A Nice Cuppa

If you are looking for plain black tea rather than something flavored, robust, herbal or otherwise trendy, you should try PG Tips. I recently stopped at my local British Foods supplier, Union Jack, and picked up a box of 80 bags for about US $6.00. 

PG Tips was originally marketed as “Pre-Gest-Tea” in the 1930s and the grocers abbreviated the name to PG. The word tips in the name comes from the fact that the company only uses the top two leaves and a bud of the plant. The tea is packaged in pyramid shaped bags, allowing more room for the brewing tea to move around. The results after three-four minutes of steeping, a teaspoon of sugar and a splash of milk was excellent. The tea tasted great and wasn’t a bit bitter, acidic or distracting in any way, which is all I ask of a plain black tea. It sounds simple but it is very hard to find.   

I don’t think that PG Tips is available for sale in US grocery stores but it is available online from several sites, including Amazon and The English Tea Store.