Great British Tea Survey - the results are in and Yorkshire Tea tops the list

To celebrate National Tea Day on the  April 21 , Yorkshire holiday cottage specialists Gorgeous Cottages have questioned people up and down the country to find out everything from the UK's ideal shade for a brew to our favourite brand and whether the milk is added first or last.
Almost half of people like their tea brewed to the colour of a Yorkshire pudding according to recent data collected by Gorgeous CottagesAlmost half of people like their tea brewed to the colour of a Yorkshire pudding according to recent data collected by Gorgeous Cottages
Almost half of people like their tea brewed to the colour of a Yorkshire pudding according to recent data collected by Gorgeous Cottages

Almost 50 percent of people like their tea brewed to the colour of a Yorkshire pudding according to recent data collected by Gorgeous Cottages.

The next most popular shade is Yorkshire Terrier with 20 percent of the votes followed by Filey beach with 13 percent of the votes and 12 percent of respondents said they prefer their tea the colour of Whitby jet with no milk added and the paler shades of White rose York Minster and Fat Rascals got no votes at all - it seems we all like our tea with a bit of oomph!

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Two thirds of us add the milk last to a cup of tea which means around 35 per cent of Brits put the milk in first according to data collected from our Great British Tea Survey. Everyone has their preferred method for making tea and it seems that not even experts can agree on this controversial subject.

Gorgeous Cottages spoke to Jesse Richardson who is Ambassador of Teas at The Brothers Apothecary and studying Plant Based Medicine at Cornell University who says:

“The temperature of the water has direct effects on the flavor and character of the tea and robust black teas require higher temperatures closer to boiling. If you add milk first you are quickly reducing the water temperature from what is measured on your kettle. Similarly, milk can curdle or separate at times if the tea or kettle is acidic, which becomes more apparent the longer the milk is brewed with the tea.”

However, Professor Alan Mackie from Leeds University has claimed that adding the milk last can help tea taste better by binding its proteins to the tannins in tea and stopping them turning to solids before the flavour is properly developed.

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Around a third of people in our survey named Yorkshire Tea as their favourite cuppa with another Yorkshire brand Tetley coming second in our poll of more than 1000 people to find the nation’s favourite brand.

The UK’s top three brands are:

Yorkshire Tea

Tetley

Twinings

Is having a good cup of tea so important that you take your favourite tea bags abroad with you? If the answer is YES you’re not alone - according to our survey results 58% of Brits include tea bags on their packing list - it seems that settling down to a good cup of tea really is a holiday essential!

How do you compare to our survey results? The average Brit drinks tree to four cups of unsweetened Yorkshire Tea each day which is brewed to the colour of a Yorkshire pudding, adds the milk last and makes sure that tea bags are always on their packing list when heading abroad.

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