that's not the proper way, that's "quick method 1". The proper way goes something like this.... 1. Fill kettle (for those in the US this may involve a drive to the store to buy a kettle). This is not the same thing as a teapot. A kettle is an electrical device that boils water. When I was in the US I was utterly shocked by how hard they were to find. 2. Boil water. Not just warm up slightly - boil. This is why electric kettles are good. The automatic cut-out guarantees good boiling water. 3. Warm the pot. Pour a small amount of water (say 1/2 a cup) into the teapot and swirl around. empty teapot. Incidentally - putting teapots in the microwave (as recommended on the instructions of a teapot I bought in the US) is bad and wrong. 4. add tea leaves to pot. preferably not tea leaves that come in bags but loose leaf tea. 5. boil water (yes, I know you only just did that, but the water is no longer on the boil, so it's clearly not nearly hot enough). 6. pour water into teapot (yes, you've been waiting for this bit) 7. find mug. 8. pour a bit of milk into mug. Semi-skimmed pasteurised is good. 9. add sugar to taste. 10. wait.... 11. wait some more.... 12. hum 13. wonder idly if the tea is ready yet.... fidget... 14. find tea strainer. (a dinky sieve for stopping all the tea leaves ending up in your mug, which of course is not needed if you used tea bags, but you'd NEVER do that surely). 15. pour tiny bit of tea from pot into mug. 16. whinge about how it's not strong enough yet 17. wait... 18. test tea again. 19. once tea is at desired strength pour into mug (using strainer). 20. pour for anyone else who happens to have wondered in off the street. To me this completely explains why Britain is such a wonderful place. Any problem is easily solved by having a cup of tea. It works because by the time you've finished making the tea the problem has a) been forgotten about b) been solved by someone else c) given up through sheer boredom and wandered off So I recommend many cups of tea to speed recovery of dodgy tum. By the time it's ready you'll be feeling much better. oh, and I use 'quick method 2' which is just like quick method 1 but adds the milk later. yes, I know that's a religious issue.