How Do You Like Your Brew?

It's National Tea Day and it has got us wondering how the nation takes theirs.

It’s National Tea Day, a celebration which takes place on the 21st of April every year. Founded by the Tea Group back in 2015, the date was chosen to coincide with Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday. Designed around the ‘Brew More, Do More’ campaign, National Tea Day not only promotes an appreciation of the drink but also offers the opportunity to take part in local community events. 

All across the country today, you’ll find businesses taking part in the monumental festival. But it’s not just a national affair. Because International Tea Day, officially recognised by the UN, will also be taking place later in the year, on the 21st of May! With tea drinking becoming a much-loved global pastime, we thought it was the right moment to explore more about the classic British beverage. 

By The Gallon 

We all know we’re a tea loving bunch. Builders and trades people go through their fair share of tea themselves. The fact that builder’s tea exists at all is a signal of just how much the drink powers the construction industry. Research suggests that builders actually drink 15 cups of tea every week. That’s 130 hours just drinking tea, every year. 

It’s a huge stat, but it doesn’t quite compare to the country as a whole. Because us Brits actually drink between 100 and 165 million cups of tea a year. That’s around 3.1 to 5 million gallons of the stuff. At this point, it’s a national symbol!

How Do You Drink It? 

One of the most heated debates in the country is how to drink your tea. Over 95% of Britain uses tea bags, so we all seem to agree on the delivery of the tea leaves. However, the stats get shocking from there. 

1 in 3 of us put milk in before the water. Only around 2% of us put in water before the tea bag. And a whopping 30% like to add sugar to their tea. Perhaps most surprising of all is that 20% of the nation drink their tea without any milk at all. 44% of us, meanwhile, have to have a biscuit with our drink.

This National Tea Day, maybe take a moment, while you’re having a brew, to look around and see how everyone else is drinking theirs. It might surprise you.