How to Properly Prepare a Cup of Tea According to the International Organization for Standardization

While at home on British soil,Tom Scott, host of Things You Might Not Know demonstrated how to prepare a cup of tea in accordance with ISO 3103 – the section of the International Organization for Standardization that governs the machinations of brewing tea. Scott found the results to be okay and was quick to point out that this is not a recipe for a perfect cuppa, rather it’s just a standard brewing method that’s been in place for a number of years.

The standard isn’t meant to make the perfect cup of tea or the most British cup of tea every time. …Loads of people misunderstand it as being prescriptive and saying everyone should make their tea this way and they really shouldn’t. ISO 3103 is meant to make an okay but reproducible cup of tea. It sets out instructions so that whoever and wherever you are you can create the same cup of tea as someone else in another time and place.