# What is the favorite tea in Great Britain? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 31, 2004, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-favorite-tea-in-great-britain/226918 "2004-01-31T15:05:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Elysian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@Elysian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elysian)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2004, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-favorite-tea-in-great-britain/226918/61 "2004-02-03T22:45:06Z")
> [@Peezus](#): > > I drink coffee that way, and I live over here. I think the best way to enjoy anything is as plain as you can get it. No milk, sugar, anything. In terms of tea, I used to drink loosleaf tea from fortnum and mason, but the grocery store stopped carrying that, so now I order it online from [www.uptontea.com](http://www.uptontea.com) Thank you for the information and the link! Wow, how did anybody get this great stuff before the internet? ---
**Author:** ![Peezus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Peezus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peezus)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2004, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-favorite-tea-in-great-britain/226918/62 "2004-02-03T23:31:38Z")
> [@Elysian](#): > > Thank you for the information and the link! Wow, how did anybody get this great stuff before the internet? That’s actually something i’ve been wondering. How the heck did people find information on really obscure topics, and learn about places to get specialty items and the like without an incredible amount of effort? ---
**Author:** ![robo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@robo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robo99)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2004, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-favorite-tea-in-great-britain/226918/63 "2004-02-03T23:43:18Z")
I like Iced Coffee here in the U.S. - just plain black coffee over ice. I also like ice cream in my coffee but I think that’s a French thing. ---
**Author:** ![Pepsi\_Classic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f19dbf/32.png) [@Pepsi\_Classic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pepsi_Classic)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-favorite-tea-in-great-britain/226918/64 "2004-02-04T00:16:05Z")
Do most British people use tea bags or make tea the proper way? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-favorite-tea-in-great-britain/226918/65 "2004-02-04T00:53:46Z")
The vast majority of Brits make their tea with bags. Enough skill with the teabag-and -spoon mashing technique and it tastes surprisingly like a decent brewed real tea. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-favorite-tea-in-great-britain/226918/66 "2004-02-04T00:55:50Z")
> [@robo99](#): > > Yeah, I get unsweetened chocolate powder that’s used for baking and add hot water. It doesn’t take long to get used to the bitter taste but once you do it tastes much better, for me at least. Ok, **Montezuma** , you’re a stronger man than I. 😉 Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-favorite-tea-in-great-britain/226918/67 "2004-02-04T01:08:59Z")
> [@LunaSea](#): > > Mmm, sounds perfect. Mine has to be with fat free milk though. (can’t tolerate milkfat.) > > Before I gave it up a month ago, I’d average 4 cups a day, I even got my American husband doing the same. An expensive habit over here. > > As for iced tea, I’ve never seen a single one of the fellow Brits I know drink it. Bleargh. “Bleargh”, huh? Well maybe if some of your fellow Brits over in one of the colonies where it’s not winter thelve of twelve were to pop in we’d here a different opinion. Oh, that’s right. No more colonies. Dang, sorry 'bout that. 😉 Well! She said “Bleargh”. Besides, Tetly (I think it is) makes a tea especially for ice. Try some on a hot day, **LunaSea** , when none of your Brit friends are watching. Yum. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-favorite-tea-in-great-britain/226918/68 "2004-02-04T01:30:24Z")
> [@robo99](#): > > I like Iced Coffee here in the U.S. - just plain black coffee over ice. I also like ice cream in my coffee but I think that’s a French thing. South of France, maybe. 😉 Several of my friends from the south (USA) like ice cream in their coffee. So do I, but I prefer it in cappuccino. ---
**Author:** ![Vaeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Vaeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vaeth)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-favorite-tea-in-great-britain/226918/69 "2004-02-04T02:35:22Z")
> [@](#): > > In the period 1996-1998, the countries with the highest annual per capita consumption of tea were Ireland (3 kilograms), the UK (2.5 kilograms), Turkey (2.1 kilograms) and Iran (1.5 kilograms). Although India is the largest consumer of tea in terms of total consumption, its per capita consumption was a relatively low 0.7 kilograms per annum. Consumption in the United States was 0.3 kilograms per capita per annum. Went to the tea.org for a look around and I am a little skeptical of the results there, or at least how they came up with the results. It ranks countries like Japan and China (especially Japan) fairly low on the per capita consumed graph. The only way I can justify such a result is if [tea.org](http://tea.org) is only looking at “English” tea and is not taking into consideration Japanese and Chinese tea consumption in said countries. From my experience, at least in Japan, Japanese drink tea as if it were water, and in convenient stores, varieties of bottled tea for sale make up about 50% of the entire available range of beverages for sale. If [tea.org](http://tea.org) only took into consideration “English” tea then I would find the results more accurate. But then, AFAIK all tea, English, Chinese or Japanese, come from the same tea bush anyway, only difference is where it is grown, how it is picked, dried, fermented and prepared. ---
**Author:** ![AnsaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b782af/32.png) [@AnsaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnsaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-favorite-tea-in-great-britain/226918/70 "2004-02-04T03:08:13Z")
> [@BobT](#): > > The world’s biggest tea producers are India, China, Sri Lanka, and Kenya. > > The only country in the Americas that has any kind of tea production is Argentina. > > Tea grows in tropical and subtropical climates. > It was first grown in China and after the British got a taste for it (to say the least), they started looking for new places to grow it. India was that place. Sri Lanka came along later. It started as a coffee growing island, but a blight killed the coffee and tea took its place. Not true. American Classic Tea is grown 20 miles south of Charleston, South Carolina on Wadmalaw Island. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-favorite-tea-in-great-britain/226918.md?page=3)