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There is a great debate that has raged for centuries. A debate that has pitted countries against each other, and torn apart families. It has stretched science to its limits but has also left some people scratching their heads and asking, who really cares? That question is how do you make the perfect cup of tea?

Americans have been mystified for years by the phenomenon that is tea. They use it in many comedy sketches to make fun of the English, but that is solely because their ritual of bringing a teacup, a teabag and pot of hot water to the table is only good for one thing, brewing piss weak tea. They just don't understand that for us Englishmen or Pom's' the quest for the perfect cup of tea grips us from a very early age. It was Popular 80s singer Boy George who went so far as to say that he would prefer a good cup of tea than to go to bed with someone. While that's probably a little bit extreme, even for me, it does kind of prove my point that tea is not just a drink; to some it's a passion.

Every one has there own idea on how to brew the perfect cup. English author George Orwell had his eleven steps that he said should be regarded as law when making tea.

1. Use only Indian or Ceylonese tea
2. Use a tea pot, preferably ceramic
3. Warm the pot over direct heat
4. Tea should be strong six spoons of tea leaves per litre
5. Let leaves move around the pot no bags or strainers
6. Take pot to the boiling water
7. Stir or shake pot
8. Drink out of a tall, mug-shaped tea cup
9. Don't add creamy milk
10. Add milk to the tea, not vice versa
11. No sugar

While many of these Orwell laws seem rather ludicrous such as the six teaspoons of loose tea leaves per pot. Not only does this seem to be a bit of an extravagant amount for the ration book days of post war Britain but it also seems to be a bit of an extreme amount full stop. But others of his rules such as heating the pot before hand are still carried out religiously all across the world.

Orwell wasn't the only person with his own set of strict guidelines for the everyday brew. There are probably hundreds maybe even thousands of different ways you can make a cup of tea, in my family alone there are several. My dad likes it strong and black while my sister prefers a hot water and milk mixture with the tea bag dipped in just the once producing tea similar to that which the Americans might drink. As for me I have experimented with all sorts of things from adding sugar or honey, using cream, full fat milk and skinny milk to using two

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