Tea with Lemon AND Milk

How do you take your tea? Probably not with milk AND lemon juice! This rather peculiar combination may not have been one of Nansen’s best inventions.

Nansen’s expedition team were only a week or so into the crossing but had already encountered hideous storm conditions, and were fighting unquenchable thirsts. With their drinking water limited, Nansen struck upon the ‘brilliant notion’ of adding citric acid to the group’s tea for extra refreshment. However, they had forgotten about the condens…ed milk which they’d already added to their cups. The result, as Nansen described, was a disaster…

Public domain

“…our disappointment when we saw the milk sink to the bottom and slowly curdle was indescribable. We drank the mixture however, and I, who, as the inventor and patentee was bound to set a good example, could say no less than that I found the refreshing qualities of the tea increased by the addition of citric acid in spite of the unwelcome lumps of curd. But this dictum did not meet with general acceptance, and the experiment was never repeated.”