Braingle: 'One Lump or Many?' Brain Teaser

One Lump or Many?

Science brain teasers require understanding of the physical or biological world and the laws that govern it.

Puzzle ID:	#38694
Fun:	(2.83)
Difficulty:	(1.48)
Category:	Science
Submitted By:	Hrsemn4

The following is a true story.

My friends and I were enjoying the atmosphere (and food) at an authentic English pub in town. We all ordered tea, and the barmaid brought us all our preferred variety. She passed by each of us and asked, "Would you like milk or lemon?" One of my friends simply said "Yes" and quickly poured a bit of milk and squeezed a lemon wedge into his cup. He passed the milk back to the young lady who smiled and said "I'll be right back with another cup for you, sir."

My friend was confused at first, but upon her return he was happy to have a fresh cup. What had happened to necessitate a new cup of tea?

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Comments

bookworm91 Oct 13, 2007	I don't drink tea, so I was stumped! Nice one.
Dustomatic Oct 16, 2007	Yeah, good one. I had thought about the different pH's at first and then realized about the protein in the milk and that the acidic nature of the lemon would cause the milk to go bad. Good one though. Keep up the good work.
LonLonLink Nov 05, 2007	The only reason I knew this one is because I read a book where someone did that!
luckypuppy Nov 12, 2007	When I worked in a restaurant I always served tea with both lemon and cream and saw this many times!
nerdyiscool Jan 01, 2008	Got it after a lil' bit. Sounds like something I would do.
CatsAreCute Jan 15, 2008	Nice one. Thanks for keeping me from an unpleasant circumstance!
rockstar1234567 Jan 30, 2008	who would've known
uhhhh Apr 22, 2008	Hey people. This is true, but more specific. The true thing is, milk and any kind of juice must never me mixed together! If you put it together, most likely, you will have stomach pains and later, a bad case of (not to disgust though but) diarrhea. It is true. I experienced it in school. Once i got home, uggh! It hurt. Even my relatives recommended to drink milk and juice separately (best if 30 minutes apart). Hope this helps.
uhhhh Apr 22, 2008	P.S. Hrsemn4, your friend is lucky!
kyashi Jun 02, 2008	I've had that happen to me when I would eat grapefruit for breakfast and then wash it down with milk. Blech, that was nasty! I never knew the milk actually curdled, though!
ttam007 Jan 24, 2009	But if you mix 1 part milk with 1 part orange juice, you get something that tastes like an orange cream sickle. Yummy! Also, your stomach is filled with HCl (a very strong acid), so any time you drink milk, it's going to curdled in your stomach faster than it gets broken down. It doesn't taste good if it's pre-curdled, but it won't harm you. I think it's more psychological or a case of food-poisoning. Of course, most people lose the ability to digest milk by the time they are a young adult, so it could just be a reaction to the lactic acid. You'd be amazed at how many things people do everyday that they would consider totally gross if they considered it from a scientific view.
TableElbows Aug 19, 2009	I did that once too
juju1946 Mar 02, 2011	Being from Canada originally, I grew up drinking tea with milk in it. My daughter drinks it that way still. It never occurred to me to put lemon in at the same time; it doesn't sound good in flavor to me, never mind the interesting side effects! I've always known it would curdle...
elentir Mar 02, 2011	I actually learned this from drinking cement mixers - a shot involving Bailey's Irish Cream and Rose's Lime Juice.
doehead Mar 02, 2011	Very elementry, but I guess a lot of people are very unaware of the mixing of the elements.
patiencewithaP Mar 02, 2011	Fun!
gaylewolf Mar 02, 2011	Milk and lemon might not taste good in tea, but I always mix it when making pancakes. With a little sugar, and the rest of the ingredients - delicious!
smart_alec Mar 02, 2011	I knew that one!!
HABS2933 Mar 02, 2011	Good teaser. Fairly easy but still fun.
auntiesis Mar 03, 2011	Any cook worth her/his salt knows that lemon will curdle milk. We often substitute lemon and milk in recipes that call for sour cream or buttermilk. Not too difficult to figure out what would happenn to tea with both in it.
princess2007 Mar 09, 2011	Everyone in my house drinks tea so EZ!