Tea leaf reading

Tea leaf reading is the form of tasseography that interprets the leaves left in a cup of tea brewed without a strainer. Very popular in Britain and Ireland from the nineteenth century onward, it also spread through the tea cultures of Eastern Europe. One drinks while leaving a little liquid, swirls the cup, turns it upside down to drain, then reads the figures. Leaves near the handle are often taken to refer to the person themselves and their near future.