How to make tea

I remember when we made several pots of tea every day. Being a British family, we couldn’t get by without our “cuppa”. The teapot had to be large enough to accommodate everyone having at least two cups of tea.

There are various arguments about how tea should be made. I was taught that you take the pot to the kettle not the kettle to the pot. I thought it was to avoid the danger of carrying a heavy kettle of boiling water which you were more likely to spill than the lighter teapot. However, apparently it is because tea requires the water to be as hot as possible and it could cool in the time it takes to carry the kettle to the pot. With coffee they say you should do the opposite. You learn something new every day.

Mum also taught me that three level spoonsful of tea into the pot was plenty. We had a special flat, round spoon that was kept in the tea caddy for this. She didn’t believe that one spoonful per person per cup was necessary. It would have been pretty strong tea if we’d done that. Once you came to pour your tea you had to put the milk in first, or cream if you were being posh. We never did that.

If we were having a long session at the breakfast table or afternoon tea then more boiling water might be added to the pot after the first round of cups had been poured. Of course, you should not forget to stir it.

Mum also claimed that the second cup poured from the pot was the best one. The first was too weak for her liking. We always used a tea strainer but occasionally if there were a lot of tea leaves left in the cup mum would read our tea leaves.

It was many years before I switched from “real tea” to teabags. David did not like tea but he did develop a taste for coffee so that was what we drank. Naomi does not like coffee so now I am a tea drinker again. These days I drink tea in a mug and generally only have one at a time. I put the milk in last because I don’t like the way it looks poured into water with a tea bag in it. I have to jiggle my tea bag a lot before removing it to make a strong enough cuppa; then I add the milk. I tried making it in a pot one day but it tasted different. I think I’ll have to learn to make it properly all over again. And use a cup.