How to Make a Proper Cup of Tea

Finishing the school year strongly feels like a mighty task this year, and Sarah Mackenzie at Read Aloud Revival put together a fantastic end-of-year offering to help:  six videos by authors teaching kids how to write in various formats.  Since I'm always wishing I still had teachers giving me writing assignments, I did the first project along with the kids:  writing creative nonfiction.  Children's author Miranda Paul instructed us to pick one cool fact that interested us, to ask some questions, and to present our cool fact and what we learned about it in a creative format.   

A couple of weeks ago I made a cup of tea for Noreen and she gave me the highest compliment by saying it was such a good cup, but of course, "you've lived in England," she said.  

When we first moved to North Yorkshire I was very intimidated to make tea for people, but I paid attention and learned a lot, and though how you make tea can be a matter of taste, and the English have strong opinions about it, I feel fairly confident in my basic tea-making abilities.

And now I will tell you how to make a proper cuppa in haiku form, per "my" writing assignment.

I've found British black tea to be much stronger than black tea I buy in America, so especially if you're adding milk, it comes out much better if you use British tea.  And thankfully British tea is pretty widely available in the U.S. now.  Yorkshire Tea is definitely worth searching out; it's strong, but I like my tea strong.

I'd heard that it was important to always begin with fresh water in the kettle, and I remember my mom saying even with making iced tea that the water shouldn't boil too long.  If it boils too long the water loses oxygen, and it will make your tea taste flat or bitter.  When Noreen makes tea for us, she turns off the kettle as soon as it begins rumbling good.

If you're making tea for one in a mug, black tea should steep for at least three minutes.  I prefer five, and if you're using American tea, it should definitely be five.

If you're having sugar, add that first so it can dissolve well, and then add milk to taste.  The above is a pretty good color to me.  But what if you're making a pot?  Well...

One thing I definitely didn't know before living in England was the practice--some might say the necessity--of warming the teapot before brewing the tea by adding warm or boiling water, swirling it around and then pouring it out.

The formula I learnt was to have one tea bag per person and "one for the pot." 

Now, go forth and make a good cup of tea!