Making the perfect cuppa tea

I was boiling water for a hot beverage the other day and remembered the years I spent making tea for my mother. It was quite a process. First, you had to boil water in the huge, metal, non-automatic kettle. Then, while the water was still bubbling, you poured some into the teapot and let it 'sit' for about one minute to heat it up. After that, you poured the water back into the kettle and re-boiled it.

While you waited, you put two or three heaped teaspoons of tea leaves into a sieve placed over the mouth of the now-hot teapot. As soon as the water started bubbling, you switched off the kettle and poured the water over the tea leaves until the pot was full. Then you covered and set it aside. Next, you warmed – not boiled – the milk and put it into a jug. All set, but the test was yet to come. When you put the tea, milk, tea cup and saucer (not mug) on the table, you hung around to see if it met my mother's approval. If not, you would have to do it again.

Once she was seated, she put a quarter teaspoon of sugar into the cup and then filled three-quarters of the cup with tea before topping it up with milk. Always in that order. As she lifted the cup to her mouth, you held your breath because she could tell from just one sip if you had skipped any part of the precise process. As soon as she had swallowed that first sip, she would give you her opinion.

It was either, "You didn't warm the teapot" or "You didn't pour boiling (as opposed to boiled) water over the tea leaves". And she was always right. To this day, my mother drinks tea once a day – in the morning. When she visits any of her children, we know better than to offer her any. I guess that's why she is so particular about the way it's brewed – there will be no other chance to make up for it before the next day. If she went on to take the second sip without saying a word, you exhaled in relief because you knew you had done it right.

I have inherited some of her tea hang ups and added my own along the way. And now it is my turn to keep my young ones on their toes. For one, I prefer the three-quarters tea, one-quarter milk mixture. There is a reason why the beverage is called 'tea' and not 'milk'. Second, the mug must be filled right to the top. Third, it must start off hot even if it ends up lukewarm. I have seen a curious thing with our girls. If the tea is too hot for them, they simply add cold water. What happened to the time-tested 'sufuria' cooling method? And lastly, my tea must be sweet. I constantly meet people who ask: "You (still) use sugar?" Yes, I do! I mean, what would happen to all those cane farmers in Western Kenya if we all decided to go allegedly healthy and ditch sugar? I say let us (few) remaining sugar-takers continue to support agriculture!

One thing I absolutely dislike in my tea is cream – that thin or thick layer that forms on the surface because of the milk. My toes curl at the very thought of letting that into my mouth let alone swallowing it. Our youngest on the other hand has never had a problem picking it up with her fingers and letting it slide down her throat. Curiously, I have no problem with having lots of whipped cream in my dessert! On the flip side, one thing I really enjoy is tea made with fresh ginger. This is an absolute treat, especially when it's done right which, according to me, means light on the milk, heavy on the tea leaves and even heavier on the ginger. FYI, I eat the ginger that gathers at the bottom of the cup – surely that counters any effects of the sugar... One of the secrets I have learned in my tea-drinking years is never to try and replicate a good first cup. If you think you will want a second cup, better to brew a potful right from the start than try and make a similar one from scratch in the hope that it will be as good as the first one. It never is. Here's to a wonderful cup of tea at least once a day – whichever way you like it!