Tea Blog

I’ve written about the elusive concept of the perfect cup of tea on several occasions. My most recent thoughts can be found in this detailed discussion on refining the art of making the perfect cup of tea. I’m still not entirely convinced such perfection exists, but striving for it is part of the enjoyment.

The idea of standardizing tea preparation is not something most casual tea drinkers think about, but it turns out that formal guidelines do exist. The British Standards Institution (BSI), a well-known organization responsible for developing technical and quality standards, has established specifications for brewing tea.

This came to wider attention when it was reported that the British Standards Institution was reviewing its official tea preparation standard, which had been in place since 1980.

For those unfamiliar with the organization, the BSI Group is a multinational body focused on creating and maintaining standards across various industries. Their tea-related guideline is known as BS 6008:1980, formally titled a method for preparing tea liquor for sensory evaluation.

Copies of the standard are available commercially—such as via this official listing of the BSI tea preparation standard—though the cost suggests it is primarily intended for professionals and industry users rather than everyday tea drinkers.

This British standard was later adopted internationally as ISO 3103, which outlines a consistent method for brewing tea in order to allow for accurate taste comparisons. Importantly, as explained in this overview of ISO 3103 tea brewing standards, the purpose is not to define the “perfect” cup of tea, but to ensure consistency for testing and evaluation.

In other words, while these guidelines may help create a standardized cup, they are not necessarily designed to match individual preferences. What one person considers perfect could differ significantly from someone else’s ideal brew.

Ultimately, any updates to these standards are unlikely to have much impact on how most people prepare tea at home. Still, it’s interesting to know that somewhere, someone is carefully defining the “rules” of tea preparation—whether or not we choose to follow them.

See more of William I. Lengeman’s articles in this archive of tea-related writing by the author.

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