Get the kettle on...

To my mind there are few things more satisfying than a good cup of tea. There are some times I would even put my well-favoured pint of Hobgoblin up against it. It seems to be a very British thing, but it is part of the culture in which I was brought up.

Grandma was an expert tea-maker, always served in a cup and saucer with the "good China" being brought out if we had posh rellies round. My sister and I were exchanging memories a while ago and we discussed how we were always offered a cup of tea round at Grandma's and yet now it's apparently so completely wrong to offer caffeinated drinks to youngsters. Rubbish I say.

As a child, I was taught the essentials of making a good cup of tea, almost like a time-honoured skill being handed down from father to son:
1) Fill the kettle & switch it on
2) Once the kettle has started heating up, pour a little hot water into the teapot and swirl it around, ensuring the walls of the pot are throughly warmed, then pour out though the teapot spout.
3) Put the appropriate amount of loose tea into the teapot - one spoonful for each person and one for the pot (thankfully I never made a whole pot of tea for one person)
4) Pour the boiling (not just hot) water into the pot, place the lid and cover with a tea cosy.
5) Leave to mash for 3-4 minutes
6) Place a small amount of milk in the cup(s), pour the tea (through a tea-strainer) and add sugar if required.
Never failed.

Enjoy a cuppa as I may, I've never managed to understand the logic behind it:
1) Take a few spoonfuls of dry dead leaves.
2) Leave them to soak in hot water until the water turns a mucky brown
3) The resultant beverage is so delightfully tasty we need to add milk and sugar to it before we'll drink it!

Admittedly times have changed, as have standards and these days I'm afraid I'm as likely to drop a teabag into my mug as the next person...