"Not everyone can make a good cup of tea" 26 April, 2010

I've worked at NYU's film archive for the past two years. It has been a hodgepodge of jobs, but by far my favorite part is inspecting films. If it is something really interesting I will throw it up on the cinescan to view it, of course, just to verify the visual quality.

I was going through a stack of 16mm films the other and one caught my eye.

The first is Tips for Making Tea (1941). If you have read any of my other posts, or my little bio on twitter, then you will know that I am a tea drinking fiend. Even though it wasn't on my list to inspect, I decided to gauge the quality of the film just in case.

After some quick research, it turns out the the film is British and was produced during the WWII. The film is concerned with making large quantities of tea. The tea ladies are making urns of probably two or three hundred cups. Very instructional film and very dated. 

I know this is British, but it seems to be a glimpse into what America would do with coffee. Turn it into a mass produced commodity. There are six ways to make a good cup of tea:

1. Always use a good quality tea (Duh)
2. Always use freshly drawn water (Very important)
3. Remember to warm the teapot or urn (helpful)
4. Measure the right quantity of tea for water in the pot (I eye ball it, but more is not always better)
5. The water must reach the boiling point ( And slightly under depending on the leaf)
6.  Let the tea brew for 5-10 minutes before serving (Greatly depends on the variety of tea!)

Fortunatley, the BFi has a copy of the film on youtube: