How to make the perfect cup of tea.  

Would Royal Worcester be acceptable as an alternative?

Those were the days, when you could sit in the drawing room at four and have tea and cucumber sandwiches. I'm not sure if I just missed reading it or if you forgot to point out that tea shaould be served in china cups, with saucers and not in mugs. It shaould be sipped delicately and not drunk quickly.
The cup that cheers but does not inebriate is a very apt saying about tea.

Thanks for this excellent explanation. It is certainly a ritual that makes drinking tea special. I guess my method would be consider a sacrilege.

Grab a cup, run the tap water, fill the cup stick it in the microwave for two minutes. Stick a tea bag into the hot water. Dunk it up and down a few time vigorously, drink.

Maybe I should try your method.

I'm with ya up until the consevatory and the starched white uniforms. Then I start to loose you.
My grandmother taught me how to make a good cup of tea. I hate it when I go to a friends for tea and they plop the tea bag into a mug of hot water. But the idea was to socialize not critisize the tea.

Well Steve it is a few minutes to four o'clock here now. I considered your advice for a split second, but only that.

Now, I would love to be part of the genteel set who could do this, but I'm afraid that here in this heat I couldn't stand it. I do, though hanker after the days when ladies were ladies and gentlemen were gentlemen.

Now to the cup of tea. I haven't had a cup of tea for more than forty years.

I used to be a big tea drinker, but the very first sign that I was pregnant was when I couldn't drink my tea because I couldn't get close enough to it, because of the smell. Immediately after the birth I again craved a cup of tea - until the next pregnancy. However, after a miscarriage, I could never drink tea and still can't stand the smell.

So, sorry. No tea, but I think I might make myself a cucumber sandwich and have yet another big drink of icy water (about 10 or 12 so far today).

No doubt about England and why it is so great.

"tHERE ARE ONLY TWO THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT TEA-MAKING . fIRST, YOU HAVE TO BOIL THE WATER - DON'T JUST HEAT IT, BOIL IT. sECOND, ADD THE BOILING WATER TO THE TEA BAG, NOT THE OTHER WAY ROUND. tHE WAY YOU aMERICANS DO IT - PUTTING THE WATER IN THE CUP AND ADDING THE BAG TO IT - IS A RECIPE FOR DISASTER. uNLESS THE WATER IS AT BOILING POINT WHEN IT MAKES CONTACT WITH THE TEA, THE TEA WILL NEVER PROPERLY BREW.

"mAKE SURE THE CUP OR POT IS NICE AND HOT BEFORE YOU START. iF NECESSARY, RINSE IT OUT WITH NEAR-BOILING WATER. aND KEEP IT COVERED WHILE THE TEA IS BREWING.

"lEAVE THE BAG IN THE WATER FOR AT LEAST TWO MINUTES - LONGER IF YOU LIKE YOUR TEA STRONG. aND FOR GOODNESS SAKE, RESIST THE TEMPTATION TO DUNK. jUST LEAVE THE BAG ALONE UNTIL THE DRINK IS READY."

lOOSE TEA OR BAG?

lOOSE TEA WILL ALWAYS TASTE BETTER,"

"iN bRITAIN, THE STANDARD SUPERMARKET TEA BAG MAKES A MUCH STRONGER AND MORE ROBUST BREW THAN YOUR aMERICAN EQUIVALENT. tHE ONLY TEA BAGS i'VE FOUND OVER HERE THAT APPROACH THE QUALITY OF OUR EVERYDAY BLENDS ARE THOSE MARKETED AS eNGLISH bREAKFAST. uNFORTUNATELY, THESE ARE MORE EXPENSIVE AND HARDER TO FIND THAN STANDARD TEA BAGS.

"iF YOU DO USE LOOSE LEAVES, IT'S BEST TO MAKE THE TEA IN A POT RATHER THAN DIRECTLY IN THE CUP. uSE ONE TEASPOON OF LEAVES PER PERSON, PLUS ONE FURTHER TEASPOON "FOR THE POT". wHEN THE TEA IS READY, POUR IT INTO THE CUP THROUGH A WIRE STRAINER. iF YOU CAN'T FIND AN AUTHENTIC TEA POT, USE A SMALL COFFEE POT, BUT DON'T USE THE SAME POT FOR BOTH DRINKS - THE FLAVORS DON'T MIX."

hOW DO YOU TAKE IT?

"mOST bRITONS DRINK TEA WITH A LITTLE MILK, BUT NEVER WITH CREAM OR THE HIGH-FAT MILK THAT aMERICANS PUT IN THEIR COFFEE. lOW-FAT MILK IS A MUCH BETTER CHOICE. bUT BY ALL MEANS DRINK IT BLACK IF YOU PREFER.

"aDDING SUGAR TO TEA SEEMS TO BE GOING OUT OF FASHION, ALTHOUGH MANY PEOPLE STILL DO IT. iF YOU DO ADD SUGAR," HE FINISHED, "MAKE SURE IT IS WHITE SUGAR. bROWN SUGAR MIGHT BE ok IN COFFEE, BUT SOMEHOW IT NEVER TASTES RIGHT IN TEA. aS FOR PUTTING HONEY IN TEA, IF YOU TRIED TO DO THAT IN bRITAIN, YOU'D BE LAUGHED OUT OF THE TEA SHOP."

well its the first time i have known that...very elegant indeed...mine is just so simple ...i drink tea when i feel like it..i put it in a saucer and pour hot water on it and let it steep for 3 or 5 minutes so that the taste will come out also ill honey and drink ....

Well while making tea is very important to get it right this is how I make our tea, I firstly fill up the jug that I am going to boil the water in, when that is done I then fill up the teapot with hot water before I add the tea leaves, after that I pour the boiling water in the teapot and wait for it to settle this is how I make my tea and it is always in a silver teapot. I then can have my cup of tea with crumpets, but I do not have it with what you have my tea and I will have it with scones.

First boil the water, once its boiled then add the tea leaves, one spoon for one cup of water, then allow it to boil for another minute, then keep it closed with a lid after you switch off the tea pot, then add sugar and milk as desired

Boy!! Was I an ignorant tea drinker till now? Not thinking about anything but just saoking up the pure taste and aroma while drinking it.