How to make tea like a Brit
Every time someone in fic makes tea straight in the mug, I cringe. I think, perhaps, fandom has conflated how the boys make tea on tour with how they would make it at home. When youâre on the road, especially in the United States, you can usually get a kettle, but you canât always depend on a teapot. Therefore, you make a cup of tea in a mug, like an animal.
That isnât how I make tea at home. Iâm a Canadian with an English dad and gran, and, yes, everyone is different. But I offer my experience as a guide. My parents drink coffee in the morning and tea in the evening. My granny likes tea always. I drink it at least once a day.
Tea requires a kettle, a teapot, a tea cosy, a mug, and maybe a spoon.
Your kettle can be electric; I like a stovetop whistling kettle. Pour any leftover water out every time you fill it. Boil as much water as the kettle holds. Youâre going to want it.
Every British household has a bulk standard LARGE teapot, then maybe a few fun and fancy ones. You need a workhorse, but you also need something to show off for company. A big brown betty is nice, enough to hold more than a couple of cups of tea.
You must have a tea cosy or else your tea will go cold. A tea cosy is a quilted or knitted cover that goes over top of your pot. If you donât have a grandmother who makes them, buy one at a craft fair from someone elseâs grandmother.
Pour your tea into whatever mug you like. I only use cups with saucers at my grannyâs house, and even then thatâs only if sheâs serving biscuits.
If you like your tea with sugar, youâre going to want a spoon to stir it. A saucer comes in handy here because then you have somewhere to put your dirty spoon.
When Iâm making tea for me, I pour the milk directly from the carton in the fridge. But if Iâm serving tea for company in the living room, then Iâll put the milk in a little jug. Always milk; never cream.
Just like Canadians always mean âice hockeyâ when we say hockey, Brits always mean âblack teaâ when we say tea. We never mean green. We never mean peppermint.
Most often, we mean Tetley. Tetley has been my familyâs brand of choice my entire life. We collected and sent away boxtops to collect tiny ceramic animal figures that I played with as a child. Tetley tea is sweet, but not sugary. It brews orangey brown
We all know that Louisâs favourite brand is Yorkshire. This is basically the same kind of tea. Itâs a black tea, but a little darker, a bit more musty. Not, I must admit, my favourite. Feel free to write the boys teasing him for his sub-standard taste.
Tea comes in boxes of bags, no strings or tags attached. Keep your tea in an airtight and solid container. Glass is no good because the light gets through.
Itâs basically impossible to get regular black tea in the United States. I have relatives who travel with tea bags. I usually drink Earl Grey or green when Iâm in the States. But you have to know that itâs not the same thing. Most Brits see that as unnecessary fanciness when we just want a cup of tea.
Yes, I drink other kinds of tea. In my cupboard right now, I have some fruit teas I like to drink iced, I have a loose tea blend thatâs a little caramel-y, I have some sencha, some jasmine, and a box of Earl Grey. Sometimes I make a cup with loose tea in a tea ball hanging in a mug. But when I want tea, just a cup of tea, I make a pot of Tetley.
Wikipedia has a really good step-by-step description. This is pretty much how I do it. My granny is a stickler for warming the pot before you drop in the tea bag, but I learned from my Canadian mom, who never bothered. I do like to rinse my pot, though, because thereâs almost always tea in there from the night before, so you might as well use hot tap water.
(A quick note here: donât wash your teapot. Just rinse it whenever you use it, and youâll be fine. You want a teapot to be seasoned like a good cast iron pan. Granted, I do wipe down the outside occasionally.)
1. Boil the water. No need for a thermometer here. Just get it to a rolling boil.
2. (optional) Swirl a bit of water in the empty pot to warm it.
3. Toss in 1 or 2 tea bags, depending on the size of your pot. If you plan to drink more than one cup, go with two.
4. Fill the teapot with water. Put the lid on. Put the tea cosy on top.
5. Let it steep at least a minute. I like to pull the tea bags out before five minutes. Some people leave them in to the bitter end.
6. Pour a bit of milk in your mug. Then pour the tea. Some people prefer tea first, then milk, to better judge the amount of milk required. I recognise this as a valid preference. But Iâm a milk first person.
7. (optional) Add sugar and stir to dissolve. I like milk first because you donât have to stir if you donât take sugar. Fewer dishes.
9. Want another cup? Of course you do! Thatâs why I always make a pot of tea, even though Iâm just one person.
No matter how big your mug is, youâll inevitably find yourself wanting more tea. Too much milk? Balance it out with a bit more tea from the pot. Gone cold? Warm it up. Thatâs why you have a tea cosy.
(Please donât microwave tea. Just make another pot. Itâs cheap.)
Tea isnât coffee. Itâs not the kind of thing you make in the morning just to be conscious. You donât throw it in a mug as youâre headed out the door. Itâs tradition and comfort, meant to be held in your hands for warmth. Itâs why we make tea whenever something bad happens, whenever we feel sad, and even when we donât know how to feel. A cup of tea makes us feel better.
And a person who knows the way we like it makes us feel loved.
