Tea leaves!!,

Leaving some food on the plate when I was little, was always referred to as doing a Queen Mother!

I always use tea bags, so no leaves in bottom of cup, but I always leave a little drop as we have very hard water and the filter on the kettle sometimes lets minute gritty bits of limescale through, which sink to the bottom of the cup.

I always leave the last little bit in my cup, remember as a child trying tea and getting a mouthful of tea leaves!

Yes

I understood that it was good manners to leave some food on your plate to show that you had had 'an adequate sufficiency'. This was the habit of our late Queen. Leaving a bare plate indicated that your host had not given you enough.

I remember my grannies had tea sets with slop bowls where you tipped the leftovers before having a second cup of tea. They were part of the set and everything matched. You sometimes see them now in antique shops labelled as sugar bowls, but they were much smaller

We were never allowed to leave any food on our plates. If we did, we were told that there were millions of starving children in the world, but it was never suggested that leaving anything would help them!

The dregs of tea of or coffee could be left, but never any solid food.

My late mother-in-law always left a smidgen of mashed potato on her plate “for Mr Manners”

I never drink to the bottom a glass of water.

Yes, always, but never with coffee.
It makes the cup easier to wash up. Especially if you're a 3 sugars but don't stir it I don't like it sweet.
I speak from experience- washing up at the local over 60s club as a teenager in the 70s for my Guide Service flash. Had to do 40 hours service in the community every 2 years.

I seldom make tea and usually use tea bags in mugs, but on the rare occasions I get the pot out for loose tea I always seem to forget to use the strainer. My mother would turn in her grave, she always used loose tea and a strainer - and I use her teapot!

I always leave some in the bottom of my cup and always have. No idea why! Also, I can't drink tea out of a mug - coffee's ok but with tea it has to be a proper cup and saucer. My mum was exactly the same so I guess I got it from her!

I don’t read tea leaves personally, but the word for it is one of my favourites - tasseomancy!

Yes - me too. Old habits die hard.

I’ve done that for years and with coffee too. I put it down to when we had loose tea. I keep trying to break the habit but find myself slipping back on occasions.

I leave a little tea in my cup, leaf bits.

I leave a bit of tea in the bottom of my cup, but not coffee.
I know why I do it, but we no longer have tea leaves, and yet I can’t break the habit.

We used to call tea leaves ‘grouts’ and it was my dread when a child to actually get a mouthful even though I loved tea and still do. Tea bags are so much easier although people tell me the tea is not as nice as loose leaf, which I can well believe. Not being much of a connoisseur as regards food/drink (although I know what I like!) and also extremely lazy, I will stick to my teabag in a mug. As you see, I am too lazy to even brew tea in a pot as there’s only me here!

Oreo

winterwhite

I dislike the habit. Hate cups/mugs with bits of cold tea in the bottom when it comes to clearing up. Strongly discouraged in this house.

Yeah, DP complains about my habit too.

I dislike people leaving anything too particularly food, why accept it in the first place if you are not going to eat it all, I hate waste even a few crumbs.

I only leave slops in the cup if made with tea leaves or the tea has gone cold. Tea made with leaves is poured from a pot. Tea goes colder faster in a cup- I usually drink all my tea from a mug of tea bag brewed tea.
My mother used to say ‘waste not, want not’ and implied if we left food there would be less food for the starving in Africa. It was only when I was much older I understood the phrase.

I like my tea at optimum temperature and it's always too cold before I reach the bottom urgh!

I drink all the tea, the whole pot, always. If I’m not at home we don’t leave the table till all the tea and any hot water is drunk!

I've always left a bit in the bottom. Partly because of the (non-existent) tealeaves and partly because there always seem to be gritty bit in the bottom because of our hard water.

So much for my tea leaf reading-an anchor means stability !

Just had another thought about this... does tea "dust" perhaps escape tea bags??