe, which is that if you ask for a splash of milk with your breakfast or earl grey tea they bring out a jug with an entire udder’s worth of milk, which then sits there turning sour. I suppose they must have once had a customer who wanted some tea with their milk.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

You leave enough room so that the marshmallows don't cause it to overflow. 🤷‍♂️

[–] fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk 18 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Please do not introduce fun to our national drink. Thank you.

[–] Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 3 points 1 day ago

Hot Toddy is pretty fun

[–] ABCatMom@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Unfortunately, I'm afraid we'd have to categorise that as fun.

[–] tetris11@feddit.uk 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Also, you're now banned from the British Isles, and all of Her Majesty's overseas territories

[–] ThePyroPython@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk 1 points 22 hours ago

Ooh no. Proper traditional British passports are Burgundy, like they've always been in my lifetime.

I'll be having none of that new fangled "special racist blue passport" nonsense.

[–] synapse1278@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago

I will have it filled to the tipitop and spill some on my way to the computer thankyouverymuch

[–] SurfinBird@lemmy.ca 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I remember being bullied about some weird random things growing up, but are people really out there talking smack about the not-quite-fullness of your cup of tea?

[–] yakko@feddit.uk 3 points 1 day ago

Feels like the pettiness is the bit

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