How to drink tea

A potted history

The British have a great heritage in tea, and we love to think we know all about it, but today our knowledge of it is very limited. Ninety per cent of what we drink is now sold in teabags, and its average infusion time is estimated to be less than 50 seconds - a very different situation to 50 years ago, when it was sold in packets and required a five-minute infusion.

Visitors from abroad have always associated Britons with tea. But they are often disappointed to find bags, plastic tubs of milk, sugar in sachets, plastic stirrers and a hot-water urn. If they are in a hotel, their tea may come in a teapot, but what's all that string hanging down the side? And there, floating on the water that passes for tea, are three or four bags. Sometimes its red colour suggests a strong brew, but frequently its taste is harsh, with an almost metallic taste - no suggestion of real flavour. Or it comes out so weak that one is obliged to lift the bag out of the pot and press it with a spoon to extract a drink that resembles tea.

For 200 years all our tea came from China and was of the rolled-leaf variety, which required a five-minute infusion. It was left in the pot for the addition of more water for a second cup. In the 1850s, tea planting began in north-east India, followed by Ceylon, and the tea was so good that it virtually built all the British companies, such as Liptons, Mazawattee, Brooke Bond and Lions. However, while the British provided the investment and the planters, the tea was still rolled on the estates, and we stuck with the five-minute infusion time - it was the heart and soul of English afternoon tea.

During the second world war, the tea auctions were suspended and tea was rationed until 1952. In that year, however, the first English coffee bar with a horizontal espresso machine was opened and helped start the revival in coffee consumption.

At the time, most European countries drank coffee, and the proportion of coffee sales to tea in the UK was only 1%. The coffee producers decided that the best way to present coffee to the British was as a soluble powder, described as instant.

The tea trade responded by putting the leaf through a CTC machine (crush, tear and curl) as opposed to the traditional revolving rollers. The effect was to produce a tea the shape and size of granulated sugar, described as a quick-infusion tea, or fast-brew.

As the size of the leaf was smaller than the traditional leaf, 4oz seemed only to half-fill the 125g packets; it followed that the leaf was so small it might as well be packed in paper bags. So today, 90% of the UK is using teabags. That's not my cup of tea - any more than instant coffee is coffee to a German or Scandinavian.

The guide to the right presumes you use orthodox leaf tea, which you should keep in a caddy. You should use a teapot with a grate at the bottom of the spout and whole milk. This way of making a pot of tea reminds us of time itself. Who wants a quick brew? Not me. There are no better things in life than tea and time.

Brewing tips

· Use freshly drawn water, freshly boiled. It must not be reboiled.

· Use the correct-sized teapot. To heat, pour some of the water, just before boiling, into the pot. Swirl and empty away.

· Use orthodox, good-quality leaf tea. Grades such as Broken Orange Pekoe (BOP) or BOP Fannings are popular. Indian Assam second-flush is thick, soft-liquoring and malty, and Cleon Dimbula is a good standard for a flavoury tea. Use one spoonful per person and one for the pot.

· Fill the pot and stir gently for a few moments. Infuse for five minutes. Use a timer to get this right.

· Put room-temperature whole milk into the cup first. Use about one and a half tablespoonfuls. Do not use skimmed milk.

· To ensure that the leaves do not get into the cup, pour tea through a mesh strainer. Fill the cup to 1cm from the rim.

· After the first pouring, add extra hot water to the teapot, so as to continue drawing further flavour and strength from the leaves.

· Always discard cold tea at the bottom of the cup before a second pouring.

· Even if the tea has been brewing for 10 minutes, orthodox leaf tea will not become too strong or bitter.

· Use a tea cosy.

Taste test

Sainsbury's Red Label
£1.15/250g
Manufacturer's suggested brewing time: 2-4 mins.
Good colour with milk; thick and smooth. A quality modern tea

Tesco Finest Leaf
£1.29/250g
A good, bright colour with milk, but the liquor does not live up to this vibrancy

Marks & Spencer Gold Loose Leaf
£1.49/250g
Manufacturer's suggested brewing time: 4-6 mins.
Very good colour with milk, but the almond flavour is an unusual character for tea

Safeway Red Label
£1.09/250g
Manufacturer's suggested brewing time: 3-5 mins.
Colour with milk rather dull. A rather plain flavour to the liquor

· Edward Bramah is the founder of the Bramah Museum of Tea and Coffee, 40 Southwark Street, London SE1 (020-7403 5650).