PG Tips Original: Brewing Time, Milk and Box Sizes

PG Tips Original: The Three-Minute Mug and Which Box to Buy

Everything about PG Tips Original is built around a three-minute mug. The leaf is cut fine and the bags are generously filled, so the cup turns bold quickly, and that same speed is what makes it hard if the bag is left in.

Published 26 Sep 2026 Curator-written, not crowdsourced

PG Tips Original: The Three-Minute Mug and Which Box to Buy, in summary: Three minutes, bag out, milk after. The fine-cut leaf in PG Tips Original gives up its flavour quickly, and each bag holds about 2.9g. Pick the 160 or 240 box by how fast your kitchen drinks tea.

Last reviewed by the teas.co.uk team in September 2026.

Everything about PG Tips Original is built around a three-minute mug. The leaf is cut fine and the bags are generously filled, so the cup turns bold quickly, and that same speed is what makes it hard if the bag is left in.

Why it gets strong so fast

Two things drive the speed. Each bag carries about 2.9g of tea, a generous fill, and the leaf is chopped small, so much more of it touches the water at once. The published label lists black tea and nothing else. The result is a strong, full-bodied cup with a firm, drying grip on the palate and enough weight to take proper milk.

The aroma is deliberately quiet: warm, malty and faintly biscuity, with no scent or flavouring to lose. That makes it forgiving of habits that punish a scented tea, such as carrying a mug from room to room or sipping it slowly at a desk. What it does not forgive is time in the water, which is where most complaints about this tea really start.

Watch the clock at the finish

Give it three minutes in freshly boiled water. Shorten that to two for a weak cup, stretch it to four for a strong and very milky one, and stop there. After five, quick-brewing leaf only adds harshness, because the tannin keeps arriving once the pleasant part is over. For a strong cup, press the bag against the side of the mug and take it straight out.

Milk goes in last. Cold milk poured into a brewing mug cools the water and stalls the extraction, and milk-first mugs tend to end up pale for exactly that reason. For a pot, a 750ml pot takes three bags, which keeps the strength of a one-bag mug; warm the pot first. In the evening a decaf box beats a shorter steep, since a shorter brew takes out flavour, not caffeine.

160 bags or 240?

Both boxes hold the same blend at the same fill: 160 bags in 464g, or 240 in 696g. The choice is about pace. The 160 box suits a household of one or two steady drinkers; the 240 box is for a kitchen that runs on tea, where even a box that size is gone in a few months. Either way, a box that is used up steadily is a box that stays fresh.

Keep an open box closed, dry and well away from the coffee jar or the spice shelf, because an open carton sitting next to strong smells spoils tea long before age does. This is the plain, brisk mug for a bacon sandwich, a biscuit break or the tea made between other jobs. Anyone after a rounder, maltier cup should try the PG Tips English Breakfast Special Blends instead.

The packs we stock

PG Tips Original, 160 Tea Bags 464g (barcode 8712100712388)
PG Tips Original, 240 Tea Bags 696g (barcode 8720608036738)

What the label says

The published ingredient list for PG Tips Original, 240 Tea Bags 696g names none of the 14 major allergens. Before buying, check the 696g box of PG Tips Original; recipes and allergen advice can change.

Ingredients, as published: Black Tea.

Typical values per 100ml	Per 100ml
Energy	4 kcal
Fat	<0.5g
of which saturates	<0.1g
Carbohydrate	<0.5g
of which sugars	<0.5g
Protein	<0.5g
Salt	<0.01g

Ingredient and nutrition information for this product, as published on the manufacturer's label. The 696g box itself has the last word.

What to eat with it

McVitie's Rich Tea Biscuits, 300g: The classic quick dunk for a strong, milky mug, in and out before it softens.
McVitie's Milk Chocolate Digestives Biscuits, 266g: A chocolate-topped digestive with enough backbone for a bold, milky cup and a quick dunk.
Border Dark Chocolate Ginger Organic Biscuits, 150g: Ginger and dark chocolate have the flavour to stand up to a full-bodied brew.

Elsewhere in the PG Tips range

The full range is on the PG Tips brand page.

FAQ

How long should PG Tips Original brew? Three minutes in freshly boiled water, two for weak and four for strong. Beyond five it turns hard rather than stronger.

Milk in first or last? Last, once the bag is out. Milk added early cools the water and stalls the brew.

How much tea is in a PG Tips Original bag? About 2.9g in both boxes, worked out from the weights on the packs.

How many bags go in a pot? Three for a 750ml pot, which matches one bag to a mug.

Will 240 bags go stale? Not in a tea-drinking house. Kept sealed, dry and away from strong smells, black tea holds its character for months.

Curator's note: Take the bag out at three minutes and most complaints about this tea simply disappear. Put it next to a bacon sandwich and it is very hard to beat. Lee, teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.

In short: PG Tips Original: The Three-Minute Mug and Which Box to Buy

Field	Detail
Brand	PG Tips
Packs we stock	160 Tea Bags 464g; 240 Tea Bags 696g
Category	Everyday Tea Bags
Allergens (as published)	PG's published list for the 696g box includes no allergen of the major 14.
Caffeine	caffeinated
Brew	Three minutes, bag out, milk after
Best with	Rich Tea or a milk chocolate digestive
Pot	Three bags for a 750ml pot