It might sound like a cruel practical joke, but a pinch of salt could be the secret to the perfect cup of tea.

That’s according to Dr Michelle Francl, an American chemist, who claims to have found the secret to the perfect brew.

Her unusual recipe has caused a stir by including hot milk and a pinch of salt.

Dr Francl might think she knows best, but how does this recipe stack up against the classic British cuppa?

MailOnline’s Wiliam Hunter put her recipe to the test – with some surprising results. 

It might sound like a cruel practical joke, but a pinch of salt could be the secret to the perfect cup of tea

It might sound like a cruel practical joke, but a pinch of salt could be the secret to the perfect cup of tea

It might sound like a cruel practical joke, but a pinch of salt could be the secret to the perfect cup of tea 

Dr Michelle Francl, an American chemist, claims to have found the secret to the perfect brew. Her unusual recipe has caused a stir by including hot milk and a pinch of salt

Dr Michelle Francl, an American chemist, claims to have found the secret to the perfect brew. Her unusual recipe has caused a stir by including hot milk and a pinch of salt

Dr Michelle Francl, an American chemist, claims to have found the secret to the perfect brew. Her unusual recipe has caused a stir by including hot milk and a pinch of salt 

How to make the perfect cuppa, according to Professor Francl 

  1. Add a pinch of salt to reduce bitterness
  2. Use warm milk to reduce the chance of curdling
  3. Use a short and stout mug to keep your tea hotter
  4. Use tea leaves over teabags
  5. Heat up your cup (or pot)
  6. Only use your tea leaves or teabag once
  7. Never microwave your tea
  8. Don’t steep for too long 
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Normally, making a cup of tea is about as simple as it gets.

But, on the quest for the perfect tea break, Dr Francl claims there are a few extra steps involved.

First, she recommends pre-warming your mug before even looking at a tea bag.

She claims this will help the cup stay hotter for longer while steeping which, in theory, will increase the amount of caffeine and antioxidants in the cup.

I heated the mug by adding some hot water for a few minutes, before pouring this away.

Dr Francl calls for loose-leaf tea which can offer a more complex and natural flavour.

However, working within the constraints of MailOnline’s kitchen I opted for Tetley’s English Breakfast instead.

Then, the tea was steeped for three minutes which is, according to the box it came in, the ideal brewing time. 

But there were still a few more steps to go through before I could relax with my well-deserved cuppa.

People may debate whether you should add the cold milk before or after the tea, but this recipe goes a step further.  

Dr Francl calls for hot milk to be added after the tea had been brewed, so I gave a mug of milk a blast in the microwave before adding it to the tea.

Dr Francl suggests that you pre-heat your mug to improve flavour extraction, which we did with boiling water

Dr Francl suggests that you pre-heat your mug to improve flavour extraction, which we did with boiling water

The recipe calls for hot milk which has a lower chance of curdling and helps the cup of tea stay hotter for longer

The recipe calls for hot milk which has a lower chance of curdling and helps the cup of tea stay hotter for longer

On the quest to make the perfect cup of tea, we began by pre-heating our mug (left) by filling it with boiling water and microwaving some milk (right) to make sure it was nice and warm 

However, in addition to being very messy to pour from one mug to another, the heated milk gave the tea a slightly unappealing appearance.

Heating the milk is intended to prevent curdling which can occasionally happen when the cold milk hits hot tea.

Yet when I tried this, the tea took on an almost waxy, slightly frothy appearance which was far from ideal.

Thankfully, this did subside after a little while with some vigorous stirring.

To keep things scientific I also brewed a cup of tea as I normally would, using the same type of tea bag and steeping it for the same amount of time.

Can you spot the difference? The cup on the right has been brewed with hot milk in a hot mug while the cup on the left has been brewed as normal. The hot milk initially appeared to curdle slightly but this dissipated after stirring

Can you spot the difference? The cup on the right has been brewed with hot milk in a hot mug while the cup on the left has been brewed as normal. The hot milk initially appeared to curdle slightly but this dissipated after stirring

Can you spot the difference? The cup on the right has been brewed with hot milk in a hot mug while the cup on the left has been brewed as normal. The hot milk initially appeared to curdle slightly but this dissipated after stirring

Now it was time for the final, and most controversial step of Dr Francl’s recipe – adding salt.

While many of us might add sugar to our brew, Dr Francl says that it is actually salt that is best to reduce any bitterness in the tea.

And here, science is definitely on Dr Francl’s side.

Our tongues are covered in different taste receptors for different flavours.

Normally the tannins in tea which are released by brewing activate the bitter receptors, telling our brains that we are tasting something unpleasant.

But when we add salt to food and drink, sodium ions bond to salt receptors on our tongue and suppress our ability to taste bitterness.

One piece of research published in 1997 even suggests that salt selectively filters unpleasant tastes but lets us detect nice flavours like sweetness.

This all sounds great, but does it really work?

Dr Frankl's recipe for a 'perfect' cup of tea has proven so shocking that the US embassy in London even made a joking post on X (formerly Twitter) about the recipe

Dr Frankl's recipe for a 'perfect' cup of tea has proven so shocking that the US embassy in London even made a joking post on X (formerly Twitter) about the recipe

Dr Frankl’s recipe for a ‘perfect’ cup of tea has proven so shocking that the US embassy in London even made a joking post on X (formerly Twitter) about the recipe 

Breaking every rule we added a pinch of salt to the 'perfect' cup of the (right) to see if it would really be less bitter. For comparison, the regular cup of tea (left) was left un-seasoned

Breaking every rule we added a pinch of salt to the 'perfect' cup of the (right) to see if it would really be less bitter. For comparison, the regular cup of tea (left) was left un-seasoned

Breaking every rule we added a pinch of salt to the ‘perfect’ cup of the (right) to see if it would really be less bitter. For comparison, the regular cup of tea (left) was left un-seasoned

The short answer: absolutely not.

Before adding the salt, I would say that there was a slight improvement in the ‘perfect’ tea compared with the control cup.

Perhaps it was a psychological effect of all the extra effort, but the tea did perhaps taste a tiny bit richer.

This could also be a product of the temperature as, between the hot milk and pre-heated mug, the perfect tea was still piping hot even after a few minutes.

But adding the salt was certainly a mistake.

I added a pinch of salt to the ‘perfect cuppa’ while leaving my control tea unadulterated.

According to Dr Francl this should be te perfect cup of tea, including a pinch of salt to reduce the bitterness
However, the recipe produced an unpleasant brew that was both very hot and oddly salty
Slide me

MailOnline tested out adding salt to our tea, as recommended by Dr Francl. However, as you can see in these before and after images, the result was a quite unpleasant drink that was both burning hot and oddly salty

The result was simply a salty cup of incredibly hot tea that tasted horrible.

Concerned that I had added too much salt for it to be a fair test, I added a tiny pinch to the control tea. 

Adding incrementally more salt, I found that the result was either a cup of tea that tasted very much the same as before or a disturbingly salty beverage. 

However, to give this theory the best chance of success I decided to repeat the experiment with some different types of tea. 

I brewed a raspberry and pomegranate fruit tea and an Earl Grey and added a small pinch of salt to each. 

I had high hopes for the Earl Grey, thinking that this would be the closest to the loose-leaf teas recommended by Dr Francl.

In the name of science, MailOnline tested Dr Francl's recommendation of adding salt to our tea with some different types of tea. We added salt to both a cup of herbal fruit tea (left) and a cup of Earl Grey (right) to approximate the required loose-leaf tea

In the name of science, MailOnline tested Dr Francl's recommendation of adding salt to our tea with some different types of tea. We added salt to both a cup of herbal fruit tea (left) and a cup of Earl Grey (right) to approximate the required loose-leaf tea

In the name of science, MailOnline tested Dr Francl’s recommendation of adding salt to our tea with some different types of tea. We added salt to both a cup of herbal fruit tea (left) and a cup of Earl Grey (right) to approximate the required loose-leaf tea

But if there was an improvement, it was so imperceptibly subtle that it escaped my fatigued taste-buds.

While not entirely unpleasant, the main effect was still to make the tea ever so slightly salty. 

The fruit tea, on the other hand, was actually quite delicious. 

Adding salt to the sweet tea produced something that tasted quite like a hot electrolyte drink.

But whether that sounds appealing to you will probably be a matter of personal taste. 

Is this the perfect tea round? Adding salt to normal tea was either unnoticeable or unpleasant but adding a little seasoning to fruit tea actually proved quite tasty

Is this the perfect tea round? Adding salt to normal tea was either unnoticeable or unpleasant but adding a little seasoning to fruit tea actually proved quite tasty

Is this the perfect tea round? Adding salt to normal tea was either unnoticeable or unpleasant but adding a little seasoning to fruit tea actually proved quite tasty

So, should you try out this recipe next time you’re doing a tea round in the office?

Unless you have a real grudge against your colleagues, I would advise that you avoid testing out this recipe on them. 

The hot mug and milk are a nice touch but are messy and take ages to set up, especially in a cramped office kitchen.

Even after all the testing, the ‘perfect’ tea was still significantly hotter than the control which could be ideal for someone who hates cold tea. 

Adding salt, meanwhile, is either totally undetectable or deeply unpleasant. 

Perhaps the effect would be better with high quality loose-leaf tea but for people who use tea bags, this ‘perfect’ recipe really won’t be their cup of tea.  

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk

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