# Regional Teas of Britain and Ireland: A Buying Guide

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## Summary

Glengettie from Wales, Scottish Blend, Thompson's from Belfast, Barry's from Cork and Yorkshire Tea Hard Water: what each regional tea is, and where to buy it.

## Description

Regional British and Irish teas, in short: Glengettie is the Welsh blend, Scottish Blend is made for soft Scottish water, Thompson's comes from Belfast, Barry's from Cork, and Yorkshire Tea makes a separate blend for hard water. All are black tea blends you drink with milk.
The teas most closely tied to one place in these islands are Glengettie in Wales, Scottish Blend in Scotland, Thompson's in Belfast, Barry's in Cork and Yorkshire Tea in Yorkshire. Each is an everyday black tea blend, and teas.co.uk has all five in stock, so you can buy the tea of a region without living there.
Last reviewed by the teas.co.uk team in November 2026.
Why a tea belongs to a region
Two things make a blend regional: who drinks it, and the water it is brewed in. Tap water changes the taste of tea. Yorkshire Tea's buyers say soft water brings out lightness and briskness, while hard water makes tea taste darker and thicker.
That is why some blenders tune a tea for one kind of water, and why a brand that works in Glasgow can taste different in London. Our page on hard water against soft water goes into the chemistry. For the national names, see best British tea bags.
Wales and Scotland: blends for soft water
Glengettie Welsh Breakfast Tea is the blend aimed at Welsh tea drinkers, first sold in 1952. The brand has described it as designed to suit the soft water of the region. There is more in our Glengettie guide and our page on Welsh tea.
PG Tips Scottish Blend Breakfast Tea is the Scottish equivalent. The maker says it is blended to complement soft Scottish water and uses East African teas. Scottish Water says most of the country's raw water comes from lochs, rivers and burns and tends to be soft to slightly hard. Our Scottish Blend page has the detail.

Belfast and Cork: the Irish blends
Thompson's Family Teas traces its start to 1896, when Robert S. Thompson began in a tea warehouse near Belfast docks. The company says four generations of the family have blended and packed tea in the city, using teas from Assam and Kenya. We stock Thompson's Irish Breakfast, Signature Blend and Everyday Breakfast. Read more in our Thompson's guide.
Barry's Tea is from Cork, in the Republic of Ireland, so it is Irish, not British. We include it because shoppers in Britain ask for it by name. The company was founded in 1901 by James J. Barry and says it began buying tea from East Africa in 1960. Barry's Tea Gold Blend is the one we carry, and our Barry's Gold Blend page explains how it differs from a British breakfast tea.

Yorkshire: one tea, two kinds of water
Yorkshire Tea comes from Taylors of Harrogate and is sold across the whole country, but the maker also sells a second version for a different tap. Yorkshire Tea Hard Water is, in the maker's words, a special blend for tap water with a high mineral content.
The county itself needs both. Yorkshire Water says hard water is mainly found in the east of its region and softer water in the west. Our page on Yorkshire Tea Hard Water has more on who the blend is for, and the whole range is on the Yorkshire teas shelf.
Regional teas at a glance

RegionTeaWhat the maker saysSince
WalesGlengettie Welsh Breakfast TeaDesigned for the soft water of the region1952
ScotlandPG Tips Scottish Blend Breakfast TeaBlended for soft Scottish waterNot stated
BelfastThompson's Irish BreakfastAssam and Kenyan teas, blended in Belfast1896
CorkBarry's Tea Gold BlendFamily blends from Cork1901
YorkshireYorkshire Tea Hard WaterA special blend for mineral rich tap waterNot stated

Common questions
Can I drink a regional tea outside its region?
Yes. The better question is what your own water is like. A blend made for soft water is at home in a soft water kitchen anywhere, and a hard water blend suits hard water wherever the box was packed.
Is Irish breakfast tea different from English breakfast?
Irish blends are usually described as stronger and maltier, with Assam doing more of the work. We compare the two in English breakfast against Irish breakfast.
Is Barry's Tea British?
No. Barry's is based in Cork in the Republic of Ireland. Thompson's is the one from Belfast, in Northern Ireland.

Reference noted
History and blend statements were checked against Thompson's Family Teas: who we are, Barry's Tea: our story, Barry's Tea: about us, Wikipedia: Glengettie, the maker's product text for Scottish Blend at Morrisons, Yorkshire Tea: Hard Water, Yorkshire Water: water hardness and Scottish Water: hardness factsheet.
More from the tea wiki

Best British tea bags UK
British Tea Brands Compared
Barry's Tea Gold Blend: What Makes Irish Tea Different
Tea in Britain: The National Cup
"Packed in Britain" does not mean British tea
Decaf British Teas
The whole Tea Wiki, A to Z

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