Kicker: Getting salty over tea

NICK EICHER, HOST: The fictional Ted Lasso had no respect for Britain’s national beverage.

TED LASSO: You know, I always figured the tea was just gonna taste like hot brown water. You know what? I was right. It's horrible. No thank you. Woman: Welcome to England.

There’s another controversy brewing between the US and UK now that a nonfictional American steeped herself in it. Chemistry professor Michelle Francl claims salt will make your tea better.

FRANCL: And it turns out that chemists now know that the sodium ions in the salt block bitter receptors and reduce our perception of bitterness.

Yada, yada, yada. U.K. broadsheets were embittered, so the U.S. Embassy in London sweetened things by assuring that salty tea is not official policy,” adding: diplomats will continue to make tea properly— by microwaving it.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: International incident!

EICHER: It’s The World and Everything in It.

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