There is a common conception that to make the ultimate cup of tea you need fine bone china, a teapot and the finest  tea of the Darjeeling foothills.  This is all very well if you are idling around he conservatory at eleven o’clock whilst  discussing the decline of morality in society with the Parson.

It is more likely that you have wrenched yourself up from your terminal, touched your hair or face and ambled over the kitchen having been the first to crack and begrudgingly asked your colleagues if they fancy a cuppa.

The quality of beverage that emerges from the kitchen and is optimistically presented for consumption and refreshment is often dishearteningly poor.  If this routine continues without abatement it can often lead to dissent, rancour, resignations and even startling physical violence.

Chances are that your kitchen will be stocked with some cheap catering teabags, a kettle and a few thick, cheap mugs – some of which are chipped.

Do not be deterred.

If you follow my simple guidelines below even the basest of office utensils and pantry can be transformed into a cheering drink to interrupt the quiet and clicking despair of a mundane office day.

Utensils

1 x kettle*

1 x clean mug

1 x teaspoon

Fresh water

Ingredients

Teabags – I prefer English Breakfast but Darjeeling is also good. However, as I alluded earlier, you are more likely to be working with cheap tea of unknown origin.  If you are using Liptons yellow label you may as well forget it as you will never make a decent cup of tea with that stuff.  You would be better off drinking a cup of hot water.

Fresh Milk – some people prefer tea without it but they are a bit weird and probably not that popular around the office.  You can probably give them a chipped mug**

Method

1. Take the kettle and pour out any old water. 
2. Fill the kettle with fresh cold running water and set it to boil.
3. Once boiled take a mug and pour a little hot water from he kettle into it.  Swirl it around  – the aim is to both heat the mug and remove any unpleasant residues from dishwasher/washing up liquid – You want the water to be as hot as possible when it hits the tea. Throw this water down the sink when done. 
4. Put a teabag in the cup/mug and pour on the freshly boiled water – try to direct the stream of water directly onto  the teabag as the aim is to get the water flowing through the tealeaves.
5. Take a teaspoon( you could use a fork!!)and gently lift the bag repeatedly through the water so the tea can infuse better. DO NOT SQUEEZE THE BAG!  Squeezing will push bitter tannins out of the tea leaves and into your drink -this is the main culprit in the unpleasant aftertaste associated with poorly made tea.
6. Remove the teabag and add milk to taste. Stir the milk in with a teaspoon. 

Voilá! That’s it!  Now your office colleague’s eyes will light up from their blue booths in glee when you next offer to make them a brew.

*Your office will probably have a cheap plastic electric jug kettle. Traditional metal ones are better.  Russell Hobb make a good one.  Americans out there may not use electric kettles.  Hob ones are fine.  If you don’t have one at work stick to kauphy.

** It is acceptable not to have milk with certain types of tea such as earl/lady grey or green tea.  Demands for this kind of tea from your workmates is only going to lead to trouble and should be discouraged.