# Tea bags curdling my milk



## jessiquina (Nov 4, 2005)

i dont have a lot of experience with tea and their relationship with milk products. so i was making a panna cotta, steeping the milk/sugar/ tea bags. the next thing i know, the milk had curdled. im assuming that its the citric acid in the tea that is causing this, but how do i prevent it? ive done things with milk and earl grey, but maybe its this specific Passion Tazo Tea that is doing this. errrggh, its pretty frustrating!


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## gunnar (Apr 3, 2008)

You may be over steeping? drawing too much tannic acid off of the tea? How long are you steeping for?


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## jessiquina (Nov 4, 2005)

it really happens in the beginning, just as the flavors are being released into the milk.


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## chefpeon (Jun 14, 2006)

It just may be very possible that you can't use that kind of tea to make your panna cotta. I wouldn't know how to prevent the milk curdling in the presence of an acidic ingredient.....


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

If it is the "acid" causing the problem, the only solution would be in the direction of making the milk more alkaline to offset the acidity. Might be tricky...


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## igannon (Mar 10, 2006)

The name of the tea sounds like one that might have some fairly acidic ingredients. I'm not sure if its true, or something I've conjured up in my head, but I think that milk is slightly less likely to curdle when its colder. You might try steeping it cold over a day or so.


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## rexxar (Jan 22, 2010)

Use manufacturing cream it wont seperate


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## m brown (May 29, 1999)

How about a tea reduction added to scalded milk?


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## seaside (May 2, 2010)

As the tea is a fruit tea and therefore quite acidic it will curdle, I drink it quite a lot of fruit teas, but can never add any milk, can you not use the earl grey or even better cardamon pods? that will taste wonderful! failing that a good dark green bay leaf. hope this helps./img/vbsmilies/smilies/crazy.gif


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## jessiquina (Nov 4, 2005)

thanks for the help guys!


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## rebecsound (Oct 6, 2012)

Try almond milk!  Taste great and wont curdle.


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## 808jono202 (Sep 3, 2012)

Zombie thread. . . . must work for the Almond Milk people. . .


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