The British love tea so much the nation gets through 32 billion cups a year. Whether you take it black, white, sweetened, strong or milky - is there a right way to make a proper cup of tea? The perfect way to prepare a cup of tea is with freshly drawn boiled water," says Bill Gorman of the UK Tea Council. "If you've boiled fresh water then what you're doing is energising the leaf so that it will deliver its character, flavour, styles, antioxidants etc.

In the BBC One documentary Victoria Wood's Nice Cup of Tea, the British comedian traces the history of Britain's relationship with tea, from its cultivation as a medicinal herb by Buddhist monks to the milky breakfast staple people are now reliant on.

Restaurants such as the Michelin-starred Hibiscus in Mayfair, London, and the Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire now feature perfectly-matched loose leaf teas on their menus as alternatives to dessert wines, and white teas are often used as palate cleansers between courses.

With a classy pedigree, loose leaf may seem a little daunting to the everyday tea-drinker. But Kate Gover, from the tea company Lahloo in Bristol, is eager to open up loose leaf teas to a wider market. "What I'd love to see is people getting rid of their tea bags and embracing loose leaf and not being frightened of it."