Coming out & confessing ... I can't make a decent cup of tea.

[JFDIYOLO]

I'm ashamed to say as a British woman in my sixties ... I can't.

I don't know what happens.

I like a nice china cup of builders', with regular milk, no sugar. Sounds simple, right?

So what goes wrong?

I dread being asked for a tea. Thank god the plumbers said no.

Please ... send me your idiot proof instructions for the perfect cuppa.

Meanwhile, enjoy 👇

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eELH0ivexKA

Fill kettle with water
put on to boil
get mug out
tea bag in mug (I usually go for Glengettie, Yorkshire tea or even Sainsburys red label)
pour water into mug
stir and let sit for at least 2 minutes, stir again/on occasion
get milk out
add milk to liking
stir
put milk away
squeeze tea bag out against inside of mug
remove bag
put milk away
drink tea

Squeeze the bag, let it release and then squeeze again as you pin it to the side of the cup to drag it out.

I never squeeze the bag. Always think it tastes bitter
Add teabag, water, wait a few min, leave bag in whilst I add milk, leave it a minute or something then take bag out

Tbh I'm a big fan of a teapot. Much less faff

What exactly is wrong with the tea you make?

You need fresh water in the kettle each time and preferably from a filter jug of you live on a hard water area.

I don't really leave mine to stew, more pour the water in add sugar and milk, quick stir so it's 'my' colour and tea bags out.

Milk only goes in first if using very thin, delicate cups or possibly if you are using a teapot.

I'd recommend M&S Christmas tea it's lovely and perfect for this time of year.

3.5 minutes is optimum brewing time!
And never add milk whilst tea bag is still in your cup!!

1. Warm the cup, with hot water and empty
2. Add teabag and just boiled water
3. Briskly stir 13 times clockwise and 12 anti-clock!
4. Remove teabag, gentle squeeze (don't let it sit)
5. Add sugar
6. Add semi skimmed milk.... just a drop!

Ideally use filtered water, or softened to avoid scummy floaters!

@op

Me too!

I volunteered in a cafe and ended up giving people the teabag, milk and hot water separately. lol

What's wrong with your tea?

Freshly drawn water in the kettle and make sure it's boiled. Leave the tea bag in for at least 2 to 2,5 minutes. Give it a stir, take the bag out. Put milk in.

Yes, we need to know what's not so nice about your tea?
Also, can other people make a good cuppa in your house or are all teas made in your house dodgy?

For me, freshly boiled water is important, plus our kettle has a filter on it. I currently use Yorkshire teabags but happy with Timings and Waitrose gold label. I don't stew for long but stir and squeeze and add fresh skimmed milk (never long life) while the bag is still in and stir to the right colour.

Can you describe what's wrong with the tea you make, OP?

Well a lot of people would say I can't make tea either OP.

As I'm one of those awful people who put the milk in first the horror
And I make a fabulous cup of tea.
It absolutely drives my DH crazy to watch me put the milk in first and crazier still because he actually likes it haha.

Perhaps try leaving the bag in longer.
What teabags do you use?
I like Yorkshire and tetley.
And yes to the m&s christmas tea mentioned by a pp.

Hi all, thankyou!

What's wrong with it?

Well, it's perfectly good PG Tips or Yorkshire tea. Recently bought. 1 bag. In a little one-cup pot. I put just boiled water in and leave it until it looks the right colour. I'm milk-in-first for preference.

But though it looks like tea, it tastes almost entirely unlike tea. Either tasteless or kind of ... metallic? I don't have a problem with taste or smell generally, so it's not that.

We are in a hard water area.

We hardly ever have visitors and then it's usually for coffee.

Mum makes a lovely cuppa at hers, with loose leaf tea and a strainer. I wonder if that's what I need to switch to?

The M&S one sounds nice.

Well, with my teas it's definitely the quality of the tea bags. I follow the same procedure each time but get harsh tannic taste one cup and more pleasant cups that actually taste of tea the next. When I use tea leaves I never fail to make good teas.

I suspect the manufacturers are including parts of the plant other than the tips. Most tea bags are nothing but dust anyway. We stopped using PG because the quality deteriorated. Switched to Twinings Everyday and that was OK for a while, but now it's gone downhill too.

If you ever get a free coffee/tea from Waitrose with mywaitrose card try using one their Duchy tea bags. It's also extremely tannic and inconsistent quality. Their afternoon blend will have jasmine flavour one brew and almost none with the next bag.

I find the same with bags of coffee beans. Mixture of overroasted beans that gives inconsistent quality.

You might need to try different tea. Yorkshire Tea used to do one specifically for hard water.

I like proper loose tea in a pot once in a while, but my daily brew comes from Lidl Assam teabags - we are in a soft water area. I pour fresh boiling water onto the bag in the mug, let it steep for 3 or 4 minutes, squeeze bag, remove, then add milk (never, ever, ever add milk while the bag is still in - it disrupts the brewing process). I like my tea both strong and quite milky.

@JPA that's interesting, I've been reading this thread with interest because I also make myself awful cups of tea sometimes and can't figure out the reason. I've been making tea for 25 years and my technique doesn't vary, yet sometimes the taste is just strange and unpleasant. As pp said, metallic is perhaps the closest description but not quite right. Maybe tannic is the answer.
I've suspected the milk, the kettle, and water quality in turn but never considered the tea varying between batches and within the same brand etc.
I probably can't afford the really high quality stuff at the rate I drink it.

Have you made tea in other places and had the same problem? - if not then it's possibly your pipes or kettle, tea shouldn't taste metallic no matter how badly you make it.

Might be a northern thing....but milk first is a game changer - makes it taste so much better. Got that off my in-laws and not looked back!

I use loose leaf tea, sometimes in a pot, but more often with one of the strainers that sits in the cup. I have tried some really expensive ones, but always come back to Punjana for everyday use (possibly only available in NI, but Yorkshire loose tea is great too.) For tea brewed in the cup, I use a rounded teaspoon of tea, pour in freshly boiled water and leave to brew for about 4 minutes. Milk in last. Never fails. I rarely use teabags now. DP uses them for himself, but my 16yo DS likes it made properly😆

I make a rubbish cup of tea. Doesn’t help that I don’t drink it. I’m pretty shit at cooking full stop.

When people come over, if I know them well I boil the kettle and hand them the components to make their own. having workmen in to do a job, I always have a little stress about having to offer them a brew. The relief if they say no. Most say no to a second cup 😂.

Today I was at a thing and it was DIY tea with an urn/jug thing of hot water, supermarket teabags and paper cups. I bunged it in, stirred and squeezed til looked right, blodge of milk = very nice cup of tea.

Hoped to find M&S Christmas tea as loose tea leaves but only bags so didn't get, as I have a new box of Yorkshire just opened.

Tried to find a tea strainer ready for when I take the loose leave plunge (good word, plunge) but no luck! Will keep looking, as lots of indie shops round here and would prefer that to Amazon.

Came home with a bag of their Christmas cafetiere coffee instead ...