Steeping Perfection.

Andrew Stapley has a confession to make. Every morning the British scientist kick-starts the day with a brew of tea. But his technique puts speed above tradition. No heaped spoons of loose tea, no elegant china teapot. "I do it the lazy way," he admits. "At that time of the day I'm not in the mood for any sort of preparation: I just put a tea bag in a mug."

Stapley should know better. Earlier this year the chemical engineer from Loughborough University released what was billed as the definitive study on how to steep the perfect cup of tea. It's an age-old question in a country where residents swill an average of three cups a day. The project's sponsor, the Royal Society of Chemistry, commissioned the three-month study to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of writer George Orwell, a heavy tea drinker who set out his own views on tea- making in a 1946 essay.

Not surprisingly, Stapley's 10-point guide has sparked a raging debate on topics ranging from whether to pour the milk in the cup before the tea (Stapley says yes, Orwell said no) and how long to steep it. Here's what we think:

TEAPOT: We agree with Stapley on this one. Always use a preheated ceramic teapot. Make sure water is fresh from the tap: if previously boiled, it will have lost some of the dissolved oxygen needed to bring out the ...