Food Theory: Your Tea SUCKS... But That's None of My Business

*Step away from my leafy soup and no one gets hurt!*

the mom reflexes on Steph to get her hand under something she knew would spill right into it were honestly impressive

Matt:Steph drinks 3-4 mugs a day.
Every british tea lover: ha ha, miniscule..

OMG, I had to stop at: "This channel is built on the premise that I can overthink anything and write it off as a business expense." That one line is just too good.

Iroh: This tea is nothing more than hot leaf juice!
Zuko: Uncle, that's what all tea is.
Iroh: How could a member of my own family say something so horrible?

I just love the way Tom phrases everything. "How does one open this bag?"

Nice to see Matpat got a special guest on this episode so that Steph isn't the only one suffering the entire time from her husband's wacky antics.

Me, looking at my Nepali neighbour, who is casually boiling his ceylon tea in milk.
*Ahh, poor MatPat, you know nothing*

As a tea drinker who has dairy sensitivity, I'm about to horrify Tom and Steph. I don't add milk to my tea. But I do sweeten it with just a touch (about 5 ml) of honey.

FYI, in Ol’ Blighty, tea is sometimes called a ‘cuppa’ or a ‘brew’. Tea is also used as another term for supper. Furthermore, tea is used to refer to a kind of 4th meal at around 3pm, usually involving a sweet baked good and a cup of tea. All of this is depending on the part or the country.

Food Theory: How to make the perfect cup of british tea.
Me who almost exclusively drinks chinese, japanese, and korean tea: I have no idea what to do with this information.

These guys are the most wholesome couple on the internet

Fun fact: Tea Time is such a universal practice in Britain that their power grids actually have to account for the spike in consumption from everyone heating up their kettles at once

Thing is, as a Brit from Wales, I've never seen anyone pour milk then water. Water first is usually the norm so the British way still is the best!

In India we skip the water altogether and just boil tea in whole milk, and add a ton of spices and sugar into it.

I love how Matt is absolutely geeking out over the milk😂 I can’t wait to have a proper cup tonight

As someone who works in hospitality in London, and makes tea and coffee for a living, I have never see anyone put the milk in the cup before the tea.

MatPat always makes the highest quali-tea theory videos on Clip-Share.

A part two involving traditional Asian methods would be nice.

Sad they didn't include gong fu tea brewing. It's the traditional Chinese way and in my opinion the best method, no milk or sugar needed.

MATT! You sir have forgotten to do the final and most crucial step.... The sugar, honey, milk type and or sweetener! As a British person I feel that you might need to add this step Edit: Thanks For all the likes you are all awesome 🌸🦋✨🌟👑💐( this is the most I’ve ever gotten)

15:40
I really love how Mat didn’t start jumping up and down until Tom spoke for some reason, that was hilarious.

Missed checking the correct temperature at which to steep the tea. It's important - as the different chemicals that make up the flavour and aroma of tea (there are 7-800 of them) are released differently, depending on temperature (and steeping time - which they did look at). The higher the temperature (and the longer the steeping time) the more likely you are to get the bitter tasting tannins. Rather than using boiling water, you should use water at 90-95oC.

They're so funny, I love how much fun some of the food theories are!

As a British person this video is not ruining my tea experience

Honestly, having getting to see more of the team (Tom in this one) is kinda nice, could we see more of Tom? He's hilarious and y'all's energy mixes well

I just imagined the British having a entire science branch just to study tea.

I think this is the most relevant to me episode of Food Theory I have seen. I actually prefer to drink tea in the spring and fall because local honey is supposed to help with allergies and I’m surprised at what I’ve been doing right and wrong. I normally steep my tea until it’s at a drinkable temperature so I get more flavor but I didn’t realize I was making it more bitter. At least I got adding the milk second right

Tea-rrific episode... except for all the puns!
Just kidding!! This is my favorite of the year, and I always love watching both Mat and Steph...
Merry Xmas and a happy new year with plenty of more food and theories!!!

I was surprised that loose leaf tea wasn’t the best here - I always thought teabags usually had smaller particles, and lower quality than full, rich leaves? Idk but also on another note, I only love tea when scalding hot, and I hate when it’s put in a large (usually metallic) travel mug or foam travel cup. For me it’s gotta be in a normal mug.

Matpat: Your tea sucks. But that’s not of my business
Also Matpat: makes a whole video about it.

As a tea drinker, this is actually the first time I’ve applied a food theory to my real life. Thanks MatPat!!

Watching this makes me want the unedited live action clips of Mat and Steph in the kitchen for all of Food Theory

We need more tests! What about other teas? I've heard certain teas need to steep longer or shorter, so we need a part two!

I love how the mugs at the start are M and S for mat and Steph lmao

I make tea in my coffee maker. The flat bags are actually perfect for this because you can spread the tea evenly before laying it down. You only need one or two tea bags depending on how big they are, how strong you like it, and how much you're making. (My preference is to make 12 cups using either one large teabag or two small teabags. Different brands of tea use different sizes of tea bags and fill them with different amounts of tea.)

Iroh: *Spittake* "This 'tea' is just hot leaf _juice!"_
Zuko: "Uncle, that's what _all_ tea is."
Iroh: "How could a member of my own family say something so _horrible?!"_

I’m very happy to find out I’ve been making tea almost perfectly my whole life already😂

I’ve been making my tea this way for the past few days and it’s insane how much better it is. I didn’t know you weren’t supposed to squeeze the bag after 😬 you guys are doing the lords work

Beer has a similar culture around the glasses you drink it out of. Matt Pat I want to see a deep dive into beers in bottle vs can vs the proper glass! Your team does a great job. Great content!

But what about hot water temperature?!?!
Water that's at a rolling boil, just under boiling temperature, a specific temp at specific altitudes...
This has always been my biggest tea and coffee anxietea causing question.

And I was so excited to learn how to properly make my matcha green and tulsi basil. But this is still really awesome. I drink about 3 large teapots worth of tea every day so this will likely save me money.

Matt: ‘Tea is nothing more than hot leaf juice’
Steph: ‘How could a member of my family say something so horrible?’

This whole thing was weirdly horrifying in a way I cannot explain as an avid tea drinker. It was like watching a train wreck in action and I loved every second and will absolutely NOT be making my tea like this XD (also you can boil water in the microwave the only recommendation is do it in a mason jar because the glass doesn't retain the taste of anything really and also know your water type will make a difference in taste)

If I may, my family has found that a) tea tastes MUCH better if you warm the milk too (eg 30 seconds in the microwave, b) put milk at the bottom, and c) brew the tea separately in a pot before adding it to the milk. If you put the milk in then the water and teabag it will taste sour, as I believe happened in the episode, but if the tea is brewed to completion in a separate vessel and THEN added it will taste magnificent.
P.s as an avid tea connoisseur, I would also have recommended comparing large tea brands for maximising flavour :)

Who ever was the editor for this video did a great job. They had so much fun with this video

P.S. Though the TicTok tea got (rightfully) roasted, it's important to remember that way back when, there was such a thing as Cambric Tea. It's basically a cup of milk with plenty of sugar and just enough tea to flavor it. It was meant for children who were too young to drink a proper cup since it would be too strong for them.

But here's the part that keeps me up at night, optimizing for the amount of liquid to maximize the amount of tea I can get from my bag without giving up on the flavor and experience. I was so excited for this video, but it missed that part, give it to me!

Fun fact: The idea of a tea bag was created by accident. It used to come in big blocks that they would just shave off a little at a time and long story short someone started selling it in a bag to transport it and the customers didn't realize they were supposed to open the bag

6:35 this made me laugh way harder than it should've

Would be cool if you would have tried plant based milk too, but that‘s something I can try on my own then. Other than that, very good video!

I have the tiny metal loose leaf tea guy, and I often open different tea bags (some from caffeinated tea, and some herbal tea) and mix it together before adding it to the tea cage. It is very fun.

Hey Matt, if you ever come back to teas, can you look into if the flavor of teas change based on if the tea cup and pot are hot vs cold? I read a book many years ago saying to swirl hot clean water in the pot or tea cup before pouring the water over the tea. I personally can taste a slight difference, and it makes sense to me, but I would love to hear the science behind it and if it's right or wrong. These techniques were from Japan according to the book I read that had been translated into English from a old tea master or something.

I was rewatching this while eating my lunch and I realised it's probably my favourite theory over all the channels. Which is weird since I don't drink tea 🤔
What sorcery is this?

Matpat: "warm leaf water"
My brain:
Uncle Iroh: "How could a member of my own family say something so horrible!?"

The mug definitely has an effect… I’ve always known that a slightly thin a glass mug tastes better…

Put the avocado in a resealable bag, covered in a wet towel it will probably sprout better😊 it worked for me

I know I’m a true Brit when I already fit the entire checklist of tea making 😂

i didn't realize that there could be so much of a different between tea. personally, my perfect cup is oolong tea steeped (with a lid or just using a small plate to cover the cup) until the color looks right. if i want it sweetened, i'll also add a chunk or two of rock sugar that's roughly the size of the first section of your thumb. my usual steep time is about 2-3 minutes (or longer, since i actually prefer a stronger cup) depending on the type of oolong tea, since the colors can differ, but also with loose leaf tea sometimes you want to steep it for less time. plus the flavor profile with oolong tends to shift the more you steep it since you can reuse the loose leaf for more brews.
i'd love to see a follow up video where you guys test out other teas from asia since the tea culture is so varied with all the different types.

Great video, but two things: 1. You should have tested the steeping temperature, I feel most people make it too hot and scald their tea and for certain teas it might even be better to steep at room temp. 2. The pyramid bags may have micro plastics.

My wife was happy to see Steph getting a positive video experience. In her words "That woman is a saint for putting up with Matpat, he made her eat trees!"

Been using superior methods all along 😁 I steep for eight minutes though in a teapot that is over a quart so I think the amount of water makes a difference too

There were 8 tea puns in this video, 1 from Steph, 1 from Thomas, and 6 from Mat. I also want to mention that all 8 were in the first 3 minutes of the video

I think for the teapot, it cools when getting poured. A smaller exit area means you would lose some of the heat. Like, your breath is warmer when you exhale with an open mouth, but when you exhale with your mouth nearly closed except for a pinhole opening, the breath is cooler.

As a British person, I have been following MatPat's perfect tea formula for the past 3-4 years unknowingly (shape of the teabag and all). I have fully optimised my tea making skills before the optimised method was ever created- by far my most impressive flex.

You guys should have done sweeteners, sugar, honey and stevia too!

Iroh: This tea is nothing more than hot leaf juice!
Zuko: Uncle...that's what ALL tea is.
Iroh: How can one of my own family say something so horrible?

The material of the cup makes a big difference, I use about 5ml of milk to my tea, for the teapot, pre warm it before adding the bags and water

Love this video so much, but as someone who primarily drinks herbals and greens, you guys should do a series on different types of tea and the best way to drink them. I am a tea aficionado pretty much so I would watch the f out of a series like that

1. Tom is probably the most British Person I've ever seen 2. The tea puns are killing me I want to die 3. This video is hilarious I mean mat-pat saying we need someone British is probably one of my top 10 mat-pat lines

We do something completely different in my country. We boil tea leaves, ginger, a cinnamon stick, lime juice, anise star, 2-3 green apple slices, and honey in a sauce pan. We never add milk. It is absolutely the most fragrant and flavorful tea I’ve ever had. This is why I require multiple tea bags when making a cup of boxed tea lol.

Overall a nice video! :) But I was surprised you didn't test the tea leaf "geometry". In tea bags the leaves are in smaller pieces compared to loose leaf tea which often (?) has larger leaves, or leaf pieces, which, in theory, would affect the flavour; you even comment on the brew time difference. So in this test the "tea container" variable is not fully separated from the leaf variable. Ideally you would also test brewing the flat and pyramid bag leaves in a bauble for the same brew time. (Ideally you would also try loose leaves in the other tea containers, but that could get cumbersome.)
I think I've heard at some point (although I forgot where and with a quick search I haven't found a source) that smaller leaf pieces can tend to generate a bitter taste in the tea due to more chlorophyll being able to "leak" from the larger "cut" area.
As of yet I don't think I have seen this tested and the result would be interesting!

I’m British and I have never once in my life seen milk first. It’s always water on tea, followed by milk. You just proved the British way is best.

So I know this isn’t food, movie/tv, game related, but I’d love for you to do the perfect way to do laundry especially if you have a variety of clothing fabrics. My husband and I have been having laundry issues and I realize it’s because most of his laundry is made from cotton and it’s obviously needed to be treated with a special process. I wasn’t taught how to do laundry so I would love to see your process and the science and what it has to say about the way to do laundry.

you should really do this for other hot drink like hot chocolate or coffee

This video made me laugh so much
Thank you. I really needed this.

I'm from the South. All I have to worry about is if there's enough sugar in my cold tea to put someone into a diabetic coma 🤣

You should also test what milk tastes best with what tea

as a brit, everyone i know does exactly this, never seen anyone put milk first, I think that tradition has been toppled already

Interesting…adding milk to the tea last is the equivalent of adding coconut cream last to curry. That makes sense!
As for the teapot vs. mug theory, I wish that my mother, who grew up in China during Mao’s revolution, went over with me more of the science of food. It would’ve saved me a lot of experimentation time in my adult years and made me less resistant towards Chemistry.
My mother told me not to touch cooking often because at the time, she wanted me to focus on my studies. But alas, despite me being smart, sweet, and hard working, both academia and corporate America didn’t like me wanting to prove that artists deserve to have decent salaries, work-life balances, and go see doctors whenever. As such, I felt that the kitchen was more of my safe haven as an adult.
Plus, I wanted to prove a former abuse partner wrong that I’m allowed to be my own person and cook healthy foods. Long story on that one.
Great episode by the way! Nice that you had a British person on board. :)

Doesn't the type of milk and added sugar also play a massive part in the flavour your tea would be? also I'm British and I've always put the milk on top it's just better

As an American who recently discovered adding milk to tea, all of this about matches what I found to be best. Sadly the flat paper teabags are about all you can find and we don't have a teapot so the closest to proper tea is by cutting the paper bags open into a loose leaf holder

Loved this! Only note is: what about brew temperature and water quality? As you go up in elevation, the boiling point of water goes down; currently living in Colorado about a mile above sea level where water boils at 205, and grew up in Wyoming at 7200+ ft above sea level where it boils at 201.
As far as water quality goes, I try to use spring water to get around varying qualities of municipal taps (even filters can be hit or miss tbh).

I love matpat's puns there TEArific

Every topic on Food Theory feels like a science fair project people do in Elementary School. And I’m all for it

6:47 I don't know whether it was a good idea to brew them for the same amount of time. Loose tea has a very different leaf shape and powdery-ness than the bag and pyramid one. I could imagine that there should also be different brewing times, similarly to how espresso is different from filter coffee.

I want tea after this :,> Time to implement this to my tea! (And try milk with tea, I never exactly knew about this.)

i'm burmese, in my country we make tea by boiling water and putting tea leaves in. No bag and no milk, honey, sugar or anything like that just the leaves and we don't take it out, so you can imagine how bitter it is. We just kinda deal with the tealeaves floating around in our cups lmao
so in the wise words of Zuko...tea really is just hot leaf juice💀

I’ve NEVER put milk in my tea and I’m perfectly content with that 😅

Oh dang. I've been squeezing my tea bags all my life thinking I was getting all the flavor. Didn't know the extra flavor was bad flavor.

Fun info for Chinese traditional tea: For good luck, when making the tea pot and cups, the leftover clay was used to make a tea pet, which you pour some tea on as a sign of good luck. There's color changing ones too to test the temperature of your tea, but it is a long term tradition. Plus, some ceramics will soak the scent of the tea (as mentioned by Matpat during the cup phase), so using the same tea regularly will cause your tea pet to smell delightful

Omg I'm so glad I'm not the only one who takes tea this seriously

Ok so this is probably the most American thing I’ll ever say but… y’all put milk in tea? I just dunk the bag into some hot water with a bit of sugar and call it a day. Don’t blame me, blame my mom for teaching me that way

British person here! I feel validated I actually pour my tea first and milk last and by your definition I make my tea the perfect way 😊

I am similar to Steph, but also weirder. I will use bags if I can, make multiple cups a day 2-5. I reuse the same cup for the whole day, because I like my tea bitter, and I do sometimes squeeze them

The British tradition is actually fitting for the old days. You did talk about how pouring in the milk first regulates the temperature to no break the mug. Back in the days,we didn't have this much mugs.

“She goes through 3-4 cups a day!”
I love how I’m from England so that’s genuinely a normal amount of tea. And that’s not including several cups of coffee as well (not talking about me personally but a lot of people I know drink this much tea and coffee)

I don’t mind strong bitter tea, but I agree for the most part; although I usually drink it with no milk or sugar. I know very Asian esk

Matpat happily jumping up and down is so relatable

No, you're exactly right! It is a waste to wash your tea/coffee mug every time. I just rinse them out and only wash them maybe once per week.