I merely felt the need to add this comment before somebody had the bright idea to try to refute your comment.

Lordy I love tea comment threads.

@ double: I honestly don’t know if it applies to coffee, though I know the preparation varies wildly. I’d guess coffee isn’t affected by slurping, but then we don’t really know that tea is; either way, slurping’s more fun.

Anyway, does this theory apply to coffee too? Or it’s only restricted to tea?

@ Alexius: Thank you! Good luck trying slurping – if nothing else, they say that a change is as good as a rest.

@ Dorian Cornelius Jasper: Thai tea? Note taken.

And if you must know, most bubble teas are really just milk tea with tapioca pearls–tasty though the end result may be. It’s very much a kid’s drink.

The best milk tea I’ve ever had, though, is definitely Thai tea. It’s mildly spiced, creamy, and sweet with gentle notes of chocolate. You could possibly find it in an ethnic import store, or even a supermarket. And certainly, if you come across a restaurant specializing in food from Southeast Asia, you could order a glass.

This can also be made into a bubble tea, if one so wished.

~Alexius

Now, as for adding cream and sugar? Absolutely criminal – just ruins the flavour of the tea.

@ 21stcenturydigitalboy: Ugh. Your room sounds like some kind of health hazard. Though going without food is probably good from a thrift point of view.

@ Dorian Cornelius Jasper: Personally, I treat coffee as an anti-fatigue drug. I’d never claim to like the taste very much. Interesting that the Chinese tea ceremony should be more, for want of a better word, pragmatic.

Oil of Bergamot really defines only Earl Grey, but I see what you mean about strong tastes. I’ve been known to deliberately let my tea go stewed when I want a kick out of it. As for Lapsang Souchong . . . I think I prefer sausages as a source of a smoky taste.

@ TheBigN: Normally I add a small amount of (whole fat) milk to my tea, and I never add sugar. Rationally speaking, I can comprehend how you might develop a taste for evaporated milk in tea, but I can’t imagine liking it, personally.

@ Dorne: The Tea Song is now playing in your head.

@ Hoshi: If I remembered, I wouldn’t slurp unless I was among friends. Remembering is the challenge.

Bubble tea? After wiki’ing it, it sounds oddly appetising, but I don’t think it’s common in the UK yet – I’d never heard of it until you brought it up. I’m sure it can be had somewhere in London, though.

@ C.I.: Maybe I’ll have to go and cook some noodles in private and empirically try to decide whether slurping or not slurping produces more enjoyment for me.