Although the consumption of coffee has been steadily growing over the past few decades, tea is still the British drink par excellence. The UK Tea and Infusion Association estimates that overall, Britons drink more than 165 million cups of tea every year. Approximately 66 per cent of UK citizens are tea drinkers, but despite that, we are not the world’s number one tea drinking nation, as that honour goes to Turkey.
Perhaps because of the unpredictable and generally wet and cool British weather, tea has become our go-to drink rain or shine. In fact, approximately 40 per cent of all daily fluid intake comes from tea -and who could blame us?
As for our tea drinking preferences, nowadays tea bags have replaced lose leaf tea, and 96 per cent of all cuppas brewed in the UK every day are made using this convenient method. Milk is pretty much added to our tea by default, as it is believed that 98 per cent of Britons drink their tea with milk, whereas only 30 per cent add sugar to their cuppas.
Tea and the Office
It’s probably safe to say that very few of us could go through a day of work without taking a tea break. There has been some debate about whether this is good or bad for our productivity, as a BBC report showed that the average UK employee spends 24 minutes a day on tea breaks. Now, is this really a waste of time? It seems that after all, tea can help us be more productive by providing us with a much-needed break from our daily routine, getting away from our desks and computer screens. And as if that wasn’t enough, tea gives us the perfect excuse to interact with colleagues and find out about the latest office gossip.
Time for Tea
A nice cup of tea is one of the most quintessentially British things out there. There really is no such a thing as the wrong time of the day to sit down and enjoy a nice cup of tea. Need to chill out and relax? A nice cuppa will do. Do you need a quick pick-me-up to face a long and busy day at work? A cup of tea will fix you up.
Enjoying our favourite cup of tea gives us a great reason to be sociable and meet up with friends, but it also provides the perfect excuse to withdraw from the hustle and bustle of daily life and to enjoy some peace and quiet. Alone or with friends, hot or cold, at home or on the go, tea seems to be present every day and everywhere.
History of British Tea Drinking
British people have been drinking tea for more than 350 years, but the history of this drink goes back thousands of years. Chinese emperors and Japanese monks were among the first to discover how much better the world looks after having a nice cup of tea. Centuries later, tea arrived in Britain and became a luxury.
In the 1970s, the invention of tea bags made tea drinking much more affordable, and the rest, as they say, is history. If tea is your passion, get ready to find out some interesting facts about this wonderful drink.
4 Benefits of a Nice Cuppa
So is tea drinking good for you? You bet! Here’s what you get in a cup of tea:
-21 per cent of the daily recommended calcium requirements (when tea is drank with milk).
-A host of antioxidants and essential minerals that protect you against some common cancers.
-Zero calories in a cup of black tea and only 13 calories when drank with semi-skimmed milk.
-An easy way of drinking the recommended 8 cups of water a day.
Is it time for another cuppa yet?