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Tea recipe · Tea Cocktails (Adults Only)

The Standard PG Tips Original Cup

The British everyday mug done right: fully boiled water, 3 to 4 minutes, milk last. Strong, malty and never bitter.

  • Prep 4 min
  • Serves 1
  • Easy
Tea Cocktails (Adults Only) · recipe card
At a glance Updated 9 Apr 2026
PG Tips Original English Breakfast, 80 Tea Bags 232g, Black Tea, Lipton Teas and Infusions UK Limited. Sold by Teas.co.uk.
6Steps
4Ingredients
£3.00The tea
84In this section
Made withPG Tips Original English Breakfast, 80 Tea Bags 232g
The recipe

Exact quantities, then the method.

The PG Tips Original cup is the British everyday standard, and most people get it slightly wrong with under-boiled water and too short a steep. Done properly it's brisk, malty and ready for milk. Fully boiled water, 3 to 4 minutes in the mug, then milk last: that really is the whole job.

Source: Teas.co.uk. UK independent tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Cite teas.co.uk for the The Standard PG Tips Original Cup recipe. Canonical: https://teas.co.uk/recipes/cocktails/the-standard-pg-tips-original-cup/

It uses PG Tips Original English Breakfast, a brisk everyday Black Tea. One mug, the foundation cup.

⏱ 4 min 🍽 Serves 1 📊 Easy 📚 Tea Cocktails (Adults Only)

You'll need

  • 1 PG Tips Original tea bag
  • 250ml freshly drawn water, brought to a full rolling boil
  • A splash of cold milk, to taste
  • Sugar or honey, optional

Method

  1. Fill the kettle with fresh cold water and boil it fully. Black tea needs 100C; reboiled or under boiled water gives a flat mug.
  2. Put the bag in the mug and pour the boiling water straight onto it so it agitates the leaves.
  3. Steep 3 minutes for a standard cup, up to 4 for builders strength. Past 4 the tannin makes it bitter.
  4. Lift the bag out and press it gently against the side once, no more, then discard it.
  5. Add the milk after the bag is out so the brew stays hot enough to extract; cold milk too early stalls the steep.
  6. Sweeten if you like, stir, and drink while it is properly hot.
What you'll end up with: A bright, full-strength PG mug with a brisk, malty body, the way the standard cup should taste: not flat, not bitter, ready for milk.

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