Tea

Tea was a drink made from the dried leaves of the tea plant, created by brewing the leaves in hot water. Tea leaves were sometimes encased in porous bags, making it easier to dispose the leaves after steeping. (PROSE: The Dying Days; TV: The Lodger) The Fifth Doctor once described tea to Will Chandler as "a noxious infusion of oriental leaves containing a high percentage of toxic acid". Will thought it sounded vile, to which the Doctor replied, "Personally, I rather like it". (TV: The Awakening)

Milk and sugar were often used to flavour tea. According to Professor Litefoot, ladies should add only one lump of sugar to their tea. (TV: The Talons of Weng-Chiang) Lemon was also often used to flavour tea. (PROSE: Fallen Gods)

When tea was not served with a meal, it was often served with biscuits and jam. (TV: The Power of Kroll) The Second Doctor once requested a patty cake with his tea. (TV: The Invasion) The Eleventh Doctor was particularly fond of Jammie Dodgers, both with and without his tea. He once fooled the Daleks into believing that the biscuit was the TARDIS self-destruct control. He claimed that he brought the biscuit since he was promised tea. (TV: Victory of the Daleks)

Tea was prominent in British culture and often drank for comfort. Rose Tyler considered tea "the solution to everything"and said that her mum would not go to bed until she had a cup of tea, with two sugars. According to Mickey Smith, drinking tea while the world was coming to an end was "very British". (TV: The Christmas Invasion, The Time Warrior, Rise of the Cybermen)

Serving tea
Tea rooms were businesses that primarily served tea. (PROSE: The Splintered Gate)

The Doctor considered the ablity to make tea important. The Fourth Doctor once asked Romana if she knew how to make tea. As she didn't know what it was, he claimed that the Time Lords no longer taught anything useful. (TV: The Ribos Operation)) When Professor Litefoot attempted to educate Leela on the etiquette of tea, the Fourth Doctor told her that the only thing she really needed to know was how to heat a teapot. (TV: The Talons of Weng-Chiang)

During his time with UNIT, the Third Doctor drank a lot of tea. Tea was so important to him that the tea lady was allowed in his lab, which was off limits to anyone except the Brigadier and his staff. (TV: Terror of the Autons)

Deadbeat performed odd jobs for Captain Cook including making Cook's special blend of tea. (TV: The Greatest Show in the Galaxy)

Daleks posing as man-made machines called Ironsides, had a variety of duties including serving tea. (TV: Victory of the Daleks)

After Owen Harper was relieved of his duties with Torchwood Three, he continued as their tea boy. (TV: A Day in the Death)

Types of tea

 * According to the Seventh Doctor tea made in a hotel room tasted worse than any other kind of tea. (AUDIO: The Shadow of the Scourge)
 * Tibetans drank hot yak butter tea to fortify themselves against the cold of their native land. (COMIC: Yonder... The Yeti)
 * The Seventh Doctor was particularly fond of Lapsang souchong, Earl Grey, and Arcturan tea. He disliked peppermint tea, but drank some because it was a gift from a friend. (PROSE: Original Sin, Lucifer Rising, Notre Dame du Temps)
 * Captain Cook created a special blend of tea made from tea leaves located in the Groz valley on Melogophon. (TV: The Greatest Show in the Galaxy)
 * The Eighth Doctor enjoyed darjeeling tea with lemon. (PROSE: Fallen Gods)

Healing properties
Tea was considered healing. According to the Tenth Doctor the free radicals and tannin in tea made it ideal for "healing the synapses".(TV: The Christmas Invasion)

The Sixth Doctor drank tea to recover from Sancreda's psychic attack. (AUDIO: The Spectre of Lanyon Moor)

The vapour from a spilled flask of tea helped the Tenth Doctor recover from his ninth regeneration. (TV: The Christmas Invasion)

The Eleventh Doctor used a large amount of very strong tea to save the life of Craig Owens, who had been adversely affected by a ceiling that had been altered by a time ship's attempts to find a pilot; the Doctor claimed that it "reversed the enzyme decay". (TV: The Lodger)

Aliens
While tea was a human creation, it was enjoyed by aliens as well.

Davros enjoyed sweet tea. (AUDIO: Guilt)

Turlough expressed a fondness for tea, or as he called it, "that brown liquid". (TV: The Awakening)

Vilgreth was fond of tea and took some with him when he left Earth in his spaceship. (AUDIO: Last of the Titans)

The Doctor
The Third Doctor took his tea with milk and four sugars. He had a habit of stirring his tea with whatever was available, such as a silicon rod. The Brigadier was once confused when the Third Doctor did not put milk or sugar in his tea. In fact, he was not having tea with the Doctor, but with the Master, who had temporarily stolen the Doctor's body. (TV: Invasion of the Dinosaurs, The Three Doctors, PROSE: The Switching)

The Emperor of China once gave the Doctor a gift of tea. During her travels with the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa gave the tea away, unaware of it's origins.(AUDIO: Spare Parts)

The Fifth Doctor took his tea with two sugars, (AUDIO: The Eternal Summer, PROSE: The Comet's Tail) as did the Ninth. (TV: The Unquiet Dead)

An attempt on the Sixth Doctor's life was made by poisoning his tea with soluble aspirin. The Doctor counteracted the aspirin by eating chocolate. (AUDIO: The Condemned))

The Seventh Doctor once met a potential future version of himself who had a particularly great interest in tea. (COMIC: Party Animals)

Sometime before his tenth incarnation, the Doctor pushed boxes of tea at the Boston Tea Party. (TV: The Unquiet Dead)