Whether you’re making a cup of black tea (Orange Pekoe), green tea, herbal tea or red herbal tea like Rooibos, these steps will result in a delicious cup of full-flavoured Tetley Tea.

Steps

1. Boil fresh water to at least 98.5 degrees
2. Pour the freshly boiled water onto the bag (in the cup) and brew for 3–5 minutes
3. Squeeze the bag against the side of the cup with a spoon for 2 seconds
4. Stir once, then squeeze for another 2 seconds
5. Remove bag
6. Add milk – for a standard 270 mL (9 oz) mug, the optimum amount of milk is 16 mL (1 tbsp) (Making green, herbal or red herbal tea? Then skip step 6, these teas don’t need milk.)
7. Add sugar or honey to suit your taste and enjoy your perfect cup!

No matter what kind of tea you’re making, the key is to boil fresh water to at least 98.5 degrees. Why? Because only temperatures this hot can efficiently extract flavour from the tea leaves.

Remember though, you can take your tea any way that best suits your tastes. So if you like your tea a little stronger – let it steep a few extra minutes. Prefer a sugar substitute to real sugar? Then that’s what you should add to sweeten your cup. After all, the perfect cup of tea is the one that you enjoy the best.

Tea trivia

Discover Tea – a truly ancient tradition
Tea was discovered by the Chinese Emperor Shen-nung around 2700 BC, nearly 5,000 years ago. According to legend, the Emperor was boiling water on his campfire when some leaves from a nearby tea tree fell into the water. Enticed by the aroma, the Chinese Emperor sipped the new brew and enjoyed the delightful flavour.

How long can you savour the flavour
Black teas (Orange Pekoe) can retain their flavour for up to 2 years from the time they are picked, if they are properly stored in an airtight container.

What’s orange about Orange Pekoe?
Pekoe is a classification of black tea. Orange is the colour of the tea flower buds when they are dried. The combination of these 2 facts results in the name “Orange Pekoe”.

Sink your teeth into tea
Both black tea (Orange Pekoe) and green tea contain flouride. Studies suggest that 1.5 cups of black tea or 1 cup of green tea a day may contain enough flouride to reduce tooth decay.

Veggie benefits with every sip
One cup of black tea (Orange Pekoe) or green tea can contain as many polyphenols as a serving of some vegetables. Polyphenols are a type of antioxidant which may benefit your heart and help protect against cancers.

The world’s most expensive tea
In 1992, Makaibari Flowery Tippy Golden Orange Pekoe, was sold for $561 a kilogram. Regularly priced teas retail for less than $20 a kilogram.

Goodness goes a long way
Just 1 pound of tea leaves can make over 2 hundred cups of tea. That’s a lot of steeping!

Taste buds at work
On a regular day, a Tetley Tea taster may sample up to 1,000 different teas to ensure that all our teas maintain the high standards that Tetley lovers have come to expect.

A world of tea in every cup
Tetley Tea blends, like Earl Grey and Chai, can contain up to 30 different teas in a single tea bag.

The black tea shrub
Black tea is made from the young leaves and unopened leaf buds produced by the Camellia Sinensis shrub.

Cut your caffeine content
One cup of tea can contain half the caffeine of coffee.

Why herbal tea is caffeine-free
Actually, herbal teas are not true teas because they do not contain any leaves from the Camellia Sinensis plant. Nearly all herbal teas contain no caffeine.

Green tea – great benefits
Green tea contains, among others, the flavonoid called Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG). EGCG is a particularly strong antioxidant and may be as much as 100 times more powerful an antioxidant than vitamin C.

The origins of Rooibos
The word “Rooibos” means “red bush” and is actually an African slang word of Dutch origin. The Rooibos plant is native to South Africa. This country alone produces 25% of the world’s Rooibos tea.

Quick facts

It takes 5 kilograms of tea leaves to produce 1 kilogram of black tea (Orange Pekoe).

A traditional Japanese tea ceremony can last up to 4 hours long.

Oolong teas get their name from a chinese word which loosely means “black dragon”.