Tea has been a hugely popular thing in the UK for an incredibly long time. It’s a tasty drink that people adore, and are all too happy to knock back like there’s no tomorrow! We’re going to focus on black tea, the best British tea brands, and why British people adore tea so much!
Without further ado, let’s talk about the national British obsession with tea!
Why do British people love tea so much?
Well, oddly enough, it’s something of a fluke, which also manages to involve taxes. Strap in, this story’s a bit of a strange one.
A long, long time ago in the early 17th century, Tea was first bought to the UK by the East India Company. The tea was grown in either China or India and was then shipped around the world to the UK, where it was prepared for consumption.
The first batches of tea were presented to the king at the time – King Charles II. While he thought it wasn’t too much to sniff at, his wife (Princess Catherine of Braganza) adored drinking tea! She liked it so much that it became a trend in the upper echelons of society to drink tea whenever possible, in order to be more like the Queen.
It’s worth noting, at this point, that King Charles II had bought the monarchy back after it had been abolished after the English civil war. For that reason, a number of British people considered supporting him to be extremely patriotic! Therefore, the idea of drinking tea as the Queen did was a popular way to be patriotic, even if it’s only in a small way.
However, tea was prohibitively expensive thanks to the high import taxes on it. Over time, the taxes decreased, and the British public was able to get their hands on the tea leaves that they wanted. In the excitement, many people tried it and adored it – it became incredibly popular incredibly quickly!
British tea brands and varieties
There are a number of British tea brands, though the market is dominated by five in particular: PG Tips, Tetley, Typhoo, Twinings, and Yorkshire Tea. These teas all have slightly different tastes, though it’s tough to say how much of that taste is real, and how much is out of a sense of tradition and history.
Generally speaking, someone will continue to buy the brand of tea that they grew up drinking: the flavor is delicious and predictable to them, hence the brand loyalty.
There are a number of varieties of tea drunk in the UK, from Darjeeling to Ceylon, as well as Assam and Yunnan. However, most tea drinkers wouldn’t know what type of tea they’re drinking – only knowing that they like the English breakfast blend.
That blend changes from brand to brand, though the flavors are consistent enough between brands that it’s noticeable. Often, assam tea is used as a base due to its strong flavor, with additional hints of other teas to create a rounded flavor.
Common add-ins
People add an awful lot of things to their tea, particularly in the UK. There are a few big choices, and then the choices get more and more minute and specific.
The first choice is whether or not to add milk. Semi-skimmed milk is typical, as it’s a healthy medium between too fatty and too watery. Most people choose to add milk, as it helps to reduce the overall bitterness of a cup.
The next big choice is whether to add sugar or a similar sweetener. Most people choose to add one or two sugars, with ‘milk, two sugars’ being a common turn of phrase in a cafe. Personally, we prefer it without – we find that the tea flavors speak for themselves, and too much sweetness can taste a little artificial.
Beyond those two big choices, things get a little obscure. The next choice would be whether you might want to add a slice of lemon to your tea. Most people would refuse, but there are a few who quite like that addition.
It’s worth mentioning that lemon juice or a slice of lemon is often added to Earl Grey tea, as the citrus boosts the earthy tea a little bit. Again, this is a personal choice.
Some people choose to add all sorts of things to their tea, while others just make small adjustments. The best place to see this is in the sweetener. Some people opt for no sugar at all, while others opt for an awful lot. Some people opt for honey, while others opt to actively make the tea more bitter through the addition of lemon juice or similar additives.
Tea is a very personal thing in the UK, and nothing has ever been more indicative of that fact than this.
Milk first, or milk last?
Adding milk to your tea is a given for most people in the UK, though there’s a bit of controversy about when it should be added to the brewing vessel.
People in the UK typically brew tea directly in the mug, instead of brewing in a pot, followed by pouring into a teacup. This means that hot water and milk will be added to the same vessel, raising the question: should you add the milk with the teabag and sugar, before the water? Or, should you add the milk last, after brewing your tea and dissolving your sugar?
No two people in the UK would give you the right answer, as there truly isn’t one. However, there is a traditional answer! Soldiers in India that first drank tea before taking it back to the UK would pour milk over their tea leaves before adding the hot water. They did this to prevent the tea leaves from scalding, thereby releasing bitter flavors.
Brewing a cup of tea in the UK is taken very seriously, even if it’s not something that one might think about for too long after polishing off the cup. However you might take your tea, it’s safe to say that someone in the UK matches you.