Tea drinkers sizing up each other’s brews turn Rate My Tea into a viral hit

Why don’t you pour yourself a nice cup of tea and we’ll have a chat.

And when we’re done, post a photo of that cup of tea to the new Facebook page called Rate My Tea and let your fellow tea lovers sound off on it.

You might get some quite lovely feedback. Or you might get dinged. But that’s the point of a Facebook community that has attracted nearly 2,800 followers in a few scant days. It’s on Twitter, too — @Rate_My_Tea.

The concept is self-explanatory. “Tea enthusiasts are asking strangers on Twitter to rate their brews and they’re taking it very seriously,” says London’s The Sun, which dubbed it a “bizarre trend.”

If you haven’t guessed by now, Rate My Tea’s roots are British. Rob Temple, author of the book “Very British Problems,” started it after he riled up tea lovers on the Very British Problems Twitter account.

“People are always sending in pictures of their tea,” he told Metro, a British newspaper. “Brits get very proud of their own tea-making skills. Then I did a tweet of a terrible milky cup of tea on that account and it all kicked off.

“Some followers said the sight of it had caused them to literally shake in anger. It got such a reaction I thought a dedicated tea rating account could take off. I think 2016 will become the year of rating very everyday things.”

On the Facebook page, anyone can post photos of their tea; the Twitter account retweets the “best cups” for the public to sound off on.

“Tea is powerful,” Metro wrote. “Tea brings us together and separates us. And now, finally, there’s a place where important tea debates can be had, and those who make crap cuppas can finally receive the shaming they deserve.”

To be sure, “stained mugs, huge monstrous novelty mugs, half-filled cups, weird scummy film on top of the tea,” are not his cup of tea, Temple said. “Some people are animals, they really are.”

The diehard tea fans who have already found Rate My Tea — and they’re not all British — sound very schooled on color and consistencies of said beverage. “Please be kind,” some beg when they post their cups.

A lot of people take special care to show the food they’re enjoying with their cup.

People are paying as much attention to the cups and mugs as they are to what’s inside them.

Rate My Tea has given novices serious oolong goals.

“Since I myself am not British, I do admire people for actually knowing if the tea is good by the colour and consistency. It’s quite a skill,” gushed a writer at The Debrief British news site.

“And since I can’t actually see a difference between Lipton and any other black tea, I guess it’s time to hang some more with my British friends and work on my tea-making skills. Because for now I think this group would own me.”

Asked to define the perfect cup of tea, the man who started this craze was quite adamant.

“English Breakfast tea, plain white mug, splash of milk, one sugar, custard cream,” Temple told Metro.

“But I’m sure others would disagree. I usually go for coffee anyway.”

What?

We’re gobsmacked.

This story was originally published August 19, 2016 at 4:11 PM with the headline "Tea drinkers sizing up each other’s brews turn Rate My Tea into a viral hit."