Tea: Milk in First or Last?

Many of you may remember the 'controversy' stemming from (Ian's) introduction to one of Jonathan's campaign update videos. The numerous comments on that video, and some of the back-and-forth amongst the team, culminated in a video 'explainer' from Jonathan. You may well think—reasonably!—that the latter video should have marked an end to this discussion. As Jonathan hinted, however, he wanted to organise his thoughts and findings on the matter in a more coherent fashion. Jonathan being Jonathan, and me being me, we decided that we ought to produce a précis on the subject, and make that available to whomever else might be mad enough to care! All in good fun, of course. We have produced a short booklet called Tea: Milk in First or Last? for your reading pleasure. Prepared in the style of a post-Second World War ration book, it contains, over 24 pages, an essay from Jonathan examining the historical nuances associated with the use of milk in tea. He focuses particularly on the British class distinctions that 'milk-in-first' versus 'milk-in-last' have evoked over the centuries, but covers a lot of ground besides—there is even a little literature and science thrown in for good measure. It is an engaging (and, at times, funny) read, fully referenced in an academic style but still accessible to the casual reader. The booklet beautifully laid-out by Justin Baird (and contains some of his original art), and edited by Nic Jenzen-Jones. P.S. Jonathan remains, of course, a MIFer—who likes his tea "the colour of He-Man's face". On the rare occasion I take milk, I'm a MILer, but would prefer my tea black and sans sugar, anyhow (what a one-time colleague of Jonathan and mine called "Warsaw Pact standard"!). In any case, I'll take the privilege afforded me by writing this to say, once more, "Do it last, Ferguson, because then you'll get it right first time!"