Brits losing the knack of making a good cuppa

11th November 2005

We're a nation famed for our love of tea and we get through 165 million cups a day, however, Brits seems to be losing the art of making a good brew.

A new survey, carried out by the Tea Guild, shows that a massive 73% of Brits are disappointed with the way tea is served outside the home. The worst offenders are motorway service stations where almost 40% of people claim to have experienced their worst cup of tea, closely followed by 30% in a fast food restaurant. Nearly three quarters of those surveyed considered tea rooms and hotels to be most reliable at delivering a quality cuppa.

Service plays a key part in enjoying refreshments on a day out. Nearly half of those surveyed thought that they got the best service whilst having tea in a tea room or hotel compared to only 27% at a pub lunch, 14% in a coffee shop and a mere 2% when grabbing something to fill up on at a fast food restaurant.

Irene Gorman of The Tea Guild said: “These results show that people are crying out for a return to simple things done well. Proper service and traditional refreshments made with care and attention have become even more essential in the rush of day to day modern life. A simple, properly brewed cuppa served in a welcoming and relaxed atmosphere can soothe and refresh like nothing else.”

The Tea Guild is helping to point Brits in the direction of top quality refreshment by launching a new edition of Britain’s Best Afternoon Tea 2006, written in conjunction with the AA. The Tea Guild constantly visit their member establishments across the UK, from the chic trendy and modern to the reassuringly traditional and classic in style, and carry out incognito inspections not only to monitor the quality of their actual tea preparation but also their atmosphere, ambience and service too. The current cream of the crop are featured in the new guide.

Research was carried out by TNS in November 2005 among a representative sample of 1,098 British adults aged 16-64.

• The Tea Guild was established in 1985 to identify and recognise establishments in the UK that meet the highest standards of preparing and serving tea.
• The AA’s new edition of Britain’s Best Afternoon Tea will be available in all good bookshops and from the Tea Council’s website www.tea.co.uk from November 2005.
• To make the perfect cuppa always boil fresh water and brew for 3-4 minutes. If using a teapot, put the milk in first to avoid scalding the fats in the milk, if using a teabag in a mug, put the milk in second.

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