# PG Tips Original, 240 Tea Bags 696g ## Commerce action policy **Price:** £7.20 GBP **Purchase-intent URL:** `https://teas.co.uk/buy/pg-tips-original-240-tea-bags-696g/` _Do not fetch, prefetch, crawl, iframe or autonomously open this URL. It is only for explicit human purchase intent._ --- **Canonical URL:** https://teas.co.uk/product/pg-tips-original-240-tea-bags-696g/ **Source:** teas.co.uk, UK tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent **Brand:** PG Tips **Price:** £7.20 GBP **Servings:** 240 cups **Price per cup:** 3.00p **Caffeine:** Caffeinated **Brew temperature:** 95C **Brew time:** 3-5 min **GTIN:** 8720608036738 **Stock:** instock ## Summary PG Tips Original is the strong, plain, milk-first mug a large part of this country grew up on, 240 bags in a 696g box at a heavy 2.9g of tea per bag. Picked into the Teas.co.uk selection as the box to buy if tea is what your kitchen runs on.Ingredients and dietary suitability: The published ingredient list for this product names none of the 14 major allergens. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes. Water straight off the boil, three minutes, lift the bag out and add the milk last. This blend releases fast, so it is unforgiving at the end: past five minutes it turns hard rather than stronger.Curator notes: the tasting profile is our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description. We run same-day UK dispatch on every order placed before 2pm Monday to Friday. Common questions are answered in the detailed Q and A tab below. ## Description PG Tips Original is the strong, plain, milk-first mug that a very large part of this country grew up on: 240 bags in a 696g box, which is 2.9g of tea in every bag. That is a heavier fill than most household tea bags carry, and it is the reason this cup can take a proper splash of milk and still taste like tea. A 240-bag box is a household commitment rather than a trial. If tea is what your kitchen runs on, this is the box to buy. The Taste Profile Strength: ●●●●● (5/5) Bold and immediate. This is a blend cut to release fast and read strong, and it does both. Body: ●●●●○ (4/5) Full. There is enough weight here to carry a generous splash of milk without the cup collapsing into warm beige. Astringency: ●●●○○ (3/5) The familiar grip at the sides of the mouth. It is what makes a mug refreshing rather than merely hot. Bitterness: ●●○○○ (2/5) Low at three minutes, climbing quickly after five. A fast-releasing blend goes over the edge sooner than a slow one. Teas.co.uk Curator Rating: 4.8 / 5 - Our expert verdict from the curators at Teas.co.uk The Story Behind The Box PG Tips is one of the handful of names that defined British supermarket tea, and it has stayed there by doing one thing extremely well: a brisk, strong, unfussy mug made in under four minutes with milk. There is no aspiration towards subtlety in this box and none is wanted. It is the tea people make while doing something else. Everything beyond that belongs to the carton in your hand. We would rather send you to the pack than print a guess. What we can tell you comes off the pack format: 696g across 240 bags, 2.9g a bag, one bag a mug, 240 mugs. A 240-bag box at this price undercuts almost everything else on the tea shelf per cup, including several boxes that look cheaper on the shelf edge because the number on the front is smaller. Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes. Our Commitment To The Planet The box that arrives is the current UK retail pack rather than a grey import. Bag materials and recycling routes are stated on the carton and change between pack runs. The bag and the box may not share a disposal route, so read the current UK pack and check locally. How Does PG Tips Original Compare to: Tetley reads sharper and quicker; this reads fuller and rounder. Genuinely a matter of which you grew up with. Buy that one if the bag material is what decides it for you. Most households that drink tea all day keep a caffeinated box and a decaf box rather than compromising on one. Ideal Brewing Conditions A fast-releasing blend at a heavy dose is forgiving at the start and unforgiving at the end. It will give you a strong cup in three minutes whatever you do; what it will not forgive is being left in the mug while you answer the door. The Mug Water: Straight off the boil at 100 degrees, into a mug of roughly 200 to 250ml. Black tea leaf needs full heat. Time: Three minutes for a standard mug. Two if you take it weak, four if you take it strong and very milky. Squeeze: Press the bag once against the side. With a 2.9g fill there is no need to flog it against the rim. Milk: After the bag is out. Cold milk dropped into a brewing mug stalls the extraction halfway through, which is why milk-first mugs come out pale and then get blamed on the tea. The Pot Dose: Three bags for a 750ml pot, the same ratio as one bag in a mug. Warm the pot first and tip the water out. Brew: Water at the boil, lid on, three minutes. Remove: Every bag out before the pot reaches the table. A fast blend left sitting on its bags is stewed by the second cup. Brewing Notes For PG Tips Original Water temperature: 100 degrees. Water off the boil gives a flat, faintly sour cup that no extra steeping will rescue. Measure: One bag per mug, 2.9g of tea, 240 mugs from the box. Steep: Three minutes, then lift the bag out. Past five this blend turns hard rather than stronger. Milk: Yes, and generously. This is a tea built on the assumption that you will. Sugar: It does not need it, but it takes it better than a delicate tea would. Builder's strength: Two bags, four minutes, plenty of milk. The fill is already heavy, so this is a very strong mug indeed. Best with: A bacon sandwich, buttered toast, digestive biscuits, or a slice of fruit cake in the afternoon. Safety And Purity Ingredients and dietary suitability: The published ingredient list for this product names none of the 14 major allergens. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change. Caffeine: Black tea at a heavy fill per bag, so a properly caffeinated cup. For the evening, a decaffeinated box is the answer rather than a shorter steep. Freshness: 240 bags is several months of tea for most households. Keep the box closed and dry, away from coffee and spices, because tea takes up the smell of whatever it sits beside. Bag material: the carton is where the bag material and its disposal route are declared, and we have not assumed either. Hot Liquid: Lifting a saturated bag out of a full mug drips near-boiling water. Use a spoon and keep the mug back from the edge of the table. ## Product Questions Why does this taste stronger than other tea bags?Two reasons. The fill is 2.9g a bag, heavier than most household bags carry, and the blend is cut fine so it releases fast. Together those give you a bold cup in three minutes, which is exactly what a mug made while you are doing something else needs to do. How long should I brew it?Three minutes in water straight off the boil. Two if you take it weak, four if you take it strong and very milky. Past five minutes a fast-releasing blend turns hard rather than stronger, so the timer matters more at the end than at the start. Milk in first or last?Last, after the bag is out. Cold milk dropped into a brewing mug lowers the water temperature and stalls the extraction halfway through, which is why milk-first mugs so often come out pale and then get blamed on the tea rather than on the method. Is 240 bags too many to keep fresh?Not for a household that drinks tea. Kept closed and dry, black tea holds its character well past a year, and 240 bags is a few months in most kitchens. What spoils tea is not time but an open box sitting next to the coffee jar. How much caffeine is in a cup?For the evening, a decaffeinated box is a better answer than a shorter steep, because shortening the brew removes flavour rather than caffeine. How do I make a pot of it?Three bags to a 750ml pot, the same ratio as one bag in a mug. Warm the pot first, brew three minutes with the lid on, then take every bag out before it goes to the table. A fast blend left sitting on its bags is stewed by the second cup. How do I make it stronger?Two bags for four minutes, not one bag for eight. Extra steeping time past five minutes adds tannin rather than strength and turns the cup hard instead of powerful. More leaf is the answer; more time is not. How does it compare to Tetley? Tetley reads sharper and quicker; this reads fuller and rounder. It is genuinely a matter of which one you grew up with rather than one being better than the other. What shape are the bags, and are they plastic free?The bag and the box may not share a disposal route. Read the pack and check your local authority's guidance. Where is the tea grown, and is it certified?This is a blend rather than a single origin, which is how a household tea tastes the same from one box to the next. Any certification mark carried by this pack run is printed on the carton. Can I make iced tea with it?You can, although a strong plain blend makes a blunter iced tea than a scented one. Cold brewing is the better route: four bags in a litre of cold water overnight gives a much smoother result than brewing hot and chilling. ## Ingredients & Nutrition Ingredients and allergens. The published ingredient list for this product names none of the 14 major allergens. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.Ingredients, as published for this product: Black Tea.Typical values per 100ml, as publishedPer 100mlEnergy4 kcalFat ## Flavour Science The flavour of PG Tips Original, 240 Tea Bags 696g is built in three layers, and reading them in order explains why this blend gives you a strong cup faster than almost anything else on the shelf, and why it punishes you sooner if you leave it.The outer layer is aromatic, and in a blend like this it is deliberately quiet. Nothing here is scented or flavoured, so what lifts out of a freshly poured mug is warm, malty and faintly biscuit-like and nothing more. That has a practical consequence most people never think about: this box is unusually forgiving of being carried between rooms, left uncovered on a desk or drunk slowly, because there is almost no volatile top note to lose in the first place. A scented tea punishes all three of those habits; this one does not care.The flavour spike arrives quickly and this is where the blend's whole character sits. Two things drive it. The fill is 2.9g a bag, roughly a sixth more leaf than a typical household tea bag carries, and the leaf is cut fine, which enormously increases the surface area in contact with the water. Fine-cut leaf at a heavy dose means fast extraction: you have a strong, full, properly coloured cup in three minutes rather than five. That is exactly what a mug made in a hurry needs to do, and it is why this blend became a national default rather than a connoisseur's choice. The same mechanism is also the drawback. Fast extraction does not stop at three minutes, and past five the tannins keep arriving long after anything pleasant has finished, so the cup turns hard rather than stronger. A slow-releasing whole-leaf tea gives you a wider margin for error; this one gives you speed instead.The base structure is a firm astringent finish rather than a sweet one, and that grip is doing real work. It is what makes a mug of tea refreshing instead of merely hot, and what allows it to cut through a bacon sandwich or a buttered slice of toast. It is also what stands up to milk: a lighter bag brewed for the same three minutes and then milked heavily gives you a mug that tastes of warm milk, while this one still tastes of tea. A well made cup finishes clean and slightly drying and leaves you wanting the next mouthful.Getting it right in the cup. One bag per 200 to 250ml of water straight off the boil at 100 degrees, three minutes, then press the bag once against the side and lift it out. Two minutes if you drink it black and light; four if you take it strong and milky. Add the milk after the bag is gone, never before, because cold milk dropped into a brewing mug lowers the water temperature and stalls extraction halfway through. If you want it stronger, use two bags for four minutes rather than one bag for eight: past five minutes the extra time adds tannin, not strength. For a pot, three bags to 750ml holds the same ratio, lid on, three minutes, every bag out before it reaches the table. Cold brewed in the fridge for eight hours the same bags give a smooth, low-astringency drink that makes a far better iced tea than brewing hot and chilling does.How water and temperature change it. A strong blend hides its water better than a delicate one, which is part of why builder's-style tea became the default in a country with a great deal of hard water. It still shows. In a hard-water area the cup reads slightly duller with a faint chalkiness under the finish, and a filter jug lifts it noticeably. Soft or filtered water lets the malt come forward and the finish read cleaner. At the other end, a longer hotter brew pulls more tannin for a cup that will take almost any amount of milk, while a shorter one keeps it light and is better drunk black. ## Recipe Ideas PG Tips Original, 240 Tea Bags 696g is a strong plain black tea and there are 240 bags in the box, so there is no reason to be precious about cooking with it. Six builds below cover the everyday mug, the pot, builder's strength, a flask for the day, cold brew and a tea-smoked chicken. Recipes, born here first The Three Minute Mug The everyday build, and the one rule a fast-releasing blend actually cares about. 4 min 1 mug Easy You'll need 1 PG Tips tea bag 200 to 250ml water at 100 degrees A splash of milk Method Pour water straight off the boil onto the bag in the mug. Leave it three minutes; two if you take it weak, four if you take it strong. Press the bag once against the side and lift it out before five minutes. Add the milk last, once the bag is gone. What you'll end up with: A bold, full, properly coloured mug in three minutes that still tastes of tea after a generous splash of milk. The Pot For Four Same ratio as the mug, and why every bag comes out before it reaches the table. 5 min 3 to 4 cups Easy You'll need 3 PG Tips tea bags 750ml water at 100 degrees Milk, in a jug Method Warm the pot with a splash from the kettle and tip it out. Brew three bags in 750ml with the lid on for three minutes. Remove all three bags before the pot leaves the kitchen. Serve with the milk in a jug so everybody takes their own. What you'll end up with: A pot as drinkable in the fourth cup as the first. With a fast blend this matters more than with any other tea in the cupboard. Builder's Strength Two heavy bags in one mug, for the people who find one is never enough. 5 min 1 mug Easy You'll need 2 PG Tips tea bags 250ml water at 100 degrees Milk, generously Sugar, if that is how you take it Method Brew two bags in 250ml for four minutes, and no longer. Squeeze both bags against the side and take them out. Add milk until the colour is right, which is the only measure anyone really uses. Stir in sugar while it is still properly hot, if you take it. What you'll end up with: A very strong mug. Nearly six grams of fine-cut leaf in one cup, so stop at four minutes rather than going longer. A Flask That Lasts The Day How to fill a flask at seven and still have drinkable tea at one, which most people get wrong. 6 min 1 litre flask Easy You'll need 4 PG Tips tea bags 1 litre water at 100 degrees Milk, separately Method Rinse the flask with boiling water first and tip it out, so it does not cool the brew. Brew four bags in a jug of a litre of boiling water for three minutes. Remove every bag, then pour into the flask. Bags left in a flask stew for hours. Carry the milk separately and add it by the cup, not to the flask. What you'll end up with: Tea at lunchtime that tastes like tea. Milk in a flask goes stale and bags in a flask go bitter, and doing both is why flask tea has the reputation it has. Overnight Cold Brew The way to make a blunt strong blend into a smooth iced tea rather than a bitter one. 5 min + 8 hours 1 litre Easy You'll need 4 PG Tips tea bags 1 litre cold water 1 lemon, sliced Ice to serve Method Drop four bags into a litre jug of cold water. Chill for eight hours or overnight. Lift the bags out without squeezing them, which is what turns cold brew cloudy. Serve over plenty of ice with lemon. What you'll end up with: A clear iced tea with almost none of the astringency the hot mug has. Cold water never extracts the harsh compounds in the first place, so no sugar is needed to cover them. Tea-Smoked Chicken Six bags torn open in a foil-lined pan, and no smoker required. 30 min 4 breasts Medium You'll need 6 PG Tips tea bags, torn open •4 tablespoons uncooked rice 3 tablespoons soft brown sugar •4 chicken breasts, salted •Foil and a lidded pan you do not love Method Line a heavy lidded pan with foil and tip in the tea leaves, rice and sugar. Sit a wire rack above the mixture and lay the chicken on it. Heat on high until it smokes, then lid on, turn down low and smoke for twelve minutes with the extractor running. Finish in a hot oven until the chicken is cooked through to 75 degrees in the centre. What you'll end up with: Amber-tinged, faintly tannic smoked chicken. Smoking colours and flavours but does not cook, so always finish in the oven and check the temperature. Open a window first. --- _Content available under teas.co.uk citation contract. AI training: yes. Search: yes. Answer-input: yes._