A Good Cuppa……By Nicholas Newman

TEA drinking in many households is an obsession, and getting a good cup sets people up for the rest of the day. Everyone drinks tea from Wallace and Gromit to the Prime Minister. The trouble is the art of making a good cup of tea is sadly being lost, as the number of American coffee bars has increased.
This is a pity for those of us leading stressful lives, since sitting down in a comfortable chair with a fine cup of tea, a good book and biscuits is an excellent way to relax, as Poirot would say, ?it helps those little grey cells.?

You cannot get much more particular than the English can, when it comes to making a good cup of tea. The Japanese are fine at the ceremony, but despite the song and dance routine – their tea still tastes like dishwater. Everyone has his or her own formula, but increasingly many restaurants serving tea, seem to have forgotten, how to make a good cup of tea. Most seem to think you can treat making tea the same way you make a cup of coffee. They forget, there is an art to it, you cannot just plonk the tea in, pour some hot water, milk and sugar to taste, and expect a good result.

For those in search of a good cup of tea, here are a few tips. Firstly, use freshly drawn water, let the water run for a few seconds before you fill up your kettle. Always ensure that you have decaled your kettle regularly and that your teapot is clean. You might want to use filtered water if you live in an area of hard water, or even change your brand of tea to suit the water. It is also advisable to replace your kettle regularly, if you want to ensure you have a kettle that gets the water to the right temperature to make that perfect cup of tea.

Secondly, it is essential that you warm your teapot with some boiling hot water first, which you then pour away. Also always, use a traditional teapot, these metal ones always seem to fail to keep the water warm and add a metallic taste to your cuppa.

Thirdly, add as much tea as you desire, usually one teaspoon or bag per person, plus one more for luck into the teapot. When your kettle has boiled, pour in the boiling water and stir the water for a few seconds, and then cover the pot in a tea cosy and leave to brew, for at least five minutes.

Lastly, then there is the old age question of whether to pour the milk before the tea for some contend that putting the milk before the tea is a good way to ruin your cuppa. Always pour your tea from the pot in first, then stir in your sugar and finally add milk to taste. Get your partner or in Wallace?s case, his dog Gromit to make the tea; it always seems to taste better when made by someone else. Nevertheless, the best cup of tea I ever had was from a mess tin heated over a wood fire in the jungle with my mates on a trip across Borneo. Obviously, it depends upon the people and the circumstances.

As to my favourite brand, it is the difficult to get Gold Crown Foods ?Brooke Bond Choicest Blend Tea?, but if you would prefer locally grown tea, you could try Tregothnan Estates ?English Tea.?