Earl Grey or Builder’s?

Which one do you prefer? Though tea drinking seems to be on decline however we still look on ourselves as ‘a nation of tea drinkers’ .

New research from Mintel finds that Brits may be losing their thirst for the Great British Tea Time. Indeed, whilst over two thirds (69%) of tea drinking Brits agree that drinking tea is an important part of social occasions, over the past few years sales of the beverage have been in hot water.

Across the tea retail market in the UK, value sales have fallen by 6% from £699 million in 2010 to an estimated £654 million in 2015. What’s more, in volume terms over the same time period, sales have dropped by 22%, from 97 million kg to an estimated 76 million kg. Furthermore, Mintel forecasts that volume sales will drop to 68.7 million kg by 2020.

Builder’s tea is an English colloquial term for a strong tea. The tea takes its name from the inexpensive tea commonly drunk by builders taking a break. A builder’s tea is typically brewed in a mug (as opposed to a teapot) with two (or more in some cases) teaspoons of sugar. The term has widespread use throughout both Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Earl Grey Tea flavoured with bergamot, which was used to imitate the more expensive types of Chinese tea, has been known in England at least since the 1820s. In 1837 there is a record of court proceedings against Brocksop & Co. who were found to have supplied tea “artificially scented, and, drugged with bergamot in this country.” A ‘Grey’s Tea’ is known from the 1850s, but the first known published references to an ‘Earl Grey’ tea are advertisements by Charlton & Co. of Jermyn Street in London in the 1880s.

Source WikiPedia

Here at The-Boomers office we are powered by tea, first thing, elevenses, pre lunch, post lunch, tea time -you name it!

What’s your favourite brew?