Office teatime goes web 2.0

For UK office workers, making tea is serious business with a political component all its own. No one wants to get stuck making the office tea every time, and that’s just the problem a new, tea-focused website helps solve. MakeTheTea.com is a new site from UK dairy brand Cravendale that aims to facilitate the tea-making process among groups of the beverage’s fans around the world. Users of the site begin by entering their preferences for the all-important drink, including amounts of milk and sugar they like to add. (Options are also available to indicate preferences for those who prefer coffee or another beverage.) Users then invite their friends to join the site as well, forming a group of linked drinkers. Once that’s done, users need only click the “Brew Now” button and MakeTheTea.com will randomly select a brewer from among the group members to make that round of tea. Post-cuppa, users can then “rate or slate” the maker, depending on the quality of the brew. Part viral marketing campaign, part life hack and part social network, MakeTheTea.com was launched in late April. Since then, it has facilitated the making of more than 40,000 brews around the world… Not to mention serving up an undoubtedly strong cup of goodwill for Cravendale, its maker. (Related: Group dining made easy.) Spotted by: Bjarke Svendsen