The National Beverage - How to Make a Perfect Cup of Tea - Dainty Accessories for Afternoon Tea - Iced Preparations of Tea - Russian Tea - Milk Tea - Tea Punch

The drinking of tea has become so intimate a part of English life that it is an everyday occurrence to make it, and no special skill is supposed to be necessary in its preparation. Yet how often do we find it badly prepared, served half cold, or too strong or too weak to be palatable.

The truth is that the making of tea in perfection is an art, but one easily acquired if the following points are attended to.

In the first place, the tea itself should be kept in an airtight receptacle, and closely covered.

Do not use water which has boiled a long time.

Do not use water which has not yet reached the boiling point.

Do not allow the tea to brew for more than five minutes.

Do not make tea in a cold teapot; rinse it with hot water and drain well before placing the leaves in the pot.

Do not pour a second water over the leaves when the first brew is exhausted.

Do not allow the tea to grow damp in the caddy.

Do not buy too cheap a quality of tea, and expect perfect results.

For preference, use a porcelain or earthenware teapot; tea experts tell us that the fragrant leaf should never touch metal.

In the first place, warm and scald out the teapot. Put in the tea in the proportion of one ounce to six or seven persons, or a tea-spoonful for each person, and a teaspoonful over. Pour on freshly boiled water. Cover the teapot, and allow it to stand for three or four minutes to draw. Take care to use a teapot in right proportion to the size of your party. If the teapot is not filled, the tea cools rapidly.

As to the kind of tea to be used, that must be left to one's personal preference.

Many people now use China tea exclusively, as it is claimed to have no harmful effect on the nerves. Lemon, too, is frequently preferred to milk or cream.

Hardly any well-regulated household is without its afternoon tea apparatus.

Sugar-tongs of silver in the shape of a claw, and for the slices of lemon, dishes of cut glass with removable silver open-work rims should be provided. On each dish place a tiny silver fork with long, slender prongs.

The old-fashioned tea-ball has been superseded by a new percolator in the form of a basket of open-work silver hung on a silver chain.

The Russian samovar, which is a metal urn standing about two feet high, is becoming popular with many hostesses. The urn is filled with water, which is heated by charcoal placed in a pipe, which passes through the urn, and which has a chimney attached.

Tea can be served in a variety of ways, and thus prove a welcome change from the more ordinary method. Iced tea, for instance, is much appreciated on a hot day in summer.