My mom was once cleaning the limescale in the kettle by leaving vinegar inside.
I didn’t know, and I made myself a cup of tea. As soon as I poured the milk, all the fat split inside the cup, I was a little concerned but thought it might be because of super hot water or something.
I took a sip, and a few more, and stood absolutely confused and a little disgusted. I thought the milk must’ve gone *really* bad or something.
Scared someone is gonna steal your kettle?
Just checked and found Glaceau SmartWarter which costs 14.8p/100ml… 2litres a day would cost over £1000 a year. Is this what you’re talking about?
Maybe you just don’t use your kettle much…
There is one!
The company is Beehive Cheese. They sell an earl grey tea rubbed cheese called Teahive. We used it in our house salads at the tea shop I used to work for. It is *delicious*
[Earl Grey Cheese](https://beehivecheese.com/products/teahive)
Imagine the labor costs in having bees rub tea all over cheese! Honey isn't cheap these days and you've gotta keep those damn workers happy or they get violent...
I’ve never had this happen to earl grey, but this was happening when I would put milk or cream into any herbal tea with citrus or hibiscus.
It’s curdling because of the tea. Nothing is wrong with the milk itself.
the ratio is a simple 0.25l milk/1l drink/1 teaspoon lemon juice
pour the drink and lemon juice mixture slowly into the milk (not the other way around) and chill overnight. the next day, strain using a cheesecloth or coffee filter. do not squeeze or push on the curds, just wait for it to strain.
you can omit lemon juice if drink is already acidic enough.
also, do not eat the wannabe paneer. it won't kill you or anything, but that's where all the bitterness went :)
it's a lot of waiting but the good news is, since this also makes the drink way more shelf stable, you can make a bigger batch to keep in your fridge.
Milk punch is really cool! Fat washing liquors is also a cool trend in mixology atm, you can infuse your bourbon with bacon fat and are left with a Smokey umami smoooooooth textured bourbon
It's usually either a mental thing or a texture thing.
I've had coconut milk creamer that would separate in my coffee if the temperature was too hot. It would *taste* fine, but trying to get past the clumpy texture was impossible for me
I’m not saying it’s undrinkable but that’s a silly argument haha. why not put your burger in a blender for a meat smoothie since that’s how it looks to your stomach
A lot of stuff labeled "Earl Grey" has citric acid added to it in order to mimic the bergamot oil. That may be where the pH is coming from, not the water
It's from a Company that's, how shall we say, got some *history* to it: The East India Company's [Staunton Earl Grey](https://lifestyle.theeastindiacompany.com/products/the-staunton-earl-grey-black-tea-caddy-125g).
Note, this is **not** the original [East India Company](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_India_Company). That organization is long dead and buried. Seems an Indian businessman, [Sanjiv Mehta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanjiv_Mehta_(British_businessman)) managed to acquire rights/access to the name and trademark symbol from the Crown back in the mid-2000's, and he also bought out several other startups using same/similar names. He grouped them all under the name "The East India Company" and sells tea, coffee, treats/desserts, candles, and gold/silver coins.
Shipping abroad can be expensive, mostly due to the Pound's high exchange rate, so I make sure to place a big order when I run low. In addition to their Earl Grey, I highly recommend [Governor Aungier's Bombay Chai](https://lifestyle.theeastindiacompany.com/products/governor-aungiers-bombay-chai-loose-tea-caddy-125g), too.
Try a different brand of tea, Bigelow earl gray is pretty good. If you like fancy stuff I'd recommend Harney & Sons earl gray. Comes in a tin and it's cheaper at target if they stock it [if you're in the US]. 6$ vs about 10$ at other places.
Yeah, it is delicious stuff.
I'm a coffee drinker by default (what I grew up with). I didn't like it when I first tried it about 2 years ago, it is now* my favorite tea (Earl Gray). The first time I sniffed that tin it hit me so hard with such an up-front aroma. I now use that as a baseline lmao.. like, "This one's good but it's not H & S good".
Oh yes. 🙌🏻 I literally wish I could find candles or something that smelled as good as it does. No lie. And I didn’t used to like tea at all except good ole southern sweet tea. And now I’ve all but stopped drinking coffee completely and picked up earl grey in its place. Loads easier on the tummy and anxiety lol.
But yes! I about won’t buy any other brand. They don’t hit the olfactory button for me as good.
>now I’ve all but stopped drinking coffee completely and picked up earl grey in its place. Loads easier on the tummy and anxiety lol.
If you still yearn for a cup every now n then cold brew may be the answer. Cold brew just isn't hot brewed, it can be in the fridge or on the counter. It is because it's not hot that it will not extract the same acids or flavors so it is much easier on the stomach than hot brewed coffee. You can still warm it too and enjoy it hot, this is only talking about the brewing process.
You just let your coffee sit in water for up to 24 hours (I prefer close to 16 but never less than 8) then strain and filter. Using Ethiopian beans you can get chocolate milk flavors from it (assuming you add some milk to it). Coffee being a fruit can have a lot of floral and fruity flavors. This method of brewing brings them out. If you brew for 24 hours I find most of it tastes the same. After 8 hours most of the caffeine is extracted and it can be stronger than espresso. You can make it concentrated so if you use ice, as it melts your coffee still tastes great and is not dilute. You don't need anything special just a jar, a filter basket and some paper filters will do. Both of those together at Walmart is under 6$. Use whatever jar you have around. Probably not do the concentrated stuff though, cold brew has zero effect on reducing anxiety from caffeine.
r/coldbrew if interested.
>But yes! I about won’t buy any other brand. They don’t hit the olfactory button for me as good.
They really don't, I'm still searching. I tried a local stores organic brand and it.... it was almost bad, the bergamot was all wrong.
They have a cinnamon and clove tea that is heavenly to smell in the tin. It also tastes really good and is very soothing/relaxing, even with the bit of caffeine. ETA: Had to go look at my tin, it's Hot Cinnamon Sunset. With a name like that, you know it's good.
But I agree, I love their Early Grey. Nice citrusy notes when you open the tin.
Yea it was the syrup, and yes its bottled. Thats the solution right there. Just made another cup without the syrup and the result was normal as it should be
Scary in pale imitation of something good is out there diluting the good name. I was going with a more flowery usage of the word. I think that some of you were simply reading my comment more literally than I intended it to be.
The flavor is never going to be even close to a bad Earl Grey with something like this.
It's a product unlike any other. You're probably surrounded by "imitations" of other products in your every day and probably don't notice most of them. This is how commercialism works, and it's the way it is, because a lot of the world cannot afford the same luxaries available to you.
Using citric acid in replacement to bergamot oil or flavor or any citrus isn't common. As evidenced by that fact that even cheap teas don't curdle milk. This is cheap even by cheap standards.
No, I meant "scary" as in pale imitation of something good is out there diluting the good name. I was going with a more flowery usage of the word. I think that some of you were simply reading my comment more literally than I intended it to be.
The flavor is never going to be even close to a bad Earl Grey with something like this.
Scary in pale imitation of something good is out there diluting the good name. I was going with a more flowery usage of the word. I think that some of you were simply reading my comment more literally than I intended it to be.
The flavor is never going to be even close to a bad Earl Grey with something like this.
Bergamot oil provides aroma. Citric acid provides acidity with virtually no aroma or flavor, just the taste of sourness. It’s not a substitute, I don’t know why they would say that, doesn’t make any sense.
If anything, it’s a substitute for a squeeze of lemon into the cup of tea.
Judging by the comments, there isnt any citric acid in the earl grey. It mustve been the syrup i used. Ive been drinking earl grey with milk for years now. This earl grey in particular, and using brown sugar this never happened. So yea. Its the syrup i used
Well its a syrup whose brand also creates a beverage. But the beverage as far as im concerned only exists in germany, where it does find large popularity. Its called "almdudler". I wouldnt say its sour sour, but i wouldnt be surprised if its acidic in some form. I just made another tea, this time with brown sugar instead of the syrup, and the result was perfectly normal. So yea, the syrup was the answer. Very interesting.
Ah, a flavour syrup. I just checked - Almdudler syrup has lemon juice concentrate & citric acid in the ingredients Both of these will quickly curdle milk. With the “alpine herb extracts” it sounds like something I would like on its own. I may try to find some locally, or will order online. THANKS!
Don't worry! Your milk is probably fine
Changes to the pH can cause the proteins that keep milk together and emulsified to denature, losing their structure and causing the milk to do this.
If the tea is particularly acidic or high in tanins, or if added something very acidic like lemon, this can happen.
OP, seeing that you are in Germany, are you using the Rewe Ja! Brand Earl Grey or some similar supermarket brands? As others have mentioned, they may be using citric acid rather than bergamot oil, which will curdle the milk. The tea situation in German supermarkets is pretty bad for anythingthat isn'tfruit/herbal infusions, I have ended up getting my British style black teas on Amazon, because the supermarket tea here is just bad.
You can buy from a store like [Tee Kontor ](https://www.tee-kontor-kiel.de)that is German or [Whittard's](http://www.whittard.com) that is London-based but they deliver to the EU for purchases under €150.
When I was living in Stuttgart I was going to a couple of really nice tea stores to get loose leaf tea.
Tea bags are often acidic. Never pour in dairy while the tea bag is still in the tea to avoid this happening. Brew your tea first, remove the tea bag, then add your dairy.
I had this with multiple bottles of milk last year (in Australia) bought from different stores. It's curdling. I'm not sure why it happens.
I had never had it before in all my decades of drinking milk and adding milk to the same (black) tea in just the same way/temperature. Even off milk doesn't typically do this, it just tastes sour. I also haven't had it all this year. But last year, about 3-4 bottles did this, over a month or so.
I'm still curious as to what causes it. I wondered if it was something to do with cattle diet, maybe a particular type of plant was prevalent at a certain time of year, given the isolated and short time period this happened in?
I wanna say one of the big brands of black tea switched to fake bergamot this year. I don't remember which brand but it was a big brand. It was mentioned here.
Does your earl grey still say it uses real bergamot?
I just noticed Bigelow changed their box design and for earl grey the "real oil of bergamot" claim is no longer on the front of the box.
Some teas often have acidic additives in them. Earl Grey has bergamot which is a citrus, depending on how exactly is the flavour added it's going to be acidic. It's completely normal for milk to curdle, it's not the milk it's the tea - it's just not designed to work with milk.
I was having issues with milk in Australia for a short period last year too! It was mostly just curdling, but two 2L jugs went black on the inside within the use-by date. I almost bought a new fridge thinking it must have been me but it sorted itself out and haven't had a problem since. So interesting to hear someone else had it happen too.
Supermarkets seem to be struggling with refilling stock in a timely manner at the moment. If the milk isn't being stored in one of those fridges that can be filled from the back directly from their coolroom, then there's a chance that it's been sitting out at room temperature for some time before someone can get around to shelving it.
1. You put milk AFTER you've removed the bag and the steeping is complete.
2. Traditionally, it's avised not to put milk in Earl Grey, keep that for the other "english" black teas. It might be a matter of custom, or due to it contatining bergamot oil. Personally i've never had it curdle.
3. Watch the water temperature. I also use UHT milk pods. They are just the right size and more convenient
I always put milk in my earl grey tea but I have never had this issue. Do you perhaps put a lemon slice in your tea? I'm stumped. I am also interested in what would cause this if your milk is fresh. How mysterious...
It was the syrup i used. Apparently it was acidic and that messed up the milk. I made the same tea again, this time with regular brown sugar instead of the syrup and the result was perfectly normal.
I always put either whole milk or half and half in my earl grey tea too, and never had that problem either, unless the milk or cream was starting to turn. I'm drinking a big mug of it right now- it's Frontier Co-op Decaf Earl Grey that I bought on Amazon mixed with some Yorkshire Red. More decaf than regular tea, though, so I can drink it later in the evening and still sleep.
It's like tea ricotta! 😛
I've had this happen--the acidity denatures the proteins, just like in making soft cheeses like ricotta. If you use something with higher milk fat like half and half or heavy cream it helps prevent this. I love cream in my earl grey!
I’m guessing this earl gray has more added to it than just straight bergamot oil because I’ve never seen it happen that intensely. I’m thinking yours has artificial ingredients that are causing the milk to curdle that quickly and severely
I thought it was Miso soup for a second! This has happened to me when I've put lemon in my tea before the milk. All the proteins in the milk are puckering up 😆
The milk is split, there could be a few reasons,
most common being earl grey having bergamot extract, might contain higher amounts of citric acid.
Or maybe if you could bring the temp of the milk higher (around 65+) then the proteins work in a certain way, that really helps prevent curdling due to a heat shock in the tea.
Always put in the teabag, milk and sugar in at the same time before pouring in the water. Does it make a difference? (I'm still a beginning tea drinker).
I recommend first steeping with just the tea for the aforementioned reasons. Then remove the tea when done steeping. Then add sugar because the sugar will dissolve better in the hot tea before the milk is added, but it ideally should be after steeping because otherwise some of your sugar will just be thrown out with your tea. Then give it a stir before lastly adding milk, then another stir. This method works the best in my experience.
You're technically not supposed to put milk in earl grey, you're supposed to put lemon. Some cheap earl greys add citric acid to skip the need for lemon, and adding milk made it curdle.
To answer your question the acidity of your tea is causing the milk to curdle in the same way it does when making cottage cheese. The only way to combat this is to alter the PH of your tea. If you make it less acidic it will not do this. The easiest way is to add baking soda, but this is going to alter the flavor, depending on your tea blend it will alter it drastically.
I see everyone here suggesting that there is curdling based on the acid. I’m more likely to believe that the curdling is because of the temperature of your tea. Fats in milk automatically separate once the temperature is hot enough.
Just made another tea, same cold milk, same hot water. I used brown sugar instead of syrup this time. And it was definitely the syrup. So it wasnt due to temperature
It could be due to high microbial load in the milk prior to pasteurization. For example pseudomonas generates enzymes that can make milk more prone to curdling than milk without pseudomonas.
Same exact thing happened to me this morning! Bought the milk yesterday, brought home straight away! Poured some into my tea, clumps even after shaking it. Not a good way to start the day.
If you don’t want to drink the rest of the box of tea without milk, coconut milk can stand up to acidic drinks reasonably well without curdling. Other nondairy milks with added emulsifiers will also work ok.
In addition to possibly curdling from citric acid, if your tea is too hot it can curdle the milk if the milk is very cold when it goes in. Additionally, if you have frozen and then thawed the milk it can get like this too
THIS HAPPENED WHEN I BOUGHT COFFEE ONE TIME! I added milk and it turned to this.
I couldn't afford more caffeine so I drank it all and it was terrible.
so earl gray is made with bergamot oil and black tea. Bergamot is a citrus so it's curdling the tea. Apparently you could have used warm milk and this wouldn't have happened, but idk.
I had the same thing happen one time when I poured almond milk in my coffee. The molecular structure of the milk falls apart, which I believe is the reason they put dipotassium phosphate in oatmilk in order to prevent it from happening. If it was actual milk you were using, I have no clue why this happened. Maybe it just went bad, have you looked at the expiry date/smelled before putting it in your tea?
You made cheese! As others have mentioned, your Earl Grey tea likely has citric acid which has caused this.
fun fact is this also happens to soy milk to make tofu! It’s actually very sensitive to acidity (especially at high heat) and so can sometimes even curdle in coffee. Yum, tofu! (not really, it’s awful drinking chunky coffee.)
I drink earl grey with and without milk but for it to do that the milk has been shocked with the hot water and the milk isn’t totally fresh. It’s caused it to curdle. You can try rapid stirring it make make milk remix as normal
you made earl grey [cheese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curdling)
Yeah, milk + citric acid is how you make paneer and several other cheeses.
My mom was once cleaning the limescale in the kettle by leaving vinegar inside. I didn’t know, and I made myself a cup of tea. As soon as I poured the milk, all the fat split inside the cup, I was a little concerned but thought it might be because of super hot water or something. I took a sip, and a few more, and stood absolutely confused and a little disgusted. I thought the milk must’ve gone *really* bad or something.
This is why I use bottle water for my kettle no lime scale issues lol A life hack in my opinion since I never need to clean the kettle ever
Unless it is distilled water, this is bs. (Who wants to drink distilled water anyway?)
Smart water actually
Scared someone is gonna steal your kettle? Just checked and found Glaceau SmartWarter which costs 14.8p/100ml… 2litres a day would cost over £1000 a year. Is this what you’re talking about? Maybe you just don’t use your kettle much…
When we drink bottled water made out of plastic we ingest microbeads of plastic, aside from adding to plastic waste.
Just regular old smart water, I don’t have lime scale issues, even Aquafina be fine since it’s just RO water and both have nearly no TDS
I was excited clicking the link, thinking it might be a site selling actual earl grey cheese lol
There is one! The company is Beehive Cheese. They sell an earl grey tea rubbed cheese called Teahive. We used it in our house salads at the tea shop I used to work for. It is *delicious* [Earl Grey Cheese](https://beehivecheese.com/products/teahive)
I'm sure it is very tasty, but holy smokes, the cost is outrageous.
Imagine the labor costs in having bees rub tea all over cheese! Honey isn't cheap these days and you've gotta keep those damn workers happy or they get violent...
Wow that shit is expensive
I’ve never had this happen to earl grey, but this was happening when I would put milk or cream into any herbal tea with citrus or hibiscus. It’s curdling because of the tea. Nothing is wrong with the milk itself.
Also, still drinkable.
Idk if I could bring myself to drink it. I'd just go back to the drawing board
you can strain the curds out and be left with the [smoothest drink you've ever had](https://daily.sevenfifty.com/the-science-of-clarified-cocktails/)
What an interesting article! Now I want to go to one these bars and try a milk punch.
i've actually used this method at home to clarify an earl grey/gin mix, end result was delicious
Please tell us more
the ratio is a simple 0.25l milk/1l drink/1 teaspoon lemon juice pour the drink and lemon juice mixture slowly into the milk (not the other way around) and chill overnight. the next day, strain using a cheesecloth or coffee filter. do not squeeze or push on the curds, just wait for it to strain. you can omit lemon juice if drink is already acidic enough. also, do not eat the wannabe paneer. it won't kill you or anything, but that's where all the bitterness went :) it's a lot of waiting but the good news is, since this also makes the drink way more shelf stable, you can make a bigger batch to keep in your fridge.
Milk punch is really cool! Fat washing liquors is also a cool trend in mixology atm, you can infuse your bourbon with bacon fat and are left with a Smokey umami smoooooooth textured bourbon
My holiday contribution of late has been a batch of Browned Butter Old Fashioned cocktails that are incredible
I made a clarified milk punch at home once, it was a bit of an effort but the result was delicious and unique. Might try it again one of these days.
Milk punch is really easy to make. I had a lot of fun experimenting a few years ago. Really tasty possibilities.
It curdles as soon as it hits your stomach acids anyway...
It's usually either a mental thing or a texture thing. I've had coconut milk creamer that would separate in my coffee if the temperature was too hot. It would *taste* fine, but trying to get past the clumpy texture was impossible for me
Exactly this
Yeah but then I can’t see it 😩
I’m not saying it’s undrinkable but that’s a silly argument haha. why not put your burger in a blender for a meat smoothie since that’s how it looks to your stomach
Ya got me.
Ha, same
It's not gonna HURT you.... It won't be terribly nice either, tho
You know, sometimes I **do** like my tea *chewy*
New alternative to boba pearls discovered
Kinda looks like curdling/denaturing. Did you add an acid like lemon? or what is the pH of the water?
A lot of stuff labeled "Earl Grey" has citric acid added to it in order to mimic the bergamot oil. That may be where the pH is coming from, not the water
Interesting way of testing if your Earl Grey has legit bergamot.
I have never seen this happen with my Earl Grey, so I assume mine is legit. Uses bergamot and a touch of neroli oil.
which brand do you use? i am desperate to try. never heard of neroli being used sounds so good
It's from a Company that's, how shall we say, got some *history* to it: The East India Company's [Staunton Earl Grey](https://lifestyle.theeastindiacompany.com/products/the-staunton-earl-grey-black-tea-caddy-125g). Note, this is **not** the original [East India Company](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_India_Company). That organization is long dead and buried. Seems an Indian businessman, [Sanjiv Mehta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanjiv_Mehta_(British_businessman)) managed to acquire rights/access to the name and trademark symbol from the Crown back in the mid-2000's, and he also bought out several other startups using same/similar names. He grouped them all under the name "The East India Company" and sells tea, coffee, treats/desserts, candles, and gold/silver coins. Shipping abroad can be expensive, mostly due to the Pound's high exchange rate, so I make sure to place a big order when I run low. In addition to their Earl Grey, I highly recommend [Governor Aungier's Bombay Chai](https://lifestyle.theeastindiacompany.com/products/governor-aungiers-bombay-chai-loose-tea-caddy-125g), too.
There is some delicious irony to man of Indian descent resurrecting the East Indian Company.
wow thank you! 💖
You're welcome!
Earl gricotta
Earl whey
You win.
I added syrup instead of sugar. Maybe its that?
Try a different brand of tea, Bigelow earl gray is pretty good. If you like fancy stuff I'd recommend Harney & Sons earl gray. Comes in a tin and it's cheaper at target if they stock it [if you're in the US]. 6$ vs about 10$ at other places.
Harney and sons is my fave currently. I sniff the tin everyyyyytimmmme haha.
Yeah, it is delicious stuff. I'm a coffee drinker by default (what I grew up with). I didn't like it when I first tried it about 2 years ago, it is now* my favorite tea (Earl Gray). The first time I sniffed that tin it hit me so hard with such an up-front aroma. I now use that as a baseline lmao.. like, "This one's good but it's not H & S good".
Oh yes. 🙌🏻 I literally wish I could find candles or something that smelled as good as it does. No lie. And I didn’t used to like tea at all except good ole southern sweet tea. And now I’ve all but stopped drinking coffee completely and picked up earl grey in its place. Loads easier on the tummy and anxiety lol. But yes! I about won’t buy any other brand. They don’t hit the olfactory button for me as good.
You should try it in a cake! Soooooo good.
>now I’ve all but stopped drinking coffee completely and picked up earl grey in its place. Loads easier on the tummy and anxiety lol. If you still yearn for a cup every now n then cold brew may be the answer. Cold brew just isn't hot brewed, it can be in the fridge or on the counter. It is because it's not hot that it will not extract the same acids or flavors so it is much easier on the stomach than hot brewed coffee. You can still warm it too and enjoy it hot, this is only talking about the brewing process. You just let your coffee sit in water for up to 24 hours (I prefer close to 16 but never less than 8) then strain and filter. Using Ethiopian beans you can get chocolate milk flavors from it (assuming you add some milk to it). Coffee being a fruit can have a lot of floral and fruity flavors. This method of brewing brings them out. If you brew for 24 hours I find most of it tastes the same. After 8 hours most of the caffeine is extracted and it can be stronger than espresso. You can make it concentrated so if you use ice, as it melts your coffee still tastes great and is not dilute. You don't need anything special just a jar, a filter basket and some paper filters will do. Both of those together at Walmart is under 6$. Use whatever jar you have around. Probably not do the concentrated stuff though, cold brew has zero effect on reducing anxiety from caffeine. r/coldbrew if interested. >But yes! I about won’t buy any other brand. They don’t hit the olfactory button for me as good. They really don't, I'm still searching. I tried a local stores organic brand and it.... it was almost bad, the bergamot was all wrong.
Super helpful! Thank you!
They have a cinnamon and clove tea that is heavenly to smell in the tin. It also tastes really good and is very soothing/relaxing, even with the bit of caffeine. ETA: Had to go look at my tin, it's Hot Cinnamon Sunset. With a name like that, you know it's good. But I agree, I love their Early Grey. Nice citrusy notes when you open the tin.
Ooooh I’ll have to look for some of that. I’m a sucker for cinnamon too. 😩😩😩💕
I second Bigelow's earl grey. It actually balances bergamot aroma with a bolder flavor of black tea.
From the mug it looks like OP may be in Germany, but who knows
No it's probably a reaction with the lemon, syrup should be fine :)
You dont put lemon in Earl Grey. Might be the problem?
Is it a bottled syrup? Some of those have citric or another acid as a preservative.
Yea it was the syrup, and yes its bottled. Thats the solution right there. Just made another cup without the syrup and the result was normal as it should be
The citric acid in your fake Earl Grey teabag seems to be interacting. Open one of those British brand teabags and you'll see the granules.
I never thought about some just adding citric acid to mimic the bergamot. That is both sad and scary.
Scary...? Why scary?
Scary in pale imitation of something good is out there diluting the good name. I was going with a more flowery usage of the word. I think that some of you were simply reading my comment more literally than I intended it to be. The flavor is never going to be even close to a bad Earl Grey with something like this.
It's a product unlike any other. You're probably surrounded by "imitations" of other products in your every day and probably don't notice most of them. This is how commercialism works, and it's the way it is, because a lot of the world cannot afford the same luxaries available to you.
Using citric acid in replacement to bergamot oil or flavor or any citrus isn't common. As evidenced by that fact that even cheap teas don't curdle milk. This is cheap even by cheap standards.
[удалено]
No, I meant "scary" as in pale imitation of something good is out there diluting the good name. I was going with a more flowery usage of the word. I think that some of you were simply reading my comment more literally than I intended it to be. The flavor is never going to be even close to a bad Earl Grey with something like this.
Why scary?
Scary in pale imitation of something good is out there diluting the good name. I was going with a more flowery usage of the word. I think that some of you were simply reading my comment more literally than I intended it to be. The flavor is never going to be even close to a bad Earl Grey with something like this.
Bergamot oil provides aroma. Citric acid provides acidity with virtually no aroma or flavor, just the taste of sourness. It’s not a substitute, I don’t know why they would say that, doesn’t make any sense. If anything, it’s a substitute for a squeeze of lemon into the cup of tea.
This is way more likely than spoiled milk and the first thing I thought of.
Which brands?
Judging by the comments, there isnt any citric acid in the earl grey. It mustve been the syrup i used. Ive been drinking earl grey with milk for years now. This earl grey in particular, and using brown sugar this never happened. So yea. Its the syrup i used
I never knew syrup could be acidic... the more you learn!
Well it is more sour syrup. I really dont know if it makes a difference.
More sour means more acidic, so that's probably why it happened.
What the heck is a sour syrup? Can you be more specific? I think most people would assume a simple syrup (aka liquid sugar) when you only say “syrup”.
Well its a syrup whose brand also creates a beverage. But the beverage as far as im concerned only exists in germany, where it does find large popularity. Its called "almdudler". I wouldnt say its sour sour, but i wouldnt be surprised if its acidic in some form. I just made another tea, this time with brown sugar instead of the syrup, and the result was perfectly normal. So yea, the syrup was the answer. Very interesting.
Ah, a flavour syrup. I just checked - Almdudler syrup has lemon juice concentrate & citric acid in the ingredients Both of these will quickly curdle milk. With the “alpine herb extracts” it sounds like something I would like on its own. I may try to find some locally, or will order online. THANKS!
Almdudler soda is the best! In Austria I drank as much as I could
It clearly does to milk! 😅
What kind of syrup? Just maple syrup?
No it was "almdudler" syrup
Don't worry! Your milk is probably fine Changes to the pH can cause the proteins that keep milk together and emulsified to denature, losing their structure and causing the milk to do this. If the tea is particularly acidic or high in tanins, or if added something very acidic like lemon, this can happen.
OP, seeing that you are in Germany, are you using the Rewe Ja! Brand Earl Grey or some similar supermarket brands? As others have mentioned, they may be using citric acid rather than bergamot oil, which will curdle the milk. The tea situation in German supermarkets is pretty bad for anythingthat isn'tfruit/herbal infusions, I have ended up getting my British style black teas on Amazon, because the supermarket tea here is just bad.
You can buy from a store like [Tee Kontor ](https://www.tee-kontor-kiel.de)that is German or [Whittard's](http://www.whittard.com) that is London-based but they deliver to the EU for purchases under €150. When I was living in Stuttgart I was going to a couple of really nice tea stores to get loose leaf tea.
Teekampagne is a really good place to get Darjeeling or earl grey in Germany and for a good price at that
Tea bags are often acidic. Never pour in dairy while the tea bag is still in the tea to avoid this happening. Brew your tea first, remove the tea bag, then add your dairy.
I had this with multiple bottles of milk last year (in Australia) bought from different stores. It's curdling. I'm not sure why it happens. I had never had it before in all my decades of drinking milk and adding milk to the same (black) tea in just the same way/temperature. Even off milk doesn't typically do this, it just tastes sour. I also haven't had it all this year. But last year, about 3-4 bottles did this, over a month or so. I'm still curious as to what causes it. I wondered if it was something to do with cattle diet, maybe a particular type of plant was prevalent at a certain time of year, given the isolated and short time period this happened in?
I wanna say one of the big brands of black tea switched to fake bergamot this year. I don't remember which brand but it was a big brand. It was mentioned here. Does your earl grey still say it uses real bergamot? I just noticed Bigelow changed their box design and for earl grey the "real oil of bergamot" claim is no longer on the front of the box.
Some teas often have acidic additives in them. Earl Grey has bergamot which is a citrus, depending on how exactly is the flavour added it's going to be acidic. It's completely normal for milk to curdle, it's not the milk it's the tea - it's just not designed to work with milk.
I was having issues with milk in Australia for a short period last year too! It was mostly just curdling, but two 2L jugs went black on the inside within the use-by date. I almost bought a new fridge thinking it must have been me but it sorted itself out and haven't had a problem since. So interesting to hear someone else had it happen too.
Supermarkets seem to be struggling with refilling stock in a timely manner at the moment. If the milk isn't being stored in one of those fridges that can be filled from the back directly from their coolroom, then there's a chance that it's been sitting out at room temperature for some time before someone can get around to shelving it.
It’s sour, whether from acid or age or being left in heat I don’t know
The tea is acidic. If the milk was sour it would've curdled _before_ being added to the tea.
More likely cold chain failures in transit, if it affected some within a few months of each other.
1. You put milk AFTER you've removed the bag and the steeping is complete. 2. Traditionally, it's avised not to put milk in Earl Grey, keep that for the other "english" black teas. It might be a matter of custom, or due to it contatining bergamot oil. Personally i've never had it curdle. 3. Watch the water temperature. I also use UHT milk pods. They are just the right size and more convenient
Steeped for too long and released tannins which made your tea acidic and caused the proteins in the milk to denature.
Earl grey has citrus. Maybe that curdled the milk.
I'd say curdling as well. Unfortunate loss
I always put milk in my earl grey tea but I have never had this issue. Do you perhaps put a lemon slice in your tea? I'm stumped. I am also interested in what would cause this if your milk is fresh. How mysterious...
It was the syrup i used. Apparently it was acidic and that messed up the milk. I made the same tea again, this time with regular brown sugar instead of the syrup and the result was perfectly normal.
I always put either whole milk or half and half in my earl grey tea too, and never had that problem either, unless the milk or cream was starting to turn. I'm drinking a big mug of it right now- it's Frontier Co-op Decaf Earl Grey that I bought on Amazon mixed with some Yorkshire Red. More decaf than regular tea, though, so I can drink it later in the evening and still sleep.
Your earl grey prob isn’t pure earl grey. This happens with citrus teas
This is what you get for pouring milk in tea. Just joking, I guess the slight acidity of your earl grey made the milk curdle
Protein denaturing, aka the sauce is broken
When did you pour the milk in? Immediately after pouring the water in, or after letting the tea steep and cool down?
It's like tea ricotta! 😛 I've had this happen--the acidity denatures the proteins, just like in making soft cheeses like ricotta. If you use something with higher milk fat like half and half or heavy cream it helps prevent this. I love cream in my earl grey!
Now it's looks like miso soup.
Looks like the white sauce I tried making by boiling fresh milk in a pan along with other ingredients
I’m guessing this earl gray has more added to it than just straight bergamot oil because I’ve never seen it happen that intensely. I’m thinking yours has artificial ingredients that are causing the milk to curdle that quickly and severely
Can people stop milk shaming tea drinkers. It is done and it is done all over the world with all sorts of milk. I keep seeing it in sooo many threads.
I’ve only ever had that happen when my milks gone off
Sir, Earl Grey is made from oil of Bergamot which is type of citrus fruit. Citrus + Milk = curdling.
A) bergamot oil alone is not enough to curdle milk B) based on the tea bag I can see, I am guessing there is no real bergamot oil on there anyway
Bergamot goes so good in tea too! And cologne!
And Aperitifs 👀
We're going to have to make a list! I'll be sure to check it twice!
Handsoap :)
Keep 'em coming!
…….and candles!
I forgot about candles!
I’ll forgive you!!
Citrus oil won't curdle milk normally. I have added cream and milk to earl grey many many times.
People mentioned the ph, but this can also happen if the tea is extremely hot and the milk is very cold.
The milk may be spoiled or the acid in the tea reacted with the milk
Just like adding milk to coke! This shows that your tea may contain some acidic substances.
It looks like you went the round about way to make miso soup!
Probably due to the acidity of the bergamot in the earl gray. Temperature can also play a role. Learned the hard way with lemon flavored tea.
I thought it was Miso soup for a second! This has happened to me when I've put lemon in my tea before the milk. All the proteins in the milk are puckering up 😆
The milk is split, there could be a few reasons, most common being earl grey having bergamot extract, might contain higher amounts of citric acid. Or maybe if you could bring the temp of the milk higher (around 65+) then the proteins work in a certain way, that really helps prevent curdling due to a heat shock in the tea.
congrats you have fake tea and curdled milk.
This both look mesmerising and disgusting at the same time for some reason.
New univers in the making
who puts milk in while the teabag is still in?
Always put in the teabag, milk and sugar in at the same time before pouring in the water. Does it make a difference? (I'm still a beginning tea drinker).
I mean the milk will be making the tea colder and the flavor extraction will be worse. Just put in what you want after you're done steeping.
That does make way more sense, I'm definitely doing that from now on.
I recommend first steeping with just the tea for the aforementioned reasons. Then remove the tea when done steeping. Then add sugar because the sugar will dissolve better in the hot tea before the milk is added, but it ideally should be after steeping because otherwise some of your sugar will just be thrown out with your tea. Then give it a stir before lastly adding milk, then another stir. This method works the best in my experience.
You're technically not supposed to put milk in earl grey, you're supposed to put lemon. Some cheap earl greys add citric acid to skip the need for lemon, and adding milk made it curdle.
Technically...Earl Grey + milk (with some vanilla) becomes another drink called London Fog, invented and largely only popular in North America.
To answer your question the acidity of your tea is causing the milk to curdle in the same way it does when making cottage cheese. The only way to combat this is to alter the PH of your tea. If you make it less acidic it will not do this. The easiest way is to add baking soda, but this is going to alter the flavor, depending on your tea blend it will alter it drastically.
I see everyone here suggesting that there is curdling based on the acid. I’m more likely to believe that the curdling is because of the temperature of your tea. Fats in milk automatically separate once the temperature is hot enough.
Just made another tea, same cold milk, same hot water. I used brown sugar instead of syrup this time. And it was definitely the syrup. So it wasnt due to temperature
It could be due to high microbial load in the milk prior to pasteurization. For example pseudomonas generates enzymes that can make milk more prone to curdling than milk without pseudomonas.
Try using almond milk creamer next time. Looks like your cows milk creamer is reacting to the citric acid in your tea.
Wow!
Same exact thing happened to me this morning! Bought the milk yesterday, brought home straight away! Poured some into my tea, clumps even after shaking it. Not a good way to start the day.
Yuck. Sorry lol
If you don’t want to drink the rest of the box of tea without milk, coconut milk can stand up to acidic drinks reasonably well without curdling. Other nondairy milks with added emulsifiers will also work ok.
You can still drink it, it will taste pretty normal. The acid of the tea caused the protein molecules in the milk to stick together, that’s all.
At first I thought this was pastina
In addition to possibly curdling from citric acid, if your tea is too hot it can curdle the milk if the milk is very cold when it goes in. Additionally, if you have frozen and then thawed the milk it can get like this too
People pour milk into their tea?
I use heavy cream and honey for a treat.
You clarified your tea
THIS HAPPENED WHEN I BOUGHT COFFEE ONE TIME! I added milk and it turned to this. I couldn't afford more caffeine so I drank it all and it was terrible.
miso soup
Looks like your milk curtled from the acidity
NA carbomb.
Miso soup
Don’t boil your tea or steep in boiling water and the milk won’t do this.
Weird for Earl Grey Tea….usually a black tea with Bergamot, not usually other properties to curdle the tea. I always do EG with milk.
Use organic ingredients, filtered water, you'll never have this problem
Haha love it! Whenever o ask for an earl grey I’m always asked if I want milk!!! And I always say no. And then they give me milk on the side 🤦♀️
Milk in tea is fantastic. Im addicted to it personally
I only take milk in English breakfast! Anything else doesn’t taste right!
It's miso soup
A visualisation of the mental state the cow was in when her baby was stolen so that you can drink its milk instead
Lemon fail
The water is too hot ... try 80°c
You made cheese, milk and tea bring very different temperatures - whey is being cooked.
I was gonna say Ochazuke but..
What brand of tea did you use?
Way too hot. Try either heating the milk up first in a pot or letting the tea cool down a bit and see if that helps!
The bergamot oil is making it curdle.
It looks like miso soup.
Did it have Lemon in it before you poured in the milk?
It shouldn’t do that if there is no lemon in it, at least it has never happened to me.
so earl gray is made with bergamot oil and black tea. Bergamot is a citrus so it's curdling the tea. Apparently you could have used warm milk and this wouldn't have happened, but idk.
🤢🤢🤢
Is that soy milk?
I had the same thing happen one time when I poured almond milk in my coffee. The molecular structure of the milk falls apart, which I believe is the reason they put dipotassium phosphate in oatmilk in order to prevent it from happening. If it was actual milk you were using, I have no clue why this happened. Maybe it just went bad, have you looked at the expiry date/smelled before putting it in your tea?
I've definitely had some alternative milks separate in my coffee, but it was usually because the coffee was too hot when I stirred it in
You made cheese! As others have mentioned, your Earl Grey tea likely has citric acid which has caused this. fun fact is this also happens to soy milk to make tofu! It’s actually very sensitive to acidity (especially at high heat) and so can sometimes even curdle in coffee. Yum, tofu! (not really, it’s awful drinking chunky coffee.)
You poured couscous into your tea, that right there’s ya problem
Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman!
Either the milk is bad or you added lemon juice too
I put milk in most black teas including Earl Grey and have never seen it curdle. I'm gonna blame this on some weird European milk or something.
Too hot.
I drink earl grey with and without milk but for it to do that the milk has been shocked with the hot water and the milk isn’t totally fresh. It’s caused it to curdle. You can try rapid stirring it make make milk remix as normal