Britons prefer milk to go into their tea last, survey finds

Have you ever met someone who insisted on making a cup of tea which was so alien to your way of life that you actually had to have a sit-down?

Believe it or not, some people like to put the milk in a mug before the hot water and not afterwards. We know, madness, right?

While this is a real thing that people like to do, a survey from YouGov Omnibus found that only a small portion of Brits like this method of brewing a cuppa.

Just 20 per cent of Britons put their tea in first, whereas an overwhelming amount of people say that milk last is the correct way to do things.

Picture: YouGov

This consensus was consistent across the UK's entire age demographic, but it proved to be most popular in the 65 and over bracket, where 32 per cent of people said they preferred milk first.

Interestingly, YouGov also found that 'milk first' wasn't exclusive to one particular class in society with working classes (first 19-21 per cent, last 80-78 per cent) just as likely to use this method as the middle classes.

YouGov also conducting two other surveys about our tea drinking habits.

Perhaps the most important of these was an investigation into how strong Brits like their tea.

On a scale of A - H (A being black with no milk and H being basically just milk), it was found that the majority of Brits lie somewhere in the middle, with 47 per cent having a preference for a pale beige brew.

Picture: YouGov

Finally, they asked which brand of tea bag was the best and it was Yorkshire Tea which triumphed but only by a narrow margin.

Yorkshire Tea achieved 25 per cent of the vote, just pipping PG Tips to the top spot, which achieved 22 per cent. Tetley came in third with 16 per cent with Twinings and Typhoo bringing up the rear.

Other tidbits that they found included that only six in ten Brits (58 per cent) drink tea on a daily basis, with just 11 per cent drinking more than five cups a day, while 22 per cent don't drink tea at all.

Picture: YouGov

When it comes to adding a little sugar to your tea 24 per cent add a spoonful to their drink, with 13 per cent opting for a non-sugar sweetener.

Ben Glanville, the head of Omnibus UK, said in a statement:

Drinking tea is a national pastime, and as with any treasured ritual the nation is divided on appropriate protocol.

These are debates that have caused controversy up and down the country for years, and our results show that we’re no closer to a definitive answer.

Whether you put the milk in first or pour in after has divided generations – but one thing almost half of Brits can agree with is that the best shade of tea is the middling brown of a digestive biscuit.

While, this is all conclusive evidence I think we can all agree that no matter how you take it, everyone enjoys a good cuppa.

More: This is the right way to drink tea, according to science