Diplomat steps in to stop trouble brewing

Ambassador calls on UK Forces to demonstrate how to make tea after video of US attempt causes outrage

IT ALL started with a video of an American woman in the UK demonstrating to users on social media platform Tiktok how to make “hot tea”.

“Michelle from North Carolina” mixes a third of a cup of milk with Tang orange mix, powdered lemonade, cinnamon and cloves before adding copious amounts of sugar, explaining that this is how “this American girl likes it”. She then dunks in a tea bag and puts the mixture in the microwave.

The video quickly went viral as shocked Britons expressed their horror, both at the bizarre recipe and her use of a microwave. Davina Mccall went so far as to brand it “a call to war”.

On Monday, the Transatlantic tiff escalated to diplomatic level, after Karen Pierce, the UK’S ambassador to the US, stepped in to explain how to make an “authentic brew”.

“The Anglo-american relationship is defined by tea,” Ms Pierce said in a video posted on Twitter – a reference to the Boston Tea Party that helped catalyse the American Revolution. “I see there’s huge interest in how to make a British cup of tea, so I’ve called in my military advisers to get this in the record.” The clip shows members of the British Army, Navy and Air Force brewing cups of tea on stoves and adding a dash of milk, the “British way”.

“So glad @UKINUSA are delivering this important public diplomacy message. I don’t even drink tea and I’ve been upset by some recent content online. Thanks @Karenpierceuk,” tweeted Crispian Wilson at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Ms Pierce, who recently made the switch from UK ambassador to the United Nations to take up residence in Washington, is known for her sense of humour. “Michelle from North Carolina” told The Telegraph that she was shocked, and a little overwhelmed, by the response she has had.

“I started a Youtube channel about a year ago, vlogging my journey as an American living in the UK,” said Michelle, who speaks in a Southern drawl. “I later joined Tiktok and was known as the American in the UK. My followers started asking about my culture, so I showed them as an American how I make tea and other foods.

“I was honestly really confused by the response I received after making my first tea video – American making sweet tea. The UK acted as though they had never heard of sweet tea,” she said, earnestly. In a Youtube video about her move to the UK, Michelle, a nurse, tells viewers: “We had to come here for work reasons, we didn’t really have a choice. England’s not even a place I’d ever researched. I knew there was a Queen, the typical things, but besides that we knew nothing. From the driving to the food to the weather, we had to learn quickly. It’s overwhelming, but I’m a high-spirit person, so I thought we can work through this as a family.”

Kettles are not commonly found in American kitchens. The preference in the US is usually coffee over tea, and

‘I was really confused by the response – UK acted as though they had not heard of sweet tea’

those who enjoy the latter are more likely to heat a cup up in the microwave. Michelle, who now has nearly 200,000 followers on Tiktok, has continued making her videos and says she is enjoying the huge audience she has picked up. In her latest offering, the mother of three shows viewers how to make “British eggs”.

The blonde with dazzling white teeth cracks two eggs into a bowl, adding in teaspoons of salt, a pinch of pepper and a teaspoon of sugar, with gluttonous amounts of whipped cream, before whisking it all together and putting in the microwave for two minutes.

Social media users also criticised Michelle for keeping her eggs in the fridge, noting the difference between American and British food standards.

The video was watched by nearly half a million people, many of whom were horrified afresh. After sharing her microwaveable “English breakfast”, some of Michelle’s followers have asked: “Why are you doing this?” and say she is “ruining food one recipe at a time.” Owen Jones, the political commentator, tweeted in response: “we need to extradite this woman and put her on trial”. Actress and presenter Jameela Jamil wrote: “I love her”.

“You’re just trolling us now,” wrote Twitter user Tracey Jones. Was she pulling our leg, The Telegraph asked? Michelle went quiet.

‘Britons expressed horror both at the bizarre recipe and her use of a microwave’