It’s safe to say tea is kind of a big deal in The Pink House. I would estimate that, on a typical work-from-home weekday, about 10 milky cups of the stuff are consumed between myself and the Pink House Husband.
But although me and PHH both love a cuppa, we have different receptacle preferences. I like to mix things up, mug-wise: a sunny yellow Pantone for brightening up dull Mondays; my pink-and-gold Dandy Star LOVE mug for hard-work Wednesdays; and that Friday feline (sorry) isn't complete without a cavernous cat cup. PHH, on the other hand, has some weirdly stoic attachment to our ugliest mug, a lumpy old blue number I've been trying to give to charity for the last 12 years.
We also argue over who should make the tea of a morning. Generally I say he should; he says no way; I threaten him with pre-caffeine violence; he puts the kettle on. It’s a solution that suits everyone.
However, when it comes to what’s inside the mug, we’re pretty much in agreement on how we like our leaf: builder's; reasonably strong; plenty of semi-skimmed milk.
What with PHH banging on about his cholesterol (yawn), and my monthly effort to enter a particularly tight pair of pre-kid jeans, we sometimes have the ‘should we get skimmed milk instead of semi’ conversation. Once, this led to the actual purchase of a pint of the skimmed stuff. The verdict? ‘I’m not having that watery crap in my tea.’ So, hedonists that we are, we’ve stuck with semi ever since.
Then, a couple of weeks ago I was approached by a friend. Would I like to try Arla BOB milk, she asked? Maybe I could even write about it if I like it?
Arla BOB? What on earth is that? I replied, narrow-eyed (though this exchange was over email so the narrowing of eyes went unnoticed).
Arla BOB AKA Best Of Both is a skimmed milk that tastes like semi-skimmed milk, she explained. All the health benefits of skimmed but the taste of semi.
Obviously, I was sceptical (more e-eye-narrowing), but being an adventurous sort, asked her to send some over.
Yesterday I tried the stuff. And…it tasted like milk should taste. I put it in my tea, and…my tea tasted like tea should taste. Winner. However, I recognised that to properly compare semi-skimmed milk with Arla BOB, such a tasting should be done blind. But who to undertake such a test…?
The Pink House Husband was hard at work in his home office. I entered without knocking.
Me: Can you help me with something. It’s quick I promise.
PHH: Possibly.
Me: Right. So here are two glasses of milk. One is skimmed, one is semi-skimmed. I want to see if you can tell the difference.
PHH: Right. *he glances at the glasses* I can’t tell the difference. They both look like milk to me.
Me: No, I mean can you TASTE the difference. Here; try this one first, then this one.
PHH drinks obediently.
Me: Well?
PHH: They taste the same.
Me: So do you know which one is skimmed milk?
PHH: Nope.
Me: You don’t know?
PHH: No.
Me: Hazard a guess?
PHH: I think the…I don’t know.
Me: Would you like a cup of tea?
PHH (looking surprised): Yes.
Me: Which of these milks would you like in it?
PHH: I don’t care.
So, in a world first, I made him a cup of builder's tea with Arla BOB milk (AKA BOB the Builder's Tea) and delivered it to his desk. He took a slurp.
Me: How’s the tea?
PHH: Very nice. Apart from the mug – why did you give me the pink one? You KNOW the blue mug's my favourite...
So there you have it: empirical evidence that Arla BOB tastes the same as semi-skimmed milk. And that PHH still doesn’t like pink.
This blog post was sponsored by Arla, but all opinions are my own.
