The reading of coffee grounds or tea leaves is thought to have originated in ancient China over 1,000 years ago according to tasatalk.com. It traveled to India and into eastern Europe, where the art was picked up by gypsies.
First, make a cup of tea using loose leaves or coffee using grounds. Pour into a wide cup with sloping sides. Usually the person whose fortune is to be told drinks from the cup.
With the handle in your left hand, swirl the dregs clockwise around the inside of the cup. The turn the cup upside down onto a flat saucer. Look inside the cup and see if a clear pattern has been formed. If you don't see a clear pattern at first, try again. If after seven tries you still cannot se a clear patter, try again the following day.
To understand what you are seeing, first look at its appearance and position in the cup. If the leaves are close to the handle, this suggests that something will occur near the person's home. The leaves pointing towards the handle suggest that something may be approaching. If the leaves point away from the handle, something or someone may be departing from the querant's life.
Some readers of tea leaves and coffee grounds consider that if the leaves or general direction of the grounds are to the left of the handle, they speak of events of the past and if to the right, they refer to the future. The closer to the rim of the cup, the nearer they are to the future. The closer to the bottom of the cup, the more unlucky are the events they predict.
The overall combination of symbols should also be taken into consideration. No one symbol should be seen as separate from the others. Only in looking at all the symbols as one whole picture can a true interpretation be made.
If at first you don't see any symbols in the leaves or grounds, don't worry. As times goes on and you free your mind, you will see more and more of these pictures. Just let your imagination and your instincts take over. This will release and increase your perceptions.