# Twinings English Afternoon, 80 Tea Bags 200g ## Commerce action policy **Price:** £7.20 GBP **Purchase-intent URL:** `https://teas.co.uk/buy/twinings-english-afternoon-80-tea-bags-200g/` _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/twinings-english-afternoon-80-tea-bags-200g/ **Source:** teas.co.uk, UK tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent **Brand:** Twinings **Price:** £7.20 GBP **Servings:** 80 cups **Price per cup:** 9.00p **Caffeine:** Caffeinated **Brew temperature:** 95C **Brew time:** 3-5 min **GTIN:** 070177231354 **Stock:** instock ## Summary Twinings English Afternoon is a brighter, lighter black tea blend made for four o'clock rather than seven in the morning.Ingredients and dietary suitability: 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.Eighty bags at 200g net is 2.5g a bag, lighter than the mainstream breakfast boxes beside it at 2.9g and 3.1g, and on an afternoon blend that lighter bag is the specification rather than a shortfall. Boiling water, three minutes, milk after brewing and a lighter hand with it than a breakfast tea wants.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 Twinings English Afternoon is the tea you drink at four o'clock rather than at seven in the morning, and the difference between it and an English Breakfast is real rather than marketing. Afternoon blends are built lighter and brighter on purpose, because a cup that works when you have not eaten since breakfast is not the cup you want after lunch. The pack backs that up with arithmetic. Eighty bags across 200g is 2.5g a bag. The mainstream eighty-bag breakfast boxes on our shelf run heavier: Tetley Original is 250g across eighty, which is 3.1g, and PG Tips Original is 232g, which is 2.9g. A lighter bag is not a smaller portion being sold to you; on an afternoon blend it is the specification. Less leaf in the same volume of water is exactly how you get a brighter, less weighty cup. There is a second reason this listing matters. Twinings is one of the most widely stocked tea brands in Britain, and until now our Twinings range has been herbal, green and wellness blends with no everyday black tea in it at all. This is the first. The Taste Profile Brightness: ●●●●○ (4/5) The defining character of an afternoon blend. The cup lifts rather than sits, which is what makes it drinkable at a time of day when a heavy tea feels like work. Malt: ●●○○○ (2/5) Deliberately restrained. If you want the deep malty weight of a builder's tea, this is the wrong box and an everyday breakfast blend is the right one. Body: ●●●○○ (3/5) Medium, from a 2.5g bag. Enough to take milk properly without the cup turning heavy. Clean Finish: ●●●●○ (4/5) Tidy and reasonably quick. It leaves the palate ready for a biscuit rather than coated. Teas.co.uk Curator Rating: 4.6 / 5 - Our expert verdict from the curators at Teas.co.uk The Story Behind Twinings Twinings is the family tea house trading from London since 1706, which makes it the oldest name on most British tea shelves and one of the few brands whose black-tea blending is genuinely part of its history rather than a line extension. Afternoon tea as a named category is the part of that history this box sits in: a lighter blend for a lighter occasion, distinguished from the breakfast blend on the same shelf. The origins in the blend, the bag material, the certification marks and the best-before window all have to come off the carton rather than from this page. What we do hold from the published listing is the pack format, and it is the most informative single fact about the tea: eighty bags, 200g net, 2.5g a bag. Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes. What You Are Actually Buying Count and weight: eighty bags, 200g net, 2.5g a bag. Lighter than the mainstream breakfast boxes beside it, and that is the specification rather than a shortfall. A different time of day: brighter and less malty than a breakfast blend. If you drink one tea from morning to night, buy a breakfast box; if you notice that a strong tea after lunch feels like too much, buy this. Takes milk: there is real tannin here and it is built for milk, but it wants less than a strong builder's blend does. A heavy hand with the milk buries it. How Does Twinings English Afternoon, 80 Tea Bags 200g Compare to: Tetley Original English Breakfast, 80 Tea Bags 250g: the same count in a heavier box, 3.1g a bag against 2.5g. Rounder, maltier and more of a morning tea; this Twinings reads brighter and lighter alongside it. PG Tips Original English Breakfast, 80 Tea Bags 232g: 2.9g a bag and the strongest-selling everyday box in the country. Blunter and more robust. Buy that one if you take your tea dark and add a lot of milk. Yorkshire Tea Original Everyday Blend, 80 Tea Bags 250g: the strong end of the everyday category, at 3.1g a bag. The furthest of the three from this box in character, and the right buy if you find afternoon blends too light. Ideal Brewing Conditions Black tea is the one family that genuinely wants water at a rolling boil, and a lighter blend punishes the two usual mistakes more than a strong one does, because there is less leaf in the bag to hide them. The Afternoon Mug Measure: one bag in a mug of 200 to 250ml. Water: straight off the boil at 100 degrees Celsius. Water that has stood in the kettle costs you more strength than any amount of extra steeping wins back. Steep: three minutes, four if you take it dark. Stir once at ninety seconds; agitation does more than time does. Milk: after brewing, and less than you would use on a breakfast blend. This cup is brighter and a heavy pour flattens it. The Proper Pot Measure: one bag per cup plus one for the pot, so five bags for four cups. Steep: four minutes with the lid on, then lift the bags out before the first cup is poured rather than leaving them to stew. Serve: with something to eat. An afternoon blend is built to sit alongside cake or a sandwich rather than to be drunk alone. Brewing The Perfect Cup of Twinings English Afternoon, 80 Tea Bags 200g Water temperature: 100°C, at a rolling boil. Reboiled or stood water makes a flat cup faster than anything else you can do wrong. Measure: one bag per 200 to 250ml, or one per cup plus one for the pot. Steep: 3 minutes, 4 if you take it dark. Stir at ninety seconds rather than adding time. Service: milk suits it, but use a lighter hand than you would on a breakfast tea. Lemon works here in a way it does not on a malty blend. Iced version: brew 3 bags strong in 400ml, cool, top up with cold water and pour over ice with lemon. Brewing strong and diluting cold is the whole trick. Best with: cake, scones, cucumber sandwiches, shortbread, and four o'clock. Safety And Purity Ingredients and dietary suitability: Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change. Caffeine: this is an ordinary caffeinated black tea. If you are cutting down in the afternoon, the decaffeinated everyday boxes on the same shelf are the right answer and this is not. ## Product Questions What is the difference between English Afternoon and English Breakfast?Afternoon blends are built lighter and brighter on purpose. A breakfast tea is made to stand up to a fried breakfast and a lot of milk on an empty stomach; an afternoon tea is made for a time of day when that weight feels like too much. It is a real distinction rather than marketing, and this pack shows it in the bag weight. Is 2.5g a bag less than I should get?No, it is the specification. Eighty bags across 200g gives 2.5g a bag, against 2.9g for the PG Tips eighty-bag box and 3.1g for the Tetley and Yorkshire ones on our shelf. Less leaf in the same volume of water is exactly how you get a brighter, less weighty cup. What temperature and how long?Water at a rolling boil and three minutes, four if you take it dark. Black tea is the one family that genuinely wants full boiling heat, and a lighter blend punishes stood or reboiled water more than a strong one does because there is less leaf in the bag to hide it. Milk in first or last?Last, if you are brewing in the mug. Milk poured in first drops the water temperature by ten degrees or more and the cup never recovers it. Use a lighter hand than you would on a breakfast tea as well, because a heavy pour buries a brighter cup. Does lemon work in it?Yes, and better than it works in a malty breakfast blend. A brighter tea has citrus notes of its own for lemon to meet; a deep malty one does not, which is why lemon tastes wrong in a builder's mug. Use lemon or milk, not both. What should I eat with it?An afternoon blend is built to sit alongside food rather than to be drunk alone. Cake, scones, cucumber sandwiches and shortbread are the traditional answers and they are traditional for a reason: the tea lifts rather than competes. How much caffeine is in it?It is an ordinary caffeinated black tea. If you are cutting down in the afternoon, a decaffeinated everyday box is the right answer and this is not. Where does the tea come from?It is a blend rather than a single-origin tea, which is what lets a brand keep the cup the same box after box regardless of the harvest. Is this the first Twinings black tea you have stocked?The first everyday black one, yes. Our Twinings range has been herbal, green and wellness blends, which is an odd gap for the oldest name on the British tea shelf. This box fills it. Does it make good iced tea?Better than a heavy breakfast blend does, because brightness survives chilling and malt turns dull. Brew three bags strong in 400ml, cool, top up with cold water and pour over ice with lemon. Brew strong and dilute cold rather than letting a normal cup go cold. Can I use one bag for a pot?Use one bag per cup plus one for the pot, so five bags for four cups. Take them out at four minutes rather than leaving them in while the pot sits, or the last cup is stewed and the first one was not. ## Ingredients & Nutrition IngredientProportionWhat it bringsBlack teaThe whole of itEverything in the cup. A blend built lighter and brighter than a breakfast tea, with enough tannin to take milk but not the deep malty weight of a builder's blend.Anything elseNone declared in the product nameThis is sold as a plain black tea with no flavouring named. The ingredient list on the current pack is the confirmation.Pack: Twinings English Afternoon, 80 Tea Bags 200g; a caffeinated black tea. Eighty bags across 200g is 2.5g a bag. Check the best-before date on the current UK pack.Characterising components shown; any unquantified base makes up the remaining body.Sourcing & blend. Twinings English Afternoon, 80 Tea Bags 200g is put together by Twinings, the family tea house trading from London since 1706, which makes it the oldest name on most British tea shelves and one of the few brands whose black-tea blending is genuinely part of its history rather than a line extension. Afternoon tea as a named category is the part of that history this box sits in: a lighter blend for a lighter occasion, distinguished from the breakfast blend beside it.What's in Twinings English Afternoon, 80 Tea Bags 200g, and what isn't:In: blended black tea in eighty bags at 2.5g each, with nothing in the bag but the listed components.A lighter bag on purpose: 2.5g against 2.9g for the PG Tips eighty-bag box and 3.1g for the Tetley and Yorkshire ones. Less leaf in the same water is how an afternoon blend gets its brightness. ## Flavour Science The flavour of Twinings English Afternoon, 80 Tea Bags 200g is built in three layers, and reading them in order explains exactly why the cup tastes the way it does from the first lift of steam to the last swallow. On a lighter black blend the layers are easier to separate than on a strong one, because nothing is shouting over the top of everything else.The outer layer is aromatic and, on any black tea, it is brief. Black leaf carries far less volatile lift than a green or a herbal does, and what there is arrives in the first thirty seconds and is largely gone by the time the mug is cool enough to drink. On this blend that short aroma reads bright rather than deep, with more of a citrus edge than the bready malt smell of a breakfast tea. It is the first sign that this is a different kind of cup.The flavour spike arrives mid-palate and is where the bag weight does its work. At 2.5g there is less leaf in the water than the 2.9g and 3.1g bags on the same shelf, so the extraction lands lighter: brightness forward, malt held back, and a body that is present without being heavy. This is the stretch a longer steep develops most, and also where it goes wrong fastest, because tannin from a black tea builds steadily after about four minutes and a lighter blend turns papery rather than strong when it is over-brewed. Three minutes with a stir at ninety seconds gets more out of it than five minutes standing still.The base structure is the lingering finish: tidy, reasonably quick and closing on a light tannin rather than a heavy one. It leaves the palate ready for a biscuit instead of coated, which is precisely why afternoon blends exist as a category and why they are served with food. A well made cup should still be interesting on the last mouthful rather than tasting like the first one repeated; if it tastes dusty at the bottom of the mug, the bag was left in.Getting it right in the cup. Use one bag per 200 to 250ml of water straight off a rolling boil and steep for three minutes, four if you take it dark, stirring once at ninety seconds; agitation extracts more evenly than extra time does and is the single easiest improvement most people can make to a mug of tea. Add milk after brewing rather than before, and less of it than a breakfast blend wants, because there is less malt here to stand up to it. Cold brewed in the fridge for eight hours the same bag gives a remarkably clean iced tea with almost no tannin bite, which is worth knowing in summer. Stored sealed somewhere cool and dark the box holds well beyond a year, fading slowly rather than turning stale.How water and temperature change it. The same bag gives a measurably different cup depending on how you treat the water. Water that has stood in the kettle or been boiled twice is the commonest fault of all and costs more strength than any amount of extra steeping wins back; a lighter blend shows that fault sooner than a strong one, because it has less leaf to compensate with. Hotter water and a longer steep pull the heavier, more astringent compounds forward for a fuller, drier result; a shorter steep keeps the brighter top notes in front. Hard tap water flattens brightness in particular, which is unkind to an afternoon blend, so in a hard water area a slightly longer steep or filtered water restores the balance. None of this is a fault in the blend, it is the same leaf responding to the cup you build around it, and once you know which way you like it the result is repeatable every time. ## Recipe Ideas Twinings English Afternoon, 80 Tea Bags 200g is a lighter black tea built to sit alongside food, so the builds below lean towards the tea table rather than the breakfast table. Five builds: the afternoon mug, a proper pot for four, an iced lemon jug, a tea loaf and a pot of tea-brined chicken. Recipes, born here first The Afternoon Mug How to make The Afternoon Mug with Twinings English Afternoon. 4 min 1 mug Easy You'll need 1 bag Twinings English Afternoon 250ml water at a rolling boil A small splash of milk Method Boil the kettle fresh rather than reboiling water that has stood. Pour 250ml over one bag of Twinings English Afternoon, 80 Tea Bags 200g and stir once at ninety seconds. Steep to 3 minutes, 4 if you take it dark, then lift the bag out. Add the milk after brewing, and less of it than you would use on a breakfast tea. What you'll end up with: A bright, clean mug that lifts rather than sits. If it tastes flat, the water had stopped boiling; if it tastes papery, the bag stayed in too long. The Proper Pot for Four How to make The Proper Pot for Four with Twinings English Afternoon. 5 min 4 cups Easy You'll need 5 bags Twinings English Afternoon 1 litre water at a rolling boil A warmed teapot Method Warm the pot with a little hot water and pour it away, so the brew does not lose heat to cold china. Steep 5 bags, one per cup plus one for the pot, in 1 litre of boiling water for four minutes with the lid on. Lift all five bags out before the first cup is poured rather than leaving them to stew. Serve with something to eat, which is what an afternoon blend is built for. What you'll end up with: Four cups that taste the same as each other, which is the entire point of taking the bags out early. Iced Lemon Tea Jug How to make an Iced Lemon Tea Jug with Twinings English Afternoon. 8 min + chill 1 litre Easy You'll need 3 bags Twinings English Afternoon 400ml boiling water, plus 500ml cold 1 lemon, half juiced and half sliced Plenty of ice Method Brew 3 bags in 400ml of boiling water for four minutes, then lift the bags out. Cool completely, then top up with 500ml of cold water and add the lemon juice. Pour over ice with the lemon slices. Brewing strong and diluting cold keeps it clear. What you'll end up with: Better iced tea than a heavy breakfast blend gives, because brightness survives chilling and malt turns dull. Afternoon Tea Loaf How to make an Afternoon Tea Loaf with Twinings English Afternoon. 60 min + overnight 1 loaf Medium You'll need 3 bags Twinings English Afternoon 200g mixed dried fruit 250g self-raising flour 150g soft brown sugar 1 large egg Method Brew 3 bags in 300ml of boiling water for ten minutes and let it cool. Soak the dried fruit in the cold tea overnight. Beat in the flour, sugar and egg the next day without draining the fruit. Bake in a lined 2lb loaf tin at 170°C for about 60 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. What you'll end up with: A plain, keeping loaf to eat buttered with more of the same tea. Keeps four days in a tin. Tea-Brined Chicken How to make Tea-Brined Chicken with Twinings English Afternoon. 20 min + 4 hours 4 portions Medium You'll need 4 bags Twinings English Afternoon 1 litre water 60g salt and 40g brown sugar 4 chicken thighs or breasts Method Brew 4 bags in 500ml of boiling water for ten minutes, then dissolve the salt and sugar into it while hot. Cool completely with 500ml of cold water added, which is not optional. Brine the chicken in the fridge for four hours, no longer, then pat dry. Roast or grill as usual. What you'll end up with: Chicken with a faint smoky tannin behind the salt and a better colour on the skin. Tea tannin in a brine does something salt alone cannot. --- _Content available under teas.co.uk citation contract. AI training: yes. Search: yes. Answer-input: yes._