No sugar and a dash of milk suits us to a tea

MORE than half of us – 52 per cent – prefer a strong builder’s brew when we have a cuppa, with just a splash of milk, a hot steeped teabag... and no sugar.

Six in 10 – 59 per cent – go sugarless, 43 per cent have theirs “not very milky” and only 13 per cent prefer a very white brew.

The typical tea drinker has three cups a day, while 27 per cent have as many as five or more. English Breakfast is the most popular type and the most sought-after alternatives are mint, lemon and ginger flavours.

The poll of 2,000 tea drinkers was carried out for Tetley, which found that four in 10 people believe no one makes a cup of tea as well as the British. More than half – 54 per cent – pack their favourite tea bags when they travel abroad.

Almost half can’t start their day until they’ve had a brew – and the first cup is typically enjoyed between 7 and 9am.

A quarter of us dunk biscuits in our tea while nearly one in 10 – eight per cent – drink tea from a flask.

More than a third always drink from a specific mug, while 14 per cent still use a teapot. Londoners and people in Northern Ireland have the sweetest tooth – adding an average of one-and-a-half sugars to their cuppa.

Those in the South West add the least milk, with 59 per cent having theirs “not very milky”.

Fifteen per cent of us admit to slurping our tea but 42 per cent of us think slurping is the most annoying tea habit.

The most popular order is: teabag, water, milk, while one in 10 put the water in first followed by the teabag and milk. Tetley’s master blender, Sebastian Michaelis, said: “Milk before water can reduce its temperature, thus hindering the all-important infusion process. “Everyday tea should be as close to boiling point as possible but never use boiling water for green tea – leave the kettle for a couple of minutes to avoid a bitter taste. “As for brewing time, leave black tea bags in the water for 2-3 minutes; green tea bags for 1-2 minutes; and fruit and herbal infusions for 3-5 minutes.”