Professor Frankel said: "What is new in the phenomenon is our understanding of it as chemists.

She explains that salt acts as a barrier to the receptor that makes tea taste bitter, especially when it is cooked.

By adding a pinch of table salt - an undetectable amount - you will overcome the bitterness of the drink.

"It's not like adding sugar. I think people are afraid that they can taste the salt."

She urges tea-loving Britons to have an open mind before prejudging her research.

"It's okay to experiment," she says, and then adds, "I've done experiments in my kitchen for this – direct the human character to your inner world."

This inspired colleagues from Serious Eats, who decided to put it to the test. The team prepared salty steamed cups of tea according to Frankl's advice, with a control cup for comparison, and brewed the tea in exactly the same way, but omitted a pinch of salt.

The results they posted on their website say:

The best advice we can give after trying it ourselves is to emphasize that Frankl really calls for a pinch of salt.

"I've found that salt perfectly relieves any bitterness I expect with black tea," she said, adding, "I've weighed down on the salt and my cup is still delicious, like the sweetest, lightest salty licorice drink (that's a good thing and I wouldn't hear otherwise)." Daniel Gretzer was more accessible in terms of salting, noting that "salted tea, for me, did not taste salty even from afar, but rather had more varied flavors, and had a more glycerical edge, and therefore I preferred salted tea." His wife, Kate, was also asked to taste each cup blindly, and she too preferred the salted version.

"This little exercise in diplomatic media relations has been nice, but we won't be moved until the British send some frigates this way to fight a real battle – we're late," he said, so it's all become loose.

Finally, they concluded with a chilly statement: "In any case, we owe a lot of thanks to Mrs. Frankl for giving us a solution to the problem of tea-hating!"

Is it compelling for you to try salt in tea?

Besides talking about her salt strategy, Frankl also shares some additional tips for a better drink in her 240-page book actually published by the Royal Society of Chemistry in the UK:

Add a little lemon juice to help remove the "foam" that can sometimes form on the surface of tea when the chemicals in the tea react with water.

• Remove the lid from the cup of tea intended for consumption outside, in order to feel the smell fully.

• Immerse the tea bag and squeeze it while soaking it. This can help soothe sour sensations caused by tannins (bitterness).

• To prepare the perfect cup of caffeine, soak the bag for 30 seconds, then remove the bag from the cup, and discard the water,

Then add new boiling water and re-prepare the bag for 5 minutes.

Is this interesting? It's okay to experiment, just as Professor Frankl suggested.