Reg readers brew up the ultimate cuppa

To confuse things, masala chai

1 inch of ginger, chopped fine

1/3rd cinnamon stick

2 cardamon pods

4 cloves

6 black pepper corns

Crush them all up in a pestle & mortar

Add mixture to 1/2 mug water, 1 mug of semi skimmed milk, 2 sugars and 1/2 teaspoon of loose indian tea

Heat until the milky tea starts to boil over, then lower the heat to a simmer. Repeat 4 times

Strain

Drink, and wait for an English batting collapse

Nearly right. Add another 10 minutes onto brewing time so that it is properly stewed and you're there. And for gods sake ... never try using that disgusting earl grey stuff, make sure it is English Breakfast or PG Tips.

> Tea format: Teabag

Seditious lies. Loose tea is superior tea!

Also, strictly speaking the article is about about Indian tea, if you prepare most Chinese tea in the same manner will get nothing but hot milky water.

/mines the one with the tin of Oolong and the strainer.

Where can I find...

...some of those El Reg branded tea bags in the picture? I don't drink the stuff (coffee all the way - and yes, I know that statement will probably trigger a 1 month ban), I'd just like to have some sat around because they look cool.

Boiling water a necessity

Semi-skimmed milk first, any form of "builder's tea" (Tetley/PG), about 10 seconds of brewing, though the water must be actually boiling hot from a proper kettle, not from one of those hot water machines that only produces tepid warm water.

If it's American tea (even if branded Tetley/PG), then double the number of tea bags and up brewing time to several minutes.

As I stated before

Twinings Prince of Wales tea or the Keemun Congou I can get here in the Netherlands

Recommended infusing time:

3min - ∞

The latter occurs when I am busy coding. This tea does not turn bitter ever (does turn cold however)

Assam is a good alternative, infusing time 3-5 min

Not everyone wants builders tea

Now I drink organic earl grey teabags, with 3 sucralose tabs and no milk. It has to be boiling properly, in one of my favourite mugs, and needs stirring and squeezing for a few minutes.

But I now only have about 1/3 of my kidneys left.

Previously I used to drink 'proper' filter coffee, with 2 spoons of demerara and full fat milk.

At my grandmothers house we always used to wake up to weak black tea with a slice of lemon...

P.

Technique

Well I'm glad to see the YT supporters weighing in, it is the superior blend.

And yes it is marvellous brewed with soft water (ours is beautifully filtered through millstone grit).

No-one seems to have mentioned that it is imperative that the water be boiling when added, not slightly off the boil, but still trying to leap from the kettle spout. once applied a quick whizz of the teaspoon and allow it's penultimate gyrations to becalm. then 2 minutes of sitting, another flick of the spoon, SQUEEZE (yes I said it) then flick the teabag into the bin from the furthest distance possible (creates a beautiful beige pattern behind the binlid), and add your choice of poisons (M+2S is my preference), if however you are feeling particularly decadent, then you may add an ASDA extra-special range Darjeeling to the mix for the real prince of teas.

Other parameters

As being well known for being particular about tea I'd just like to mention a couple of parameters that have been forgotten:

1. Colour of inside of the mug - my experiments have shown that IMO white/light colour mugs produce much better tasting tea than dark coloured interiors (sweeter, less bitter)

2. Degree of agitation applied to the bag whilst brewing - the more agitation the more bitter the tea tastes to me.

Also, size of mug should be considered - if enormous, brewing time must be increased or risk "witch p*ss"