Friends, thank you for reading and appreciating my last guide for the perfect cup of tea. I shall now proceed to outline the steps required for making a cup of tea with loose leaf tea. Bear with me, people, I’ve not done this for a while, so I might not get some details exactly correct. Have a tea tray on hand, so when you get to the step requiring it, you’ll be able to just reach for it, without having to hunt for it. Know this, as well: if you make me the perfect cup of tea, you will have my heart. So without further ado, here is the loose leaf method:

Step One: Fill the kettle with fresh water, slightly more than you need, as discussed in the first guide.

Step Two: Wash the cups thoroughly. Also wash the teapot and warm it. Swirl some hot tap water around it as you’re washing it to get it all nice and warm. Dry the cups and the teapot thoroughly, making sure that the teapot is still nice and warm, utilise a tea cosy if you want (that just reminded me of a funny line from Buffy the Vampire Slayer: "I don't want any trouble. I just want to be alone and quiet in a room with a chair and a fireplace and a tea cozy. I don't even know what a tea cozy is, but I want one."). I like a bit of Buffy.

Step Three: Teapot preparation. Put one teaspoonful of tea in the teapot per person and one for the pot. The kettle will have boiled by now, so pour the water in slowly. Stir the pot a bit to stimulate the leaves to brew and infuse. Remember that tea is a labour of love, so take your time, it’s not as if the freshly boiled water is going to cool down to the point of being too cold just yet.

Step Four: It’s now time for the tea tray. Put the teapot on the tea tray, along with a tea strainer or if you don’t have a tea strainer, a small sieve will do, if you have neither, or don’t want to look unseemly, just pour the tea very slowly, when it comes time. Grab some biscuits and your milk jug from the fridge. Get some teaspoons from the drawer and put one on the tray per person. Provide some sugar for those blasphemers who like their tea with sugar. Seriously, tea with sugar? What’s that all about? The only tea I like with sugar is Chai, but that’s to bring out the spice flavour.

Step Five: Bring the tea tray out with the cups and put on the table. A good host always pours the tea for their guests, so ask how they take their tea and also ascertain whether they want their milk poured in first or last, also don’t forget to deploy the tea strainer, you don’t really want to be getting tea leaves in the cup! Of course, if you’re a tea ninja, you’ll be able to pour it without a strainer and not get any leaves in with it. I don’t mind when the milk is poured, usually if I’m using this method, I’ll pour the milk in last. I like the way it looks. The swirling of the tea like little rain clouds forming and then becoming one nice uniform colour is quite magickal.

Step Six: Once you’ve poured the tea, stir it, put the cup on a saucer and the spoon next to it. Hand to your guest and watch as their face lights up. You have now made the perfect cup of tea. Reward yourself with a cup and relax.