Tea Truly Makes Everything Better

It could quite possibly be the result of having a British mother, but I am of the firm belief that a nice cup of steaming hot tea is the cure for most things.  Exhausted after a long day at school? Have a cup of tea.  Need to stay up late and finish that blog for English class?  Have a cup of tea.  Feeling a little under the weather?  Have a cup of tea.  Just want to sit and stare in to space?  Hold a cup of hot tea in your hands and those mind wanderings will take on a whole new world of possibilities.  

A small representation of all types of variations

I suppose I should point out that when I say “tea” I mean “tea”, the real English breakfast kind with milk and sugar.  While there is probably a time and a place for those other strange beverages that masquerade as tea (Sleepytime, Throat Coat and Get Lost are three that can be found in our tea cabinet, or pictured above) it is English breakfast that has true transcendental powers.  It has to be Twining’s and it needs to be really hot.

The best cups of tea are the ones where you take the time and effort to follow the age-old tea-making ritual, which begins with filling the tea kettle with fresh cold water and then placing in on the stove to heat. (Distinct from a teapot a teakettle is the vessel that goes on top of the stove and is used to heat the water for tea. A teapot is the vessel, usually ceramic, that you make the tea in.) 

China set very similar to our own 

Once the water is hot, but not quite boiling pour some of the heated water in to the teapot.  Return the teakettle to the heat source to finish boiling and, while you are waiting, swirl the hot water around in the teapot to warm it.  Once the teakettle is almost ready to whistle (hearing the singing kettle is a part of the ritual) pour out the water from the teapot and add to the now warmed pot the tealeaves or teabags.  (Although many generations of true tea connoisseurs frowned upon teabags, my Mum says it is ok to use them provided you only use the good kind.) If using tealeaves the correct amount is a tablespoon per cup of tea plus one for the teapot.  If using teabags one per person is good.

As soon as the water is boiling pour it into the teapot until it is filled.  Set the pot down in a safe place, cover it with a tea-cozy and wait for three to five minutes depending on how strong you like your tea.  (Waiting for longer than five minutes will result in something referred to as stewed tea.  It doesn’t taste good, and is sometimes referred to as “builder’s tea” because on a worksite the men frequently don’t get to drink their tea until it has sat in the teapot for egregious amounts of time.)

This looks perfect to me

My personal preference is three minutes and thirty seconds tea.  So at the end of that time remove the tea-cozy and stir the tea.  Put the cozy back on and prepare your cup or mug (the best way to drink tea is from a fine bone china cup and saucer, but that only happens on rare occasions). Pour the milk into the cup first, not too much and not too little – you will have to experiment to find your preferred amount. Pour the brewed tea into the cup and gently stir.  Taste the tea,and if you feel it needs a little sweetening add sugar to taste. (DO NOT use the same spoon you just stirred the tea with to spoon in the sugar – that is the height of uncouth behavior. Use a clean, dry spoon to add the sugar, pouring from the spoon into the tea without actually submerging it in the liquid. That way you can return the dry spoon to the sugar bowl and thus avoid getting the brown, wet lumps of sugar in the bowl that are caused by people using a wet spoon.

Now with tea cup in hand settle in to a nice comfy position in a nice comfy spot, the corner of the couch, a soft and squishy chair with ottoman, or even your warm and cozy bed and sip and savor. Let the tea work its miracle and you will soon find that you can conquer the world.