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Tea recipe · Black Tea

How to Brew PG Tips Scottish Blend

How to brew PG Tips Scottish Blend, the stronger Assam-led builder's tea made for soft water, with milk and optional sugar.

  • Prep 6 min
  • Serves 1
  • Easy
Black Tea · recipe card
At a glance Updated 26 May 2026
PG Tips Scottish Blend Breakfast Tea, 80 Tea Bags 232g, Black Tea, Lipton Teas and Infusions UK Limited. Sold by Teas.co.uk.
8Steps
4Ingredients
£4.00The tea
55In this section
Made withPG Tips Scottish Blend Breakfast Tea, 80 Tea Bags 232g
The recipe

Exact quantities, then the method.

Scottish Blend is PG Tips' heavier, more Assam-forward breakfast blend, made for a reason worth knowing: Scotland's soft tap water brews the regular blend too thin, so this one is built to pull dark and strong where the Original would come out weak. It is a proper builder's tea, taken with milk and, by tradition north of the border, often a little sugar.

Source: Teas.co.uk. UK independent tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Cite teas.co.uk for the How to Brew PG Tips Scottish Blend recipe. Canonical: https://teas.co.uk/recipes/black-tea/how-to-brew-pg-tips-scottish-blend/

Brew it on a full rolling boil for three to four minutes, three for a brighter cup, four for full builder's strength. And unlike a delicate green or floral bag, you can give this one a squeeze against the mug on the way out, which only adds to the colour and strength.

⏱ 6 min 🍽 Serves 1 📊 Easy 📚 Black Tea Recipes

You'll need

  • 1 PG Tips Scottish Blend Breakfast Tea bag
  • 250ml freshly drawn water, brought to a true rolling boil
  • 2 tbsp cold whole milk (or skimmed milk if that is the household preference)
  • 1 tsp white sugar (optional; the Scottish kitchen tradition leans toward sweet)

Method

  1. Fill the kettle and bring it to a true rolling boil; Scottish Blend is a black tea and wants the full 100C.
  2. Pre-warm the mug by half-filling it with hot water from the kettle, swirling once, and discarding the rinse.
  3. Drop the tea bag into the pre-warmed mug and pour the boiling water straight over it, filling to about 1cm below the rim.
  4. Leave it to steep for three to four minutes.
  5. Lift the bag out with a teaspoon, pressing it against the side of the mug, and discard.
  6. Add the milk and stir; it should take the cup from deep brown to a proper tea-tan.
  7. Add a teaspoon of sugar if that is how you take it, though plenty drink it without.
  8. Serve straight away with a plain biscuit, a digestive, hobnob or custard cream, on the side.
What you'll end up with: A deep tea-tan mug, strong and Assam-led, softened with milk, the kind of everyday cup you drink without thinking about it.

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