Barnes cafe Orange Pekoe serves one of the best cups of tea in Britain – it’s official. Our reporter Joseph Hibbs takes a sip.

“Tea,” wrote George Orwell in 1946, “is one of the mainstays of civilisation in this country.”

But by the new millennium, London’s reputation as the capital of a country famous for its tea-making excellence had become something of a myth – that is according to tea guru Marianna Hadjigeorgiou.

This week Marianna celebrated the fifth birthday of Orange Pekoe, an edgy tea room she runs with husband Achilleas, in White Hart Lane, Barnes.

“I used to get really frustrated that you either had the option of a chain coffee shop or a fancy hotel,” said Marianna, as she poured me a cup of golden Ceylon Kenilworth tea, which she explained was from the finest crops in Sri Lanka in the dry months of January and February.

The Orange Pekoe’s commitment to fine teas was confirmed again this week, as news of the UK’s Tea Guild award of excellence – the equivalent of a Michelin star for tea proprietors – was handed to Marianna and Achilleas for the fourth year running.

Marianna explained: “The award isn’t for us, it’s a testament to our staff who have to go through a rigorous process of learning about all the varieties of tea.”

And there is certainly plenty to learn with more than 90 sorts of tea on offer at the tea rooms which, as Marianna stressed to me, are not as easy to prepare as putting the kettle on and waiting for it to boil.

She said: “Each tea will often have a brewing temperature and time. We use loose leaves and when the pot comes to you they will have been removed and it’s ready to serve.”

As I sipped what looked like a usual cup of tea I was amazed by how extraordinary the taste was. I can say in all honesty the golden Ceylon Kenilworth tea – best suited to the afternoon I was told – was the finest cup I had ever tasted.

The second tea I tried was jasmine, hand-rolled into a decorative bunch that floated at the top of a glass pot, and finished with a fresh jasmine flower in the middle.

Green tea is not usually to my taste, but its mellow flavours had none of the usual bitterness and was simply delightful.

The Orange Pekoe had none of the pretensions associated with stuffy, old-fashioned tea rooms – a must for fans of a more modern take on the traditional cuppa.