Favorite British teas of (England)?

[parislexi]

Although American, I enjoy British and Australian/New Zealand literature and Police/Detective TV mysteries series shows (Inspector Morse, Inspector Frost, Lynley, Lewis, Dalziel and Pascoe, Vera, Sherlock, No Offence, Unforgotten, Doctor Blake, Midsomer Murders, etc. ) and some of the dramas, also. I notice that in every show/episode (especially the British (England) ones) tea is offered to and accepted by someone, be it the cop, detective, grandma, serial killer --- whomever.

So, I'd like to know:
What classification of tea is mostly consumed by
the British (black, green, oolong, white)?

And more importantly:
What brand names/ 'model' names (ex., Twinings/Earl Gray, etc.) seems to be the favorite overall?

I would like to try some of them if for no other reason than to drink them while viewing the episodes!

[Alex]

As someone that was born and bred in the UK I can tell you it's basically mostly Indian black tea. Usually English breakfast blends.

People do drink other teas and you do get oolongs and greens in super markets and trendy cafes but if someone offers you tea at home or work etc it will be Assam or English breakfast. Usually CTC bags but alot of people drink less broken up loose leaf as well. 99.9% of the time with milk.

Brands include for tea bags

Pg tips
Yorkshire tea
Twinnings
Clipper
Typhoo

Loose leaf English breakfast are usually from smaller independent brands but also sold in supermarkets. These would be sold in cafes, served in restaurants and slightly more upmarket cafes

Canton tea
Jing tea UK
Teapigs
Etc

A good English breakfast tea is malty, deep and satisfying with citrus lighter notes. It's my Life blood.

Jing tea UK sell internationally and are used in a lot of michelin starred restaurants so would be a good starting point. Although the flavour of the more chopped up teas is more like a comfort food with every flavour just coming through as one rather then separate notes which I actually really love.

[mbanu]

Black tea blends meant to be had with milk. Popular blends are PG Tips, Yorkshire, Tetley, and Typhoo.

However, changes in tastes and geopolitics have shifted where the tea is from over time. So while Arthur Conan Doyle might make Lapsang Souchong the favorite tea of Sherlock Holmes, a modern Brit might never have had it before.

Nowadays tea is likely from plantations in the countries of former British East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, etc.). From the 1880s to the 1980s or so, it would have likely been from India or Sri Lanka (still a popular choice). Before that, it would have been from China.

[FBee]

Do not forget the preparation! Huge differences here, mostly in class. I have come across the posh variety who literally wanted his Earl Grey teabag dipped in and taken out immediately, with a drop of milk... on the other hand you have your builder's tea, which is a low quality teabag like PG tipps left in the milky water and with lots of sugar. Colour of the brew is a brick red

Love me one of these as a guilty pleasure in a greasy spoon from time to time...

Just read an article recently and there are huge differences in how tea is taken over the whole country, besides the class divide.

[Zackohong]

Do not forget the preparation! Huge differences here, mostly in class. I have come across the posh variety who literally wanted his Earl Grey teabag dipped in and taken out immediately, with a drop of milk... on the other hand you have your builder's tea, which is a low quality teabag like PG tipps left in the milky water and with lots of sugar. Colour of the brew is a brick red

Love me one of these as a guilty pleasure in a greasy spoon from time to time...

Just read an article recently and there are huge differences in how tea is taken over the whole country, besides the class divide.

Earl Grey with milk? Never!

Jokes aside, despite all my skepticism of Fortnum's overpriced teas, they do an excellent Earl Grey and a recent discovery of mine: Fortmason, which is an Earl Grey with the bergamot replaced with a million delicate and elegant orange blossoms. It has a glorious perfume and is my best discovery in a while.

If you're outside the UK though, I think you'll be hard pressed to find Fortnum teas. A lot of good black teas used at English teatimes are easily found outside the country anyway. A good one is Nuwara Eliya which they sell at F&M as well.

[sandalik]

Although American, I enjoy British and Australian/New Zealand literature and Police/Detective TV mysteries series shows (Inspector Morse, Inspector Frost, Lynley, Lewis, Dalziel and Pascoe, Vera, Sherlock, No Offence, Unforgotten, Doctor Blake, Midsomer Murders, etc. ) and some of the dramas, also. I notice that in every show/episode (especially the British (England) ones) tea is offered to and accepted by someone, be it the cop, detective, grandma, serial killer --- whomever.

So, I'd like to know:
What classification of tea is mostly consumed by
the British (black, green, oolong, white)?

And more importantly:
What brand names/ 'model' names (ex., Twinings/Earl Gray, etc.) seems to be the favorite overall?

I would like to try some of them if for no other reason than to drink them while viewing the episodes!

According to my knowledge, a lot of foreigners prefer flavoured and spiced tea apart from their all time favourite black tea.
There is a massive range of flavoured tea and spiced tea available in most of the Sri Lankan shops who have the country's best quality tea products. <p>Speaking about brands, <a href="https://www.zestaceylontea.com/">Zesta tea</a> has a very interesting range of tea to chose from.</p>
Jasmin green tea is one of the most popular teas among the tea lovers.