tea and coffee

Tea Vs Coffee

52% of Britons say tea better than coffee; younger generations more evenly split on hot drinks

When asked to choose their preference when it comes to tea or coffee, tea came out on top with more than half of the British public favouring the herbal drink next to just over a third who prefer coffee, our poll shows.

• 52% favour tea as the best hot drink
• 35% say they prefer coffee
• 11% like neither tea or coffee as their favourite hot drink
• 3% can't choose or "don’t know"

While this preference remains fairly consistent between men and women, there is a slight difference in age groups, with the youngest generation of respondents more evenly split between the two drinks, as well as a quarter who say neither tea nor coffee is their preference.

• Of people aged over 25, more than 50% of each age group (25 to 39, 40 to 59 and 60+) say they prefer tea over coffee; however those aged 18-24 are more split on the beverages with only 39% preferring tea next to 30% coffee
• More 18-24 year olds prefer other alternatives or no hot drink at all; with a quarter (24%) saying they prefer neither tea nor coffee, next to only 9% of people aged 40 to 59 years, and 5% of people over 60

Who drinks the most?

Hot drinks (tea in particular) have long played an integral part in British national identity and culture, with many famous Brits expressing their love of a 'good cuppa'.

Research has shown that the British tea culture is the highest in the world, with each British tea lover consuming on average 2.5 kg per year, though tea consumption in the UK is supposedly 'on the wane'.  The greatest coffee consumers turned out to be Scandinavians, in particular the Danish who apparently drank an impressive 7.5 kgs of coffee per head in 2002.

Sydney Smith, a 19th century English writer and Anglican cleric, was a prominent tea lover, often describing his love of the beverage, stating: "I always fear that creation will expire before tea-time."

American born English poet and playwright, T.S. Elliot, had a greater appreciation for coffee, claiming: “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.”

Yorkshire Tea cottage up for sale

Beckside, in Staithes, near Whitby, is one of Britain's most photographed homes, featuring on souvenirs, postcards and calendars of the village by the seaside. The historic property, now a holiday cottage, which sits by the quayside next to the lifeboat station overlooking Roxby Beck and the harbour, is on the market at £295,000. 

Beckside started out as a fisherman's cottage 250 years ago and was at one point the home of the lifeboat coxwain. 

But thanks to the village's popularity, the property has turned into a successful holiday property. 

Andrew Revitt, who owns the home with business partners Clare Revitt and Chris and Fran Peace, said: "A friend saw it and picked up the brochure for us. When we saw it we fell in love with it and bought it. 

"It was a bit tired so we renovated it but we really tried to keep its character because we didn't want to spoil it at all." 

"This area of the village is one of the UK's most photographed places, so the cottage features on everything from postcards to the Millennium calendar and on brochures and adverts promoting the East Coast, and, of course, on the Yorkshire Tea box. 

"I've lost count of the number of people who have said: 'We've seen your cottage on a chocolate box, tea tray, tea box and so on." 

Staithes is also known because Captain James Cook moved to the town in 1744 aged 16.

Yorkshire tea, timeline

TIMELINE

1896: Charles Taylor won a gold medal at the London Grocery Exhibition for his tea blends.

1962: Bettys tea rooms and Taylors became one company.

1977: A tea blend was created and named Yorkshire Tea.

1984: Bettys and Taylors advertised Yorkshire Tea on TV for the first time.

2005: Yorkshire Tea replaced Typhoo as the third-most popular tea brand in the UK for the first time, behind Tetley and PG Tips.

2009: Taylors of Harrogate, including Yorkshire Tea, was awarded a royal warrant from Prince Charles for supplying his official London residence for five years. The brand was also praised by Noel Gallagher.

2011: The company appointed Andrew Baker as its chief executive, the first non-family member to hold the position.

Lizzie Sanders

Botanical Illustrator and Graphic Designer

Lizzie has exhibited work at the RHS Show in London three times and on each occasion was awarded a gold medal. 

In 2004 Lizzie was honoured by the American Society of Botanical Artists, with the Diane Bouchier Award for Excellence. She has two paintings in the Highgrove Florilegium, The Prince of Wales Charitable Trust.

Lizzie trained at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee and spent many years working in graphic design and advertising in Italy and New York before returning to Scotland.

She was a partner in Millhouse Design Consultants, Edinburgh and was subsequently employed as Design Director for McKinstrie Wilde, Edinburgh. Lizzie now devotes all of her time to illustration.

Lizzie has lectured at Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh Art Colleges and currently tutors the Diploma Course in Botanical Illustration at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh.

Yorkshire Tea

In the 70s a new blend was created by Taylors' experts, called Yorkshire Tea, taking inspiration from their surroundings. The blend was intended to create a brew that suited the region's water, and the surroundings inspired Yorkshire Tea's image as well as taste.

The company employed renowned designer Michael Peters to create the look of Yorkshire Tea. He used images of traditional regional landscapes featuring cricketers, dales and dog walkers as the backdrop for the orange stripe and bold typeface bearing the brand's name. The look of the product has been updated over the years but not changed significantly. The Yorkshire landscape illustration used is still that created by artist Lizzie Sanders in 1984, refreshed with new scenes by the same artist in 2002. Such is the influence of the brand's location, the production lines at its Harrogate headquarters are named after nearby rivers, the Wharfe, Nidd, Swale and Esk.

Yorkshire Tea has thrived in Britain, and its popularity and success was cemented in 2005 when it became the third bestselling tea brand, rivalling best-selling big corporation's brands such as PG Tips and Tetley. Consumers get through an estimated 10m cups of Yorkshire Tea every day.

Originally appearing as promotional items in the 70s, a range of tea-related collectables has since been made available for fans of Yorkshire Tea, including teapots, tea caddies, mugs and model toys.

The company, which is still family owned, has also expanded outside the UK with success, offering a little taste of Yorkshire to 30 countries around the world.

Yorkshire Tea's pastoral packaging captures our idealistic image of England, the 'green and pleasant land' of William Blake's Jerusalem and where Danny Boyle transported us at the start of his London 2012 opening ceremony. It's the image that comes to mind when you're far from home and missing the old country. Comforting and familiar, just like a good cuppa.

Where other brands present our national drink with some exclusivity and allude to its aristocratic descent, Yorkshire Tea is democratised and down to earth - a brand for a nation of tea drinkers. The name provides that assurance. No county is perceived as being more honest or no-nonsense than Yorkshire. The brand mark with its bold, sans serif type and ever so slightly brash orange outline represents this perfectly. As does the directness of the line 'Let's have a proper brew'. You can almost hear Geoffrey Boycott as you read it.

The Royal Crest almost goes unnoticed, perhaps because we wouldn't necessarily associate it with such a grounded brand; but if there was any doubt whether this is real English tea, it's a final seal of authenticity.

True to its roots, Yorkshire Tea provides a lesson in being direct both in concept and execution. Charles Taylor's vision was simply to bring a little taste of Yorkshire to the rest of Britain. Michael Peters translated that idea directly into a piece of distinctive design. Now that's champion.