There’s A Standard For That

Nice cup of tea and a biscuit? There’s a standard for that. British Standard 6008 available from the BSI for a mere GBP 32 or for free on Scribd and from this Hacker News thread. But wait, British standards are not enough. It is also an International Standard - ISO 3103. It turns out ISO have a whole range of tea related standards. Good to see our taxes being put to good use.

Little it known of this reclusive standard. In 1999 BS 6008 won the Ig Noble prize for literature and made a brief public appearance. Since then little has been heard from the standard. It initially retired from public life to work on version 2. However, it is thought that work stopped after 10 years as it became disillusioned at the slow progress and constant interfering from competing standards. Reports of its appearances in local tea shops accompanied by a variety of scones are unconfirmed gossip at best.