Money latest: Britons should treat tea like wine, expert says - as some secrets of improving flavour revealed (2024)

We are a nation of tea drinkers – we drink around 100 million cups a day and 70% of us say we'd choose tea over alcohol.

But, on UN International Tea Day, experts have told Sky News that Britons should be treating tea more like wine.

One key thing not enough of us are doing is checking the back of the packet to see which country our tea is coming from.

Tea is grown in more than 60 countries, with the UK getting most of its supply from East Africa. All tea comes from the same plant – the Camellia sinensis – but where it is grown can really affect its flavour.

"The black tea that we tend to drink here are blends, so you could have tea from seven different origins in one bag," the chief executive of theUK Tea and Infusions Association,Dr Sharon Hall, told the Money blog.

"You might have Kenyan tea in there for that really good colour but you might also have teas from Assam in there to give it that really malty flavour which we as consumers love in the UK.

"Depending on where that tea bush is grown, whether it's up high in the Himalayas or down low, the tea leaves off that will really have a different flavour profiles. It's just like wines," she added.

If you look on the packet, it should tell you the origins of the tea you are consuming, which could help you narrow down the tea bag that's helps make your perfect cuppa.

According to the Teabackyard website, the following regions have these flavour profiles...

Assam. Assam tea growsin tropical lowlands in the Assam region in India, near the Brahmaputra River. This produces a malty, chocolatey flavour.

Ceylon. Ceylon tea is cultivated in Sri Lanka. Some tea plants are grown at up to 6,000 feet. The flavour is said to be spicy, chocolatey, and citrusy.

Kenyan. Kenya's black tea plants grow in lush green plantations located in lowland regions. This tea is often used in tea blends to provide a robust base because it is strong and full-bodied. It is a tea that almost needs milk to tame down its "bite".

Keemun. Keemun tea is grown only in the Anhui province of China. Some in China claim this was the first breakfast tea - and it is now used in tea blends too. It is a lighter-bodied black tea with a more delicate taste and isn't usually used as a base tea. Hints of smoky maltiness come through in flavour with a subtle floral aroma.

Two teabags?

Many of us in the Sky News office often make a cup of tea using two tea bags, and Dr Hall said this was actually quite typical of the UK's habits, with the majority of Britons preferring a strong brew.

Despite this, data from the UKTIA shows only 7% of people brew their tea for the optimal 3-4 minutes suggested by many black tea brands, and nearly a fifth only leave the bag in for less than a minute.

Dr Hall insisted tea hasn't become weaker, so if you are using two tea bags like us, it might be time to check the packet to see what your recommended brew time is and giving that a go to get the "optimal flavour".

"Really in terms of the flavour you get out of those blends, they are very brand specific, like a stronger black tea you might find a brand that delivers that. But in terms of strength, that is really to do with brew time and how you prepare your tea," she explained,

She said that for green tea, she might brew the bag for slightly less time, but she likes to leave her black tea for a good five minutes.

If you are still struggling to make the perfect cup of tea, Dr Hall suggests a key ingredient could be how you boil your water.

One element that she emphasised in particular is using a "smart boil" system to make your tea – basically, measure out the amount of water you need and only boil that amount.

Not only does it save you money, it also means there is more oxygen in your water which "excites the flavours out of the leaves", meaning it could help to make your tea more flavourful, she said.

Your favourite mug, adding the milk after the water, and taking five minutes to relax are also key, she said.

UKTIA has released its latest UK "tea census" today - here are some of the key findings:

• 70% of Brits are choosing tea over booze;
• The age group most likely to choose a cuppa over alcohol are30-44-year-olds (81%);
• 18-29-year-olds were more likely (72%) than 45-59-year-olds (64%) to pass up alcohol in favour of tea;
• Sweet biscuits are the most popular snack pairing (48%), followed by a chocolate biscuits, cake, a sandwich, chocolate;
  
• Britons' preferred types of tea are black tea (84%), green tea (60%), peppermint (46%), ginger (43%), chamomile (37%), lemon balm (22%) and spearmint (20%);
• Around 40% of people say putting on the kettle helps to encourage someone to open up, according to the UKTIA.

HMRC is reportedly using AI to recruit staff, with some not speaking to a human until their first day.

The hiring process for some junior roles - including customer service adviser - are being done virtually with candidates asked to send a CV and 1,000-word statement to an email address and then answer six questions from a pre-recorded video, according to The Sunday Times.

One current HMRC employee who went through the process told the newspaper it was "so daft and the questions themselves were waffle".

HMRC said that for entry-level roles, recruitment processes were automated to manage the higher level of applicants it received.

Ryanair has reported another year of record profits and passenger numbers.

At the same time, the average fare at the airline, which is Europe's largest by passenger numbers, was 21% more expensive than 12 months earlier, its annual results showed.

But the company suggested a cut in ticket prices could be on the way after this summer when prices will either be the same or more expensive than last year.

Annual profits reached €1.92bn (£1.64bn), surpassing the previous record of €1.45bn (£1.26bn) made in the year ending March 2018.

Read the full story here...

Business flights to and from the UK have decreased by nearly a thirdsince the COVID pandemic.

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and examined by the New Economics Foundationfound there were 29% fewer trips in 2023 than in 2019.

In total, businesses shelled out around £2.9bn less on air travel in 2023, a 22% decrease from four years earlier, according to City AM.

"Business use of air travel peaked in 2007 and has fallen further since the pandemic. Today, growth causes major damage to our climate while benefiting only a tiny group of airport owners and wealthy frequent flyers,"Alex Chapman, senior economist at the New Economics Foundation, told the newspaper.

The number of 56-65 year olds looking to buy their first home has grown by 13% in the first quarter of this year.

The average age of a first-time buyer is 33 - but 2.2% are now in the 56-65 age bracket.

This compares with 44.8% aged 18-30 and 35.6% aged 31-40, according to data from Legal & General.

Further analysis found the average loan searched for at the end of 2023 and beginning of 2024increased by 3.7% from £214,299 to £222,148, pointing to the fact buyers can afford larger loan values due to inflation dropping and monthly earning increasing.

Kevin Roberts, Legal & General Mortgage Services managing director, said: "Our figures show that the desire to own a home remains strong, even for those who are waiting longer to take those first steps onto the property ladder.

"As affordability begins to ease, we'll likely see further activity in the first-time buyer market, especially if inflation continues to fall and the Bank of England reduces its base rate later in the year."

BT Group has pushed back its timetable for moving all customers off the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and onto digital landlines.

New digital landlines provide services using the internet and will replace 40-year-old analogue landline technology that has become increasingly fragile and difficult to fix.

It aims to allow all UK telecoms companies to offer consumers and businesses clearer and better quality phone calls, as well as new features such as anonymous caller rejection or three-way calling, according to the Gov.uk website.

When is the switch happening?

BT now says the switch is happening in stages.

From this summer, customers who have not used their landline in the last 12 months, who do not identify as vulnerable or have additional needs, have not contacted an Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) in the last 24 months and live in an area where a data sharing agreement is in place, will be switched - unless they have opted out.

Vulnerable customers or those with additional needs will start to be switched from summer 2025 with theaim to have all customers moved off the old analogue PSTN by the end of January 2027.

Howard Watson, chief security and networks officer at BT Group, said: "Managing customer migrations from analogue to digital as quickly and smoothly as possible, while making the necessary provisions for those customers with additional needs, including telecare users, is critically important.

"We need all local authorities and telecare providers to share with us the phone lines where they know there's a telecare user."

Young twin sisters have gone viral on TikTok after fuming over the prices charged by an ice cream man.

In a video posted on the social media site, Marnie and Mylah rant after being quoted £9 for two ice creams.

"There's an ice cream van there selling two ice creams with two chewing gums in it for bloody £9," one of the twins says.

She adds that the ice cream van who visits her street usually charges between £1 and £2 for an ice cream.

"He's going to get nowhere with that," she says.

To make the situation even worse, she's outraged that he only accepts "bloody card".

"Bloody hell. It's bloody well bad," she says.

The average price of a 450ml - 1 litre tub of ice cream is currently £3.39 - up 6.3% since last year, the latest data from the Office for National Statistics show.

The ice cream van industry has been plagued with difficulties, from rising running costs and rubbish weather.

According to the Ice Cream Alliance, the market is worth a huge £1.4bn.

Sky News contacted the ICA, the industry's trade association, for comment.

A popular music magazine has been closed down just months after being relaunched online.

Q, which originally closed after 34 years in 2020, was revived as an online publication nearly six months ago after a licensing deal was struck by New-York based Empire Media Group.

But its surprise closure, which came to light on Friday, means a team of six full-time staff have lost their jobs.

Writer Will Harris is one of them, saying he'd lost his "first full-time employment in a dozen years".

Writing on Substack, he said the move had been a "business decision" but that staff had been working long hours to "make it the best publication" possible.

"We worked our shifts, worked before and after our shifts, and delivered consistently top-shelf content that was, to our way of thinking, exactly the sort of thing that a new incarnation of Q Magazine should offer," he wrote.

Editor-in-chief Andrew Barker said the decision to shut the magazine down "came with no advance warning, and no indication that anything was wrong".

"To say that we were shocked and devastated would be a colossal understatement."

Sky News has contacted Empire Media Group for comment.

Separately, last week saw the return of a 90s lads mag Loaded.

The magazine relaunched its website after disappearing nine years ago, offering a £9 monthly membership.

As part of its revival, it has changed its tagline from "for men who should know better" to "for men who know better".

"The relaunch of the platform is a digital rebellion for the modern man who refuses to fit into a stereotype, from the finest in music, sports, film, and anything else that is of interest," it said in a statement.

"Loaded is about building a space where men challenge each other, celebrate wins, and tackle all that matters to them."

Virgin Trains has applied for a licence that could see it return to running rail services on the West Coastroute between London and Glasgow, five years after losing its contract.

The company had operated the service, which runs from London Euston via Birmingham and Manchester to Scotland, for 22 years before Avanti West Coast took over in 2019.

The company has now applied to the regulator - the Office of Rail and Road - for an Open Access licence. If granted, it means Virgin Trains receives no subsidy and runs services alongside the franchise, at its own risk.

A spokesperson for Virgin Group told Sky News: "While this application is just the first step towards exploring what might be possible, we think Open Access is the way forward.

"Open Access increases consumer choice and competition both of which Virgin has always supported."

By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire, business reporter

After four weeks of rises the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) 250 index of the 101st to 350th most valuable companies on the London Stock Exchange has begun a fifth week in positive territory - up 0.54%.

If it ends this week higher than now it'll be the best run it has had since before the pandemic, in December 2019.

The most valuable companies on the London Stock Exchange - the FTSE 100 index - also started the week on a high, up 0.22%.
Mexican mining company Fresnillo is the best performing company of the day so far with shares up 3.17% as copper hit an all-time peak.

The oil price is staying lower than all of April and most of March at $84.24 for a barrel of Brent crude oil - the benchmark price.

A pound is equal to $1.2696 or €1.1675.

The average salary advertised on job sites increased by 0.45% to £38,810 in April, according to vacancies website Adzuna.

Only two sectors - legal and travel - experienced a fall in the average salary being offered.

"[This] demonstrates rising business confidence throughout the UK and that companies are keen to hire specialist staff," said Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Adzuna.

"They are willing to pay well for new team members too."

He said the East Midlands continued to see the largest annual increases for the fifth month in a row - helped by roles in science, tech and professional services.

Every Monday we get an expert to answer your money problems or consumer disputes. Find out how to submit yours at the bottom of this post. Today's question is...

We bought a Ford C-Max second hand four years ago. It's less than eight years old now with 77,000 miles. Our garage says the car is a write-off due to a known issue with EcoBoost engines. Ford refuses to pay for repairs. Anything I can do?

Rory Raftery

Rory did not leave his contact details so we haven't been able to talk to the dealership - but we had some luck with Ford. First though,Scott Dixon, from The Complaints Resolver, lays out your basic rights...

Your contract is always with the trader who sold you the goods (in this case the garage), not the manufacturer.

Any reference to warranties is irrelevant, as the Consumer Rights Act 2015 overrides this and gives you an implied statutory warranty for free for up to six years in England and Wales and five years in Scotland.

The actstates that goods ought to be:

• Fit for purpose
• As described
• Satisfactory quality
• Last a reasonable length of time

As we are past six months since you bought the car, the onus is on you to prove it had inherent faults when it was sold.

I would seek an independent report to reinforce your case and dispute. Given that this has been a well-known issue with EcoBoost engines for quite some time, the trader who sold you the vehicle should have carried out additional checks.

A cursory Google search reveals that a loss of engine power and serious valve damage is commonplace on higher mileage EcoBoost engines.

I would check to see if this vehicle has been subject to a recall. Also check the MOT history to see if any advisory notices were flagged and not remedied before you bought the vehicle.

Is the garage a member of The Motor Ombudsman? You can check that too here.

How did you pay for it?

You should always pay at least a deposit by credit card if possible, as it gives you additional free protection and joint liability under S75 Consumer Credit Act 1974 for purchases over £100.

If you paid a deposit by credit card, contact your credit card provider and say you want to raise a S75 dispute and claim for a faulty car.

They will ask for more details – say the supplier is in "breach of contract" under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and has supplied a defective/faulty car. You have exhausted all options with the retailer and cannot resolve your dispute.

If the car is on finance, they bought the defective vehicle from the dealer and own it. You can go down the same route and raise a S75 claim against them for a breach of contract under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

If you reach a stalemate with the credit card provider or finance company, ask for a deadlock letter setting out their final position so you can submit a formal complaint (with the final response/deadlock letter) to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

They do not like cases being referred to the FOS as it costs them money. The FOS will examine documents given to you as the customer at the point of sale. The dealership is responsible for any representations made in those documents. You are seeking to reject the car, so make this clear.

Offers made will be calculated on the anticipated lifespan of the goods – time of use and depreciation. Ask for any offers made to be evidenced with calculations to ascertain how the amount has been arrived at.

Car dealerships will often cite that they are entitled to deduct 45p a mile for use on refund calculations when you try to reject a faulty vehicle. This is a scam. The FOS has ruled that 25p a mile is fair and acceptable, so keep that in mind when any offers are made.

Statutory limitations on any consumer dispute is six years in England and Wales and five years in Scotland from the date the goods were received.

This does not detract from the expected lifespan of the goods – it is simply a limit on the time you have to resolve the dispute under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Options and next steps

If all else fails, you could take your case to the small claims court if it was England, or follow simple procedure in Scotland.

Ford response

A Ford spokesperson told the Money team: "Ford is confident in the robustness and reliability of its EcoBoost engine technology when the stated guidelines for maintenance and service are followed.

"Ford UK is happy to investigate service support and/or compensation measures for any customer who believes they have had an EcoBoost engine issue and is happy to review cases with a full-service history for vehicles up to 10 years old with less than 150,000 miles.

"For any customers in the UK whose vehicle meets these parameters, you can speak to our customer relationship team and contact details can be found on our website here."

Ford offered to look at this specific case - but sadly Rory didn't leave contact details for us to pass on.

This featureis not intended as financial advice - the aim is to give an overview of the things you should think about.Submit your dilemma or consumer dispute via:

• The form above - make sure you leave a phone number or email address
• Email news@skynews.com with the subject line "Money blog"
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