What? How can there be a wrong way to drink tea, aside from spilling it all over yourself? The answer is that you're not making tea you're making "tea-leaf reading" tea, which means that you and your subject have to follow a procedure:

  1. When the tea is almost at room temperature, have your subject sip it and concentrate on a specific question-perhaps something that's been bothering him lately. If he can't think of anything, then we're sorry to tell you that your subject is a weirdo. In this case, perhaps you'll want to try your hand at a general prediction. Just have your subject clear his mind while sipping the tea instead of focusing on something in particular.

  2. Tell your subject to leave a tiny bit of liquid and most of the tea leaves in the bottom of the cup. Since many people are used to drinking tea that's strained through a tea bag as opposed to loose tea, a little coaching may be necessary. It's really easy to just swallow the tea leaves, so make sure that he leaves some behind for you to read.

  3. If you have problems, (e.g. your subject refuses to drink the loose tea leaves and starts making various vomiting noises), strain the tea out of the cup through a napkin stretched over the top, again taking care to leave a little bit of liquid and most of the tea leaves behind.

  4. Take the cup in your left hand and swirl it around clockwise three times.

  5. Cover the top of the cup with your right hand, making sure to swirl the leaves completely up and around the sides and rim of the cup. (A little bit of shaking is all right for beginners.)

  6. When all this is done, peer into the cup and get ready for your performance we mean your "psychic predictions," of course.

SoYouWanna know more? Check out our full-length article SYW read tea leaves?