So full disclaimer, I’m not a Real Brit™, my mum and her mam (as well as my partner) are from all across the Midlands and my dad’s family is from Dundee, but I was born and raised in Australia.
I am an excessive tea drinker even by British standards, and I work with fellow tea addicts. 8 cups a day is a normal day for me (but that’s because I used to have a smoke with my cuppa, I gave up the cancer darts but not the tea) I don’t really drink water unless I’m at the gym.
The “kettle” we refer to is almost always an electric kettle. You should only ever boil water in them as other liquids can damage the base plates. It takes 1-2 minutes to boil depending on how much water you put in, while it’s boiling you get your mug and tea ready. If it’s just me having a tea, I’ll only fill the kettle to the minimum level. Just enough for one cup.
Your every day standard cup is going to be made with an affordable plain “black tea” tea bag. Something like Typhoo, PG tips, Twinnings (these are the brands I’m familiar with in Australia. We have also have Bushells which is a decent daily cuppa, I think Lipton would be the most accessible outside the UK).
Earl Grey is popular, but wouldn’t be considered “a standard cup of tea”. (I picture it a bit like coke and Pepsi, it’s kind of the same, but if someone orders a coke it’s polite to ask “is Pepsi okay?”, same with tea, if someone asks for a cup of tea you’d say “earl grey okay?”)
“English breakfast” would be the most standard named blend, but in Australia some of our brands just say “black tea bags” and that’s it.
If you’re planning on drinking more than a cup a day, get a few different blends, it’s worth it. Right now in my cupboard I have English Breakfast, Russian Caravan, Earl Grey, and Billy Tea Camp-fire blend (which is an Australian brand but still something we’d consider “standard black”, but with a hint of smokiness). I’ll usually drink at least two different “flavours” a day, and I also have herbal teas.
Some people get fancy and will have a jar of loose leaf as their daily tea, but it’s unlikely they’ll use a tea pot, they’ll probably use an directly in their cup, or a , that way, as the kettle is boiling they add the loose leaf to their apparatus of choice, and you make exactly one serving. A tea pot is mostly for entertaining, not a quick cuppa.
Sugar, milk and honey is all completely up to personal preference. My nan would consider black-tea with one teaspoon of sugar and a “dash” of milk to be a “standard brew”, but that’s why you might hear tea drinkers say “I’ll have a tea, white with one” or “black with none”. It’s always good to specify. Again, experiment with sugar, milk and honey. The only thing you’ll be judged on is if you ask for more than 3 sugars (delicious, but how can you taste the tea with so much sugar?)
I make my tea with plant based milk and saccharine tablets, so I’m kind of a tea heathen in that regard.
My 8 cups a day is crazy, I think 3 cups is more typical - one with breakfast, one at morning tea and one at afternoon tea, or perhaps a tea after pudding/dessert.
My 8 cups won’t all be black tea, I’ll have a chamomile, or peppermint tea to keep the caffeine levels within reason. Those types of tea are normally served without milk, often without sugar, but maybe a small spoon if you have a sweet tooth (honey is popular in herbal teas), again, I’m a bit of a whack job with my milk, so I put oat milk in my chamomile and in my green tea. (though not in peppermint tea. I also have an Auslan Strawberry Gum tea that absolutely does not work with milk, it’s too acidic)
Tea can be very astringent (makes your tongue feel dry and tight) and this is often why people will prefer one blend over another, or add milk and sugar.
The astringency is impacted by how long you steep the tea. “leaving the bag in” without asking when serving tea to someone is considered a bit of a faux pas, but because it can result in a stronger, bolder, and more astringent tea, if you like that, you can ask your host to leave the bag in.
This is the what my experience with British -Australian tea culture has been.
The British “stole” tea culture from East Asia and India and made it their own, so other than boiling water in a microwave (please stop doing that America, I know you have the wrong voltage for electric kettles, but putting plain water in the microwave is kinda dangerous) I say tea should be made the way you like it.
TL:DR Boil plain water in an electric kettle. Pour into a cup with an “English Breakfast” tea bag, let it steep for 1-2 minutes. Remove, squeeze and discard bag (unless your guest has asked to leave it in) Add milk and sugar to your personal preferences. Repeat 3 times a day. Experiment with other blends like Earl Grey, Irish Breakfast, Ceylon, Yorkshire Tea, etc and make it your own.
So full disclaimer, I’m not a Real Brit™, my mum and her mam (as well as my partner) are from all across the Midlands and my dad’s family is from Dundee, but I was born and raised in Australia.
I am an excessive tea drinker even by British standards, and I work with fellow tea addicts. 8 cups a day is a normal day for me (but that’s because I used to have a smoke with my cuppa, I gave up the cancer darts but not the tea) I don’t really drink water unless I’m at the gym.
The “kettle” we refer to is almost always an electric kettle. You should only ever boil water in them as other liquids can damage the base plates. It takes 1-2 minutes to boil depending on how much water you put in, while it’s boiling you get your mug and tea ready. If it’s just me having a tea, I’ll only fill the kettle to the minimum level. Just enough for one cup.
Your every day standard cup is going to be made with an affordable plain “black tea” tea bag. Something like Typhoo, PG tips, Twinnings (these are the brands I’m familiar with in Australia. We have also have Bushells which is a decent daily cuppa, I think Lipton would be the most accessible outside the UK).
Earl Grey is popular, but wouldn’t be considered “a standard cup of tea”. (I picture it a bit like coke and Pepsi, it’s kind of the same, but if someone orders a coke it’s polite to ask “is Pepsi okay?”, same with tea, if someone asks for a cup of tea you’d say “earl grey okay?”)
“English breakfast” would be the most standard named blend, but in Australia some of our brands just say “black tea bags” and that’s it.
If you’re planning on drinking more than a cup a day, get a few different blends, it’s worth it. Right now in my cupboard I have English Breakfast, Russian Caravan, Earl Grey, and Billy Tea Camp-fire blend (which is an Australian brand but still something we’d consider “standard black”, but with a hint of smokiness). I’ll usually drink at least two different “flavours” a day, and I also have herbal teas.
Some people get fancy and will have a jar of loose leaf as their daily tea, but it’s unlikely they’ll use a tea pot, they’ll probably use an
directly in their cup, or a 
, that way, as the kettle is boiling they add the loose leaf to their apparatus of choice, and you make exactly one serving. A tea pot is mostly for entertaining, not a quick cuppa.
Sugar, milk and honey is all completely up to personal preference. My nan would consider black-tea with one teaspoon of sugar and a “dash” of milk to be a “standard brew”, but that’s why you might hear tea drinkers say “I’ll have a tea, white with one” or “black with none”. It’s always good to specify. Again, experiment with sugar, milk and honey. The only thing you’ll be judged on is if you ask for more than 3 sugars (delicious, but how can you taste the tea with so much sugar?)
I make my tea with plant based milk and saccharine tablets, so I’m kind of a tea heathen in that regard.
My 8 cups a day is crazy, I think 3 cups is more typical - one with breakfast, one at morning tea and one at afternoon tea, or perhaps a tea after pudding/dessert.
My 8 cups won’t all be black tea, I’ll have a chamomile, or peppermint tea to keep the caffeine levels within reason. Those types of tea are normally served without milk, often without sugar, but maybe a small spoon if you have a sweet tooth (honey is popular in herbal teas), again, I’m a bit of a whack job with my milk, so I put oat milk in my chamomile and in my green tea. (though not in peppermint tea. I also have an Auslan Strawberry Gum tea that absolutely does not work with milk, it’s too acidic)
Tea can be very astringent (makes your tongue feel dry and tight) and this is often why people will prefer one blend over another, or add milk and sugar.
The astringency is impacted by how long you steep the tea. “leaving the bag in” without asking when serving tea to someone is considered a bit of a faux pas, but because it can result in a stronger, bolder, and more astringent tea, if you like that, you can ask your host to leave the bag in.
This is the what my experience with British -Australian tea culture has been.
The British “stole” tea culture from East Asia and India and made it their own, so other than boiling water in a microwave (please stop doing that America, I know you have the wrong voltage for electric kettles, but putting plain water in the microwave is kinda dangerous) I say tea should be made the way you like it.
TL:DR Boil plain water in an electric kettle. Pour into a cup with an “English Breakfast” tea bag, let it steep for 1-2 minutes. Remove, squeeze and discard bag (unless your guest has asked to leave it in) Add milk and sugar to your personal preferences. Repeat 3 times a day. Experiment with other blends like Earl Grey, Irish Breakfast, Ceylon, Yorkshire Tea, etc and make it your own.