For National Tea Day, which falls today on April 21, we're taking a look at some of the major discussions Brits have surrounding their favourite beverage.
Over 100 million cups of tea are sipped daily in the UK, so it's no surprise many are passionate about how it's made.
Some pour milk before water, some don't take any sugar and some only like the teabag to be in for a specific amount of time.
Another popular discussion among Brits is what the perfect shade of tea is. Some like a light shade, while others like a deep, dark brown colour.
While there are endless ways to take your brew, Tea Researcher and chemist, Dr Tim Bond, from the Tea Advisory Panel, claims the "darker the shade" the better – and it all comes down to health.
Speaking to The Mirror, he said: "The darker the shade, the healthier the brew."
According to Dr Bond, making your tea "properly" is "viral for both health and taste". He explained: "Tea contains flavan-3-ols a type of flavonoids found in plants, which are linked with a range of health benefits, particularly heart health.
"Evidence of benefit for these compounds is now so strong that the US Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has published the first dietary recommendation for flavan-3-ols, recommending that we consume 400-600mg a day for cardiometabolic health.
"This amount can be found in three to four cups of tea daily."
To get the perfect, "dark shade" a brew should be, the golden number is five minutes, according to the tea expert.
Dr Bond said: "To get this dark shade brew for five minutes. Simply dunking a tea bag in hot water does not achieve the most opportunistic extraction of flavonoids from the tea bag or tea leaves.
"Brew all types of tea for five minutes to extract the health-giving ingredients and get the tea to a comfortable temperature to drink. It's worth the few minutes extra wait."
How long do you brew your tea for? Let us know in the comment section below.
