The tea thing has him raise an eyebrow. Most scientists he knows- heck, most people he knows drink coffee. But if tea is what this guy needs to proceed, then tea he'll try to find.

"... Right. Okay, uh. I'll be in the kitchen, then."

He wanders off through a door, ends up in a bedroom, then wanders back through the study towards a totally different door. It'll take him a good ten minutes to produce tea, so Crane has all the time he needs to plan out a nice tactic.