Pouring over the right way to make tea

InThursday’sbig-value

How important is a nice cuppa to your day? According to some researchers, a mug of Rosie Lee is “quintessentially British” while other research suggests workers see it as a vital part of their day.

We received three emails from public relations firms this week, all on the subject of tea, from the time workers dedicate to making it through to the reasons they come up with for shirking their tea round.

Some of the more important nuggets of information we gleaned were the best way of making a brew is to add the teabag and boiling water first, then add the milk after.

But this technique caused quite a row in our office between those who favour adding the milk in first, as opposed to those like our new Ashford reporter Dan Wright, who likes a strong tea which resembles oxtail soup.

Meanwhile, for 26% of Brits dunking one’s biscuits is the one thing which makes us quintessentially British. Again, this has caused rows in our office. Editor Robert Barman wouldn’t dream of dunking a bourbon or a chocolate digestive in his cuppa, mainly because of the damp crumbs it leaves in the drink.

It brings to mind memories of comedian Peter Kay’s sketch about which biscuits are ideal for dunking, with Hobnobs being branded the “marines of the biscuit world”.

There are those however who seem to dodge their tea making responsibilities and the research found some quite unusual excuses that workers list for doing so. One included a worker claiming they were “allergic to teaspoons”. Now while that sounds implausible, perhaps if readers knew about “spoon licking-gate” in our office, they may well agree.

According to the research, some claimed they couldn’t make tea because they’ve just had their nails done, while others claimed they didn’t know how to make the kettle work. It’s enough to make you despair!

The third tea themed email told us workers rack up more than 100 hours of tea making per year, or 28 minutes each day outside of their lunch break.

As a country facing a productivity crisis, maybe we’ll see the tea round sacrificed but our reporter Aidan Barlow will still be among the 87% of Brits who say regular tea breaks boost their productivity.

Peter Kay knows which buiscuits are best for dunking, some have claimed to be allergic to spoons in a bid to get out of making a cuppa for work collegues