White bone china mugs look lovely, there is no denying it. Delicate and precise, no matter what pattern they have on them or what shape they are made in, there is just something beautiful about bone china mugs.
Yet there is something else very special about white bone china mugs – or any colour, come to that – that really sets them apart from anything else, be it porcelain, plastic, or metal. The truth is, tea tastes better when it is drunk from bone china. This might sound like something of an old wives’ tale, but there are real reasons why it’s true. Read on to find out more.
Something you’ll notice immediately when you are looking at white bone china mugs, especially when you compare them to other types of mugs and cups, is that they have an incredibly smooth surface on the outside and, more importantly in terms of the taste of the tea, on the inside. The smoother this surface is, the fewer natural tannins from the tea will stick to the mug itself. Not only does this mean that white bone china mugs are easier to clean and less prone to staining, but it also means that the flavour of the tea stays precisely where it should; in the liquid itself.
If a mug is not made of bone china, if it is porous and has a bumpy feel, then the tannins will stick, and the tea will have less taste. As well as this, the mug will retain the flavour of anything you put in it, from milk to coffee to hot chocolate and so on. This will then combine with the tea, changing the taste. This won’t happen when you use white bone china mugs, and your cup of tea will taste exactly as it is meant to.
White bone china mugs are lightweight and thin; bone china is, as we’ve said, extremely delicate, and thick rims are just not something it is going to be able to create. This is great news when it comes to the tea within the mug. Or rather, within your mouth.
A thin rim, as you would get on a white bone china mug, means that the tea has far fewer obstacles between the cup and your mouth. The sooner it can go from one to the other, the more flavour it can retain. If there is a thick rim, as you might find on a cheaper kind of mug, by the time the tea gets over this rim, much of the flavour will have dissipated. No matter how you make your tea (to some extent at least), it will always taste better in a bone china cup.
Although there are clear reasons why white bone china mugs make a better cup of tea, there is also something to be said for the mind. If you know you are drinking tea from bone china, you may well automatically feel fancier, more sophisticated, perhaps even more knowledgeable about the drink you’re consuming.
When this happens, your mind might have something to do with how good the tea tastes; you’re expecting it to be good because of the bone china, so good is what you get.
No matter what the reason, of course, white bone china mugs have a place in everyone’s home, and if you’re a tea drinker, you can’t be without them.
