Tea and coffee

[telstarbox]

Two questions on this;

When did coffee become ubiquitous in the UK - I was on our local industrial estate earlier and there are bean-to-cup coffee machines at the carpet shop, Wickes and the car dealership while you wait for a MOT/service. Coffee is also available at the Starbucks, Costa, Greggs and McDonald's although you have to pay for those :P
I also realised in Sainsbury's yesterday that there is almost a whole aisle of granules, microground, beans and pods.

And is there a generational divide on caffeine? At my work (office in the south east) everyone aged 30+ drinks tea, coffee or both and everyone under 30 has neither. We do all use the water cooler though.

 

[Gloster]

A very rough opinion based on vague memories, so possibly completely wrong. Coffee was once more popular, but I think from the mid-nineteenth century tea over took it because of a number of factors including ease of making, possibility of still being drinkable if kept warm (*) and the way that the British Empire took over the countries most suitable for the production of tea. I would say that it is only the last fifty or so years that have seen coffee take over as it has become easier to produce a reasonable cup of coffee without too much trouble (and we lost our empire).

* - Tjere are plenty of stories of railwaymen taking bottles or cans of tea to work and keeping them warm.

 

[ANDREW_D_WEBB]

Coffee seems to have benefited from clever marketing creating lots of ‘trendy’ varieties where as variety in the tea world seems to be if you want milk and / or sugar. Have noticed a growing number of Chai bars springing up around west London, but that might reflect the large population with Indian heritage in this area.

 

[3141]

A very rough opinion based on vague memories, so possibly completely wrong. Coffee was once more popular, but I think from the mid-nineteenth century tea over took it because of a number of factors including ease of making, possibility of still being drinkable if kept warm (*) and the way that the British Empire took over the countries most suitable for the production of tea. I would say that it is only the last fifty or so years that have seen coffee take over as it has become easier to produce a reasonable cup of coffee without too much trouble (and we lost our empire).

* - Tjere are plenty of stories of railwaymen taking bottles or cans of tea to work and keeping them warm.

I agree with the bit about the last 50 years or so. The interesting question is: Why?

I remember in the early 1960s Which? did a test of various coffees, but those were all instant coffees. Which is what my wife and I mostly drink today, not having joined the coffee machine/bean/froth/barista fad. I'd say that's the result of clever marketing and the spread of Costa, Nero, Starbucks and so on.

My own preference is tea at breakfast and coffee after lunch and dinner; but tea again in the afternoon if I have the meal called "tea" (sandwiches and cakes, or bread and Marmite and bread and jam, which must really date me!).

However, there is also in more recent years the growth of a large number of drinks calling themselves "tea" but flavoured with peppermint, chamomile, and numerous things with mysterious names that probably don't taste like tea in any way. I guess that these are aimed at those who've been told they should be drinking less caffeine. I have too, but I like tea and I'm not going to drink something that isn't.

In addition, there's a greater number of teas from different countries and regions, all trying to get us to spend more than we would otherwise have done, or need to.

 

[najaB]

However, there is also in more recent years the growth of a large number of drinks calling themselves "tea" but flavoured with peppermint, chamomile, and numerous things with mysterious names that probably don't taste like tea in any way. I guess that these are aimed at those who've been told they should be drinking less caffeine. I have too, but I like tea and I'm not going to drink something that isn't.

Teas and infusions made from plants other than camellia sinensis have been popular for as long as people have been capable of boiling water. I would say that had you gone back to the 15th or 16th century you would be seen as the odd one out for not drinking normal tea made from things like nettle or rosemary.

 

[DerekC]

With some help from ChatGPT, I unearthed the following statistics:

Tea consumption in the UK - about 100M Kg of dry tea (excluding herbal teas) per year - enough for about 36 billion cups.

Source - https://www.tastingtable.com/1872396/how-much-tea-british-people-drink/

Coffee consumption - about 103M Kg of beans per year - again making about 36 billion cups.

Source - https://www.lavazzapro.co.uk/blog/2024-uk-coffee-statistics/

The figures are weirdly similar and surprise me, because I thought coffee had long ago overtaken tea.

 

[MotCO]

Coffee was once more popular, but I think from the mid-nineteenth century tea over took it because of a number of factors including ease of making,

I would argue that coffee became more popular from the 1970s or so when coffee became easier to make, and became tastier. Initially there was powdered coffee, then coffee granules, which made coffee easy to make - just add water and milk. Teas became easier with teabags, but still required brewing.

 

[Ashley Hill]

I’m a morning coffee and afternoon tea person. I’ve never been into the “coffee culture “ that has spread though the last 20yrs. Surely a lot of posh coffees are just coffee with frothy milk and added flavours.

 

[Harpo]

My grandparents were very working class Londoners born in the late 1800s and in my brief years with them you’d have thought wartime austerity was still on. They kept two types of coffee at home, liquid instant coffee (‘Camp’) and occasional paper bags of ground, roasted coffee.

The ground beans were bought on visits to Southend from Planters, a shop that roasted and ground the beans on the premises (amazing smells outside!) and something I’ve never come across since. I did though, see a ‘preserved’ roasting machine (quite a large contraption) in a cafe in France.

 

[jupiter]

I’m a coffee fan and if you start to look around at the options you’ll find a far, far better cup of coffee to make at home than an instant. Easy to make too.

An Aeropress is absolutely straightforward and makes a superb cup of coffee. If you look for 100% Arabica you’ll get great taste and far less caffeine per cup than your instant.

Instant coffee is made from a bean called Robusta, which is easier and cheaper to grow. If it doesn’t say 100% Arabica on the label then it’s Robusta.

For a touch more effort, or ceremony - however you look at it - you can grind your beans in a burr hand grinder which will take the taste and experience up to another level again, but I have to say I largely find that extra faff not usually worth the bother.

 

[m0ffy]

I’m a coffee fan and if you start to look around at the options you’ll find a far, far better cup of coffee to make at home than an instant. Easy to make too.

An Aeropress is absolutely straightforward and makes a superb cup of coffee. If you look for 100% Arabica you’ll get great taste and far less caffeine per cup than your instant.

Instant coffee is made from a bean called Robusta, which is easier and cheaper to grow. If it doesn’t say 100% Arabica on the label then it’s Robusta.

For a touch more effort, or ceremony - however you look at it - you can grind your beans in a burr hand grinder which will take the taste and experience up to another level again, but I have to say I largely find that extra faff not usually worth the bother.

I’m another member of Team Aeropress, but I have a couple of V60s in the cupboard for larger batches. You may find joy in a decent electric grinder - the Wilfa Svart can often be found below £100 and it takes the faff out of grinding.

Third Wave coffee has changed the game - lighter roasts, a greater focus on origins, and the big one - freshness.

 

[DelW]

This probably sounds pretentious (moi? ), but I really think I enjoy tea and coffee more if I spend a small amount of time and effort making it, rather than bunging a spoonful of instant or a teabag into a mug and chucking hot/boiling water in.

So tea is loose leaf brewed for about five minutes in an infuser teapot. Coffee is freshly ground beans brewed in a cafetière. Both are served in a double walled insulated mug, which keeps the contents at optimum drinking temperature for longer.

Being retired does mean I have more time for this sort of thing though!

 

[DarloRich]

I have one coffee at work in the morning which is more of a social thing and then tea but usually when I get home and can have a proper cup of Yorkshire tea!

I’m a morning coffee and afternoon tea person. I’ve never been into the “coffee culture “ that has spread though the last 20yrs. Surely a lot of posh coffees are just coffee with frothy milk and added flavours.

exactly! it is all American cultural marketing

 

[signed]

I did though, see a ‘preserved’ roasting machine (quite a large contraption) in a cafe in France.

Recently (like in the last 5 years) there has been a very big resurgence of small craft roasters and shops in France, also called "brûleries", who roast their coffee in house. Bit like the mini-brewery craze we also have experienced.

 

[185143]

Two questions on this;

When did coffee become ubiquitous in the UK - I was on our local industrial estate earlier and there are bean-to-cup coffee machines at the carpet shop, Wickes and the car dealership while you wait for a MOT/service. Coffee is also available at the Starbucks, Costa, Greggs and McDonald's although you have to pay for those :P
I also realised in Sainsbury's yesterday that there is almost a whole aisle of granules, microground, beans and pods.

And is there a generational divide on caffeine? At my work (office in the south east) everyone aged 30+ drinks tea, coffee or both and everyone under 30 has neither. We do all use the water cooler though.

That's interesting.

I'm under 30 (and typing that has made me feel "old" as I can't say "under 25" anymore, so thanks for that.) and absolutely detest either. That being said, most of the younger people at my work (Railway, FWIW) are totally addicted to energy drinks, which I also cannot stand!

 

[PeterC]

The ground beans were bought on visits to Southend from Planters, a shop that roasted and ground the beans on the premises (amazing smells outside!) and something I’ve never come across since. I did though, see a ‘preserved’ roasting machine (quite a large contraption) in a cafe in France.

House of Coffee in Leighton Buzzard still use the roaster in their shop although most is now done off site. The smell is an excellent advertisement.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 Oct 2025 ==

This probably sounds pretentious (moi? ), but I really think I enjoy tea and coffee more if I spend a small amount of time and effort making it, rather than bunging a spoonful of instant or a teabag into a mug and chucking hot/boiling water in.

So tea is loose leaf brewed for about five minutes in an infuser teapot. Coffee is freshly ground beans brewed in a cafetière. Both are served in a double walled insulated mug, which keeps the contents at optimum drinking temperature for longer.

Being retired does mean I have more time for this sort of thing though!

I use loose leaf tea with tea filters. Since I bought a cafetiere I have lost the tast for instant and usually start the day with a mug of arabica before switching to tea.

 

[gg1]

And is there a generational divide on caffeine? At my work (office in the south east) everyone aged 30+ drinks tea, coffee or both and everyone under 30 has neither. We do all use the water cooler though.

This is the first time I've heard of a generational divide re tea/coffee drinking but I think you might be on to something.

The two people in my team at work who drink neither also happen to be the two youngest, one's late 20s and the other turned 30 earlier this year. My 27 year old nephew also doesn't like them.

 

[Ashley Hill]

That being said, most of the younger people at my work (Railway, FWIW) are totally addicted to energy drinks,

Ive noticed this too. It’s also noticeable how many go outside stations and spend a fortune on take away coffee. The days of the communal tea pot in the mess room has long gone.

 

[AlterEgo]

I would argue that coffee became more popular from the 1970s or so when coffee became easier to make, and became tastier. Initially there was powdered coffee, then coffee granules, which made coffee easy to make - just add water and milk. Teas became easier with teabags, but still required brewing.

Good theory. Instant coffee is easier to make, and now a lot of people also have access to a machine in their own home. Takes much less time than messing about with brewing tea.

 

[Vinyl_Lap]

I must admit I am a coffee addict. Which I know doesn't sound good at all, but as I'm writing this, I have a cafetiere that should easily provide enough mugs for four people that will keep me going most of the morning. I also like to use a stove-top Moka pot, which I've been led to believe is very popular in Italy. But that really packs a punch, as I probably add more grounds to the Moka pot to make one mug's worth than I do to cafetieres.

But I also occasionally drink (wait for it!) black tea! And also mint tea as well. But my passion (or addiction) is certainly coffee, and I've had all manner of bean-to-cup machines in the past. As for a generational divide? I think younger people (I'm mid-30s) certainly get their caffeine from energy drinks now, which I find horrible to even smell, let alone consume. But if someone were to offer me a tea, like my Dad did the other day, I would happily accept... even if he forgets and adds milk!!

 

[ac6000cw]

We switched to using pod-based espresso machines years ago - put capsule in, put cup/mug underneath, press button - about as easy as it gets to make espresso-based coffee (but you have to be responsible about recycling the used capsules).

One thing that has improved a lot over the years is the flavour of decaff coffee - while it still can't match really good ordinary coffee for flavour and 'body' the better ones get pretty close. We switch from ordinary to decaff later in the day (and also sometimes drink the lower caffeine 'Half-Caff' that CRU Kafe sell).

How people like their tea and coffee is very personal - I drink tea and coffee with a small amount of milk, my other half drinks tea very weak without milk and black coffee. And neither of us puts sugar in them (which destroys the flavour).

It’s also noticeable how many go outside stations and spend a fortune on take away coffee.

The price of take-away coffees from the major coffee-shop chains has got ridiculous in the last few years (and it's often not that good a coffee either - maybe that's why sweet, flavoured coffees have become more popular...). I'm reminded how poor some of our chain coffee shops are whenever I visit Spain, where you pay less than half the price for better coffee, served to you in a proper ceramic cup with a biscuit on the side.

 

[Howardh]

When I turn up in a cafe and see the vast array of all types of coffee - I ask for tea! I know what a latte is, and quite like it, but the rest are bewildering to me. Perhaps I need educating! But those pod machines you see in hotel rooms...got more chance of re-wiring a telephone exchange than using one of those correctly.

 

[Harpo]

I’ve noticed in France that ordering ‘un café’ often gets a ‘café traditionale?’ question in return, presumably because fellow rosbifs expect a pint or half pint of something coffee-flavoured rather than a single espresso?

 

[signed]

I’ve noticed in France that ordering ‘un café’ often gets a ‘café traditionale?’ question in return, presumably because fellow rosbifs expect a pint or half pint of something coffee-flavoured rather than a single espresso?

Depends where, but no we aren't fond of large scale coffee servings, we mostly get espressos and lungos (outside of the special drinks). A traditionel/grand is a lungo.

 

[Ediswan]

I’ve noticed in France that ordering ‘un café’ often gets a ‘café traditionale?’ question in return, presumably because fellow rosbifs expect a pint or half pint of something coffee-flavoured rather than a single espresso?

Cycling in France gets you to some distinctly non-touristy establishments. One had to decline our request for multiple cafe au lait as they only had two large cups.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Depends where, but no we aren't fond of large scale coffee servings, we mostly get espressos and lungos (outside of the special drinks). A traditionel/grand is a lungo.

Curiously the UK seems to be popularising shorter milk based drinks again in the form of the flat white (which is just a short, extra shot latte, essentially - it's technically slightly different in makeup but Starbucks isn't going to be that picky).

 

[signed]

Curiously the UK seems to be popularising shorter milk based drinks again in the form of the flat white (which is just a short, extra shot latte, essentially - it's technically slightly different in makeup but Starbucks isn't going to be that picky).

Milk drinks are very popular mostly at coffee shops. But the whole craze is the diary-alternative replacement (like soy, almond...)

When I pass a outside area of a café in Paris, I see everyone with lungos and espressos. Rarely do I see milk drinks there.

 

[Bletchleyite]

A curious one I came across was at breakfast in a Swiss hotel I used to stay in a fair bit with work. It wasn't a particularly trendy place so it wouldn't have been for that reason, but when you ordered "un cafe au lait" for breakfast you'd be brought two small metal pots, maybe 200ml or so each, one of which would be full with strong espresso based coffee (a couple of lungos, I guess) and the other with steamed milk. You could then mix whatever milk-based coffee style you happened to want. Quite liked it to be honest.

 

[StoneRoad]

We are both of the "older" generation, but I only drink coffee & OH only tea.

Quick methods at home usually prevail, but I don't like modern fashion-statement coffees, finding most of them far too bitter with a strong aftertaste. I've settled on One-Shot Latte when out, unless I am known at the place well enough to get non-bitter coffee.
Tea seems much easier, but I really don't like the tannic taste [there's another, personal reason, too].

I'll get other drinks, like still water and fruit juices sometimes, but my other dislike is the fizzy, over-sweet stuff that youngsters pour down their necks in the form of "energy drinks" ... I used to work with some interior designers that would chug those, and whilst the caffeine did give them energy, I felt the excessive & longer lasting stimulation wasn't a good thing.

 

[Purple Train]

As a younger person, I drink neither coffee nor tea nor energy drinks. Most people my age seem to drink quite a lot of coffee (they claim it's coffee, I'm not qualified to tell), and I think I would have much more of a social life if I did too (not that that would necessarily be a good thing). I did once get dragged to a coffee shop and was very kindly bought some water-based canned fruit drink. It was the single most disgusting thing I've ever drunk.