Salt in your cuppa? Tea advice drops US in hot water with Brits

The special relationship between Britain and the US has been imperilled by an American scientist's claim that the UK's best brew requires a pinch of salt.

- Amelia Hill

Maintaining that the claim itself needed to be taken with a large pinch of sodium condiment, the US embassy in London admitted that the controversial recipe for a perfect cup of tea had "landed our special bond with the United Kingdom in hot water".

Writing on X, the embassy admitted that because tea was "the elixir of camaraderie, a sacred bond that unites our nations, we cannot stand idly by as such an outrageous proposal threatens the very foundation of our special relationship".

The post solemnly reassured a horrified nation that the embassy wanted "to ensure the good people of the UK that the unthinkable notion of adding salt to Britain's national drink is not official United States policy. And never will be."

However, the post has nevertheless left anxious Brits in a state of trepidation with its pay-off line.

Referring to another nuclear moment in the nations' relationship - when an American woman claimed on TikTok that tea could be made in a microwave - the post ended with the solemn promise that "the US embassy will continue to make tea in the proper way - by microwaving it".