Make a cup of tea the right (British) way

Despite the title of this post, I don’t really like to say that there is a right way or a wrong way to do anything. I usually just like to do things my way. But when it comes to tea, I’ve been schooled. See, my mother is British, and she insists that there is definitely a right way to make tea (and many, many wrong ways). And here I share her wisdom with you.

You may be thinking, isn’t this all pretty self explanatory? I mean, it’s a cup of tea. You boil water and pour it on a tea bag. Yes, that is the gist of it, but there are subtleties to this very British art of making tea. Do these subtleties make any difference at all? Well, you be the judge.

So give this method a try the next time you have a Brit coming over and see what they think. Of course, they’ll never actually tell you if they don’t like it, because Brits are unfailingly polite. But try it anyway, and I’ll help you analyze their body language later.

How to make the perfect cup of tea, according to my British mother

Use good quality tea.

I’m not knocking anyone, but from what I understand Lipton isn’t really up to snuff from British standards. According to my source (mom), the best brands to get a good, strong, traditional cup of British tea include Typhoo Tea, PG Tips, and Barry’s (it’s actually Irish, but that seems to be ok). Unless you feel like messing with loose tea, the tea bags are just fine. These are good quality teas and the tea bags tend to be larger, so you get a stronger cuppa.

Use freshly drawn water.

Prep your tea mug.

While your tea water is heating up, add some hot water to your mug and swirl it around and then dump it out. This will heat your mug up so it doesn’t end up cooling down your tea. Put your tea bag in there.

Boil and pour over tea bag.

The is very important as well, because you want the water to completely boil, but not for very long. So wait till you hear that bubbling, but don’t wait too long. Now pour it into your mug directly onto the tea bag and agitate! Stir the tea bag around, press it with your spoon.

Brew it, steep it, let it sit.

For black tea, you want to let it brew for 4 to 5 minutes. Any less and you’re missing out on flavor. More, and you eventually get a bitter tea.

Important: Remove the tea bag!

This a such a huge faux pas. Ask me how I know. Do not deliver the tea to a British person with the tea bag in the cup. Before you take it out, give it a good squeeze with a spoon to get all that flavor out, and throw that baby away.

Add milk and sugar

Add a teaspoon of sugar and milk (whole or 2%) to taste and you’re ready to sit back and enjoy your delicious cup of traditional British tea. Enjoy it with a tasty snack like a biscuit (that’s British for cookie) some lemon loaf, or go crazy like me and pair it with a delicious stroopwafle.

There you have it, folks. The “right” way to make tea. Give it a try, see what you think, then go ahead and do it your way. Because the best cup of tea is the one you enjoy the most.