Digital Media Centre

TEA-LOVING BRITS SLURP A STAGGERING 127 MILLION CUPPAS A DAY – BUT NEARLY A QUARTER ARE MAKING IT ALL WRONG, ALDI FINDS*

3 July, 2025

• Colleagues make the worst brew (45%), while over three-quarters give specific instructions when someone offers to do a tea run
• Almost a quarter of Brits are making their tea wrong, as majority agree the water goes in first
• Supermarket Aldi announces launch of NEW Smart Kettle to solve Brit’s teatime woes

Brits consume a whopping four cups of tea per day, with over half of the nation (55%) saying coffee just isn’t their cup of tea, and they’d prefer a brew.

Research commissioned by Aldi polled the nation to discover what makes the perfect cuppa, after it found that nearly three quarters (72%) drink an average of four cups a day, with 78% so passionate about a good brew that they give exact instructions when someone offers to make them a cup to make sure they get it right.

And while almost a quarter (22%) are making their tea wrong by putting the milk in first, English Breakfast (67%) is the go-to brew – (78%) add the water first before letting the bag stew for TWO minutes to achieve the ultimate shade – classic builders (toffee brown).

Half (49%) agree that a splash of semi-skimmed milk should then be added to help bring the temperature down to 57 degrees, which is considered the perfect drinking temperature.

The new research comes as the supermarket announces the launch of its NEW Smart Kettle and at just £29.99, it is set to solve the nation’s tea woes – available in stores from 13th July.

And, in the name of receiving the perfect cuppa, over three-quarters of tea drinkers admit to giving strict, specific instructions to anyone that offers them a brew – with two in five (38%) preferring no sugar at all while almost a quarter (22%) take two.

Jo Bryant, etiquette consultant, said: “It’s clear that tea remains a very important part of our lives, with the average Brit consuming a staggering 1,460 cups a year, and each tea-drinker has their own particulars about how they have their tea. I’m with the majority as I love a cup of English Breakfast tea, freshly-brewed for around two minutes, with a moderate amount of milk – and it’s always tea first, milk last.

“It is good manners when making someone else a cup of tea to check how they like it. Most people simply ask about milk and sugar, but it is better tea-making etiquette to also enquire about strength and any other preferences. Try to take the time to make perfect brews for friends, colleagues and family, and make sure you remember just how they like it for next time.”

The kettle is normally on at 7am for our first cup of the day, with (40%) having a specific mug that they always use which they believe helps their tea taste its best.

Despite our excitement over a cuppa, 48% say they often have to re-boil their kettle because they get distracted.

More than four in five (85%) feel so strongly about ‘liquid gold’ that they admit that it is important to them that their partner and family know how they take their tea, which is lucky as partners (57%) and mums (28%) all seem to nail the perfect cuppa.

In contrast, colleagues (45%) are the WORST at making a brew.

Jo continued, “Gone are the days when a pot of tea, kept warm with a tea cosy, languished on the kitchen counter. We may have busy lives, but it’s clear we still want to find the time to grab our favourite mug and enjoy our perfect brew. Aldi’s Smart Kettle is a great solution to help us achieve this efficiently, and the app control helps to be time-efficient, prevent re-boiling the kettle and wasting energy.”

Aldi’s NEW Smart Kettle costs just £29.99 and features smart app control over both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, temperature display and an easy-to-use touch screen temperature control from 40 to100 degrees Celsius as well as a keep warm function. All housed in a sleek stainless-steel body, it will look the part on any kitchen counter.

While tea remains a constant in British lives, the way the nation is consuming it seems to be changing with several tea traditions falling out of favour.

TEA TRADITIONS THAT ARE FALLING OUT OF FAVOUR:

1. Tea cosies

2. Teasmades

3. Sugar lumps in a small bowl

4. Teapots

5. Using tea leaves and strainers

6. Milk and two sugars

7. China cups

8. Sugar in your tea

9. Cow’s milk

10. Dunking biscuits

-ENDS-

*[1] Current world population by country. Population data for every country as of 2025

 Calculation as follows:

55% people reported preferring tea to coffee

55% of the UK adult population = 31,758,667

Multiply by average number of cups a day (4) = 127,034,668

• This research of 2,000 Brits was commissioned by Aldi and conducted by Perspectus Global in June 2025.