A Nice Cup of Tea

A Nice Cup of Tea

George Orwell

If you look up ‘tea’ in the first cookery book that comes to hand you will probably

find that it is unmentioned; or at most you will find a few lines of sketchy instructions

which give no ruling on several of the most important points.

This is curious, not only because tea is one of the main stays of civilization in this

country, as well as in Eire, Australia and New Zealand, but because the best manner of

making it is the subject of violent disputes.

When I look through my own recipe for the perfect cup of tea, I find no fewer than

eleven

outstanding

points.

On

perhaps

two

of

them

there

would

be

pretty

general

agreement, but at least four others are acutely controversial. Here are my own eleven

rules, every one of which I regard as golden:

First of all, one should use Indian or Ceylonese tea. China tea has virtues which are

not to be despised nowadays

—

it is economical, and one can drink it without milk

—

but

there is not much stimulation in it. One

does not feel wiser, brav

er or more optimistic

after

drinking

it.

Anyone

who

has

used

that

comforting

phrase

‘a

nice

cup

of

tea’

invariably means Indian tea. Secondly, tea should be made in small quantities

—

that is,

in a teapot. Tea out of an urn is always tasteless, while army

tea, made in a cauldron,

tastes

of

grease

and

whitewash.

The

teapot

should

be

made

of

china

or

earthenware.

Silver or Britannia ware teapots produce inferior tea and enamel pots are worse; though

curiously

enough

a

pewter

teapot

(a

rarity

nowadays)

is

not

so

bad. Thirdly,

the

pot

should be warmed beforehand. This is better done by placing it on the hob than by the

usual method of swilling it out with hot water. Fourthly, the tea should be strong. For a

pot holding a quart, if you are going to fill it nearly to the brim, six heaped tea spoons

would be about right. In a time of rationing, this is not an idea

that can be realized on

every day of the week, but I maintain that

one strong cup of tea is better than twenty

weak ones. All true tea lovers not only like their tea strong, but like it a little stronger with

each year that passes

—

a fact which is recognized in the extra

ration issued to old-age

pensioners. Fifthly, the tea should be put straight into the pot. No strainers, muslin bags

or

other

devices

to

imprison

the

tea.

In

some

countries

teapots

are

fitted

with

little

dangling

baskets

under

the

spout

to catch

the

stray

leaves,

which

are

supposed

to

be

harmful. Actually one can swallow tea- leaves in considerable quantities without ill effect,

and if the tea is not loose in the pot it never infuses properly. Sixthly, one should take the

teapot to the kettle and not the other way about. The water should be actually boiling at

the moment of impact, which means that one should keep it on the flame while one po

urs.

Some people add that one should only use water that has been freshly brought to the boil,

but I have never noticed that it makes any difference. Seventhly, after making the tea, one

should stir it, or better, give the pot a good shake, afterwards allowing the leaves to settle.

Eighthly, one should drink out of a good breakfast cup

—

that is, the cylindrical type of

cup, not the flat, shallow type. The

breakfast cup holds more, and with the other kind

one’s tea is always half cold —

before one has well started on it. Ninthly, one should pour

the cream off the milk before using it for tea. Milk that is too creamy always gives tea a

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