Does being a professor of food science and nutrition mean you get away with making a claim as bold as this one?
We’ll let you be the judge.
Professor Alan Mackie, from the School of Food Science and Nutrition at Leeds University, has come out on record to suggest that you may want to add the milk to your tea first if you’re looking to make the best cuppa.
Now, we know that talking to Brits about brews is a very delicate business, because simply put, Brits love a brew, and it was even found last year that we’ve been buying tea more than ever during lockdown – with an additional £24 million spent on the stuff in a four week period – but after what feels like a debate that’s been dragging on for a lifetime, with just about everyone from your Grandad and Auntie, to even a ‘professional tea taster’ chucking their opinion into the mix, has Professor Mackie finally cracked the code?
Is this really the way to make a perfect cup of tea?
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According to Professor Mackie, it’s all down to whether or not you live in a hard water area.
If you do live in an area that’s known for its hard water – which Greater Manchester doesn’t have to worry too much about – then you need to be putting the milk in before the water to get maximum taste from your tea.
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“Flavour by and large is produced by the different compounds in tea including tannins in particular,” Professor Mackie says.
“The more minerals present in water, the more difficult it is for these compounds to develop the flavour [which] results in the dull cuppas you get in hard water areas [so] making tea the traditional way results in the tannins turning into solids before they can develop the flavour properly.
“But, if the milk is added at the start of the steeping process then its proteins can bind to the tannins and other minerals in the water.
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“[This] prevents them from turning solid, which in turn gives you a far superior flavour.”
Professor Mackie – who has more than three decades of experience at the forefront of his field – made this revelation as part of research carried out by Chorley-based hot tap manufacturer INTU Boiling Water Taps, with Managing Director Kieran Taylor-Bradshaw adding that Professor Mackie has “unrivalled understanding of the complex interplay of compounds” that go into producing the flavour of tea.
INTU Boiling Water Taps
Kieran continued: “A decent cuppa brings joy and brightens the day,
“But for too many, it remains a distant dream with hard water to blame [so by] enlisting the services of the nation’s foremost food scientist, we’re delighted to be able to bring an end to the misery that blights millions of lives”.
Whether or not you’re outraged by this claim or just don’t fancy taking any of this information on board is completely up to you, but after all, with Greater Manchester known for its widespread soft water supply, maybe we can just crack on with our lives as usual?
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It’s your call.
Featured Image – INTU Boiling Water Taps
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8 million Brits are predicted to write their Christmas cards using AI this year, new research finds
Emily Sergeant
Millions of Brits are predicted to use AI to help them write their Christmas cards this year.
According to some new Royal Mail research, AI is most likely to be used for researching gifts (19%), festive party ideas (13%), and decoration inspiration (13%) throughout this festive season, but in what is a revelation many will find surprising – and even alarming – it’ll even be used for the timeless tradition of sending Christmas cards.
2,000 UK adults who celebrate Christmas were surveyed by the postal service early last month on how they plan to make use of technology this festive season.
The new research found that 11% of respondents will be using AI to help write the messages for their Christmas cards, which works out to be around eight million people.
It’s the under-55s who are driving the trend, as you can probably imagine – with 57% of this age group planning to lean on AI for guidance, compared to just 14% of those over 55.
Oh, and you’ll want to keep an extra eye on the Christmas cards that come from the men in your life too, as men are 67% more likely than women to use AI to help them.
Eight million Brits are predicted to write their Christmas cards using AI this year / Credit: KoolShooters
Although it may be largely frowned upon, it’s fairly easy to see why people are turning to tech to find the right words, as the Royal Mail’s research found that nearly one in five (19%) Brits say they don’t know what to write in cards, and this figure rises even further to 31% when it comes to 18-24-year-olds.
Despite the use of AI as a helping hand, three quarters of Brits (74%) do still think it’s important to keep the tradition of sending handwritten Christmas cards alive.
“AI is becoming part of everyday life for many people,” says technology journalist and broadcaster, Georgie Barrat. “So it’s natural we’ll see it used during the festive season. When it comes to writing cards, it can help you go beyond a simple ‘Merry Christmas’ and choose words that feel more unique.
“Often, people know what they want to say – they just need a little help expressing it.”
Richard Travers, who is the Managing Director of Letters at Royal Mail, concluded: “No matter what you include in your card, or how you choose to write your message, cards are truly a way of spreading festive cheer.”
Featured Image – Richard Bell (via Unsplash)
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Manchester’s 2025 Christmas Parade in pictures as tens of thousands turn out for festive event
Emily Sergeant
Tens of thousands of residents flocked to the city centre this past weekend for Manchester’s annual Christmas Parade.
Over the past few years since it first took place in 2022, Manchester Christmas Parade has become a festive favourite with both locals and visitors alike, and with more than 400 participants and performers gracing the city’s main shopping streets this year, it’s really not hard to see why it’s a much-loved fixture in the city’s countdown to Christmas.
Seen by many as the heartwarming event of the festive season, Manchester Christmas Parade was even ‘bigger and better’ than last year’s fantastic crowdpleaser.
Even a drop of the classic Manchester rain didn’t stop play on the day, as the fabulous festive Parade made its way through the packed city streets to the smiles and cheers of all those watching.
Despite the Manchester weather, tens of thousands of you turned out to make Sunday’s Christmas Parade truly magical. 🎅 👼 🥁
A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for the heart-warming event of the season.
“I remember thinking at the end of our fabulous Manchester Christmas Parade last year that we would never be able to top it,” commented Cllr Pat Karney, Manchester City Council’s Christmas spokesperson. “But this year’s parade has been off-the-scale brilliant – it was so much fun and you could see how much all the children loved it.
“The city centre was heaving, it felt like millions of Mancs had turned out for the parade, and what a performance we put on for them.”
The streets were filled with music and laughter this year, as well as the return of Manchester’s very-own Elf Express, complete with VIP passenger Santa hitching a ride on his way to the North Pole, together with his trusty team of elves.
Tens of thousands of people turned out for Manchester Christmas Parade 2025 this past weekend / Credit: Manchester City Council
Not only that, but Nutcracker-inspired toy soldiers also sweept their way through the Parade on segways, alongside a roaming Christmas tree, a pair of gentle giant-sized reindeer, a stunning arctic fox, and Jack Frost himself.
Brand-new for this year will be the fantastic Festive Fantasy Candyland Castle, which stood over three-meters tall and truly was the stuff of fairytales.
“Manchester once again helped make the magic and the memories for a whole generation of families from across the city and beyond,” Cllr Karney concluded.
Emily Sergeant -
7th April 2021 
