Make the perfect cup of tea. Teapot or not?

The perfect cup of tea is a most peculiar beast. It is different for everyone. Everybody has their own method, for some a teapot is a necessity, for others it's imperative that the milk goes in first. The fact that I find the latter to be an offence against tea goes some way to illustrate my point! There are many options available to the tea-drinker and we can explore the possibilities right here.

Here is my step-by-step guide to making the perfect cup of tea. With each step we will explore the available options and I will explain my choices. I'd love to hear your thoughts on my perfect cup of tea, maybe you could share your method?

• Choose your tea. You can choose loose leaf tea or teabags. There is an incredible variety of loose leaf tea available but personally for reasons of convenience I use teabags.
  
• When choosing tea the deciding factor is always whether or not the tea carries the Fair Trade logo. Tea production relies on cheap labour, with workers barely making enough money to cover their cost of living. This is why I choose fair trade labels. They guarantee tea is produced on estates that have satisfactory minimum standards for their workers, such as fair pay, healthcare, good housing, children's education and safe working conditions.
• Boil your water. Always use fresh water (filtered is best) and only boil as much water as you need. Over filling your kettle wastes energy and we all owe it to the planet to be more energy efficient. For more on energy efficiency, visit my Hub on Green Tips for Sustainable Living.
  
• Teapot. Do you use a teapot? Porcelain or ceramic? Ooooh decisions, decisions! I'm the only tea drinker in my house so I don't usually bother, but if you do I think it's very important to warm the pot. How you choose to do this is entirely your choice of course, when I do use a teapot I add an inch or so of hot tap water and swirl it about, then empty it out once the pot has warmed.
• Choose your cup. For me it needs to be a nice big mug. for my nan it has to be a porcelain teacup, preferably with saucer. I've known folk who always drink tea from a bowl. What a rich tapestry life is!
• Sugar. A sticking point for many, how much is too much? Should it be used at all? George Orwell thought not, and was said to think that anybody who put sugar in their tea is 'not a true tea lover'. Sorry George but I'm going to have to disagree with you there. One teaspoon of sugar however is enough for me, but I have known people who don't even bother with a spoon, simply pouring what looks like five or six spoonfuls of sugar into the bottom of the cup!
• By now I have a kettle that is just about boiling and a mug with one sugar and a teabag in. As soon as the kettle hits a nice rumbling boil it's time to pour on the water. It's really important that the water is absolutely boiling. Then a brief stir, watch the teabag whizz around the mug for thirty seconds or so and whip out the teabag. I think it's important not to squeeze the teabag whilst it's still in the mug, I give it a gentle squeeze so it doesn't drip and then it's straight into the compost bin. Recycling is the way forward, my friends.
  
• Pour on a little milk, stir thoroughly (the final stir is key, so stir like you mean it!) and you're done! Easy Teasy!
  

Tea to me is the perfect metaphor for how different people can be. I just love it when people have such strong and differing opinions about something they collectively love! So please do share your thoughts on my method, if you think I've got it totally wrong the tell me so, and share the secrets of your perfect cup.

Did you enjoy this hub? Why not visit some of my other hubs;

Energy Efficient Light Bulbs

Go Vegetarian or Vegan

My Local Environment and it's Treasures - The Wrekin, Shropshire