An American scientist sparked a transatlantic tempest in a teapot by offering Britain advice on its favourite hot beverage.
The US and UK have traditionally enjoyed a so-called special relationship as close allies bound by a common language.
But that goodwill has been jeopardised by an American academic who claims that the recipe for a perfect cup of tea includes a pinch of salt.
Michelle Francl, a professor of chemistry at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, asserts in a new study that warm milk should be used in a perfect cup of tea – known as a cuppa – to reduce the chance of curdling.