International Tea Day: A stirring Q&A with the Bdaily team

In honour of a day that holds particular significance to the occupants of the Bdaily office, we celebrated International Tea Day’s arrival on Saturday by producing some ‘hot takes’ on the subject of Britain’s favourite boiled beverage. Read on for some truly revelatory responses.

Also for your reference, may I present our cutting-edge tea colour chart:

Martin Stanley

Firstly, I spoke with Martin, one of the directors at Bdaily who works on the strategy side of the business across both Bdaily News and Bdaily Marketing.

Q) First things first: What type of tea is your go-to?

I’d always said “classic builders’ tea” but am increasingly going for more herbal stuff; anything with supposed health benefits, like ginger, citrus fruit, cinnamon, etc, thrown into hot water.

Q) Referring to our state-of-the-art tea colour chart, which number best represents your cuppa?

7

Q) China cup and saucer or sturdy mug?

Maybe a China cup for tea, if there’s one going. Sturdy mug for coffee. Are we allowed to mention coffee?

Q) What is your dunking biscuit of choice?

In an ideal world, Hobnob. More typically, it’s a Belvita biscuit.

Q) If you could have a cuppa with anyone, alive or dead, who would it be and why?

I’d go for someone alive, just for the conversation. I’d love to pretend it’d be a philosopher or literary great, but David Brent was the first person who popped into my head, so, yeah, Ricky Gervais in-character as David Brent. Just to see what he’s up to these days. Hopefully Tim and Gareth might make an appearance, too.

Andrew Carter

Next on my hit list was Andrew, Bdaily’s business manager, who voiced some strong and impassioned opinions on the subject. Reader discretion is advised.

Q) First things first: What type of tea is your go-to?

Normal tea. Preferably a gold blend. A bit of milk, but not too much. PERFECTION.

Q) Referring to our state-of-the-art tea colour chart, which number best represents your cuppa?

Probably around 7! Some of those would actually upset me!

Q) China cup and saucer or sturdy mug?

Proper mug. But not a ridiculous oversized or novelty one. The inside needs to be white. And also not a glass one, it just looks and feels wrong.

Q) What is your dunking biscuit of choice?

VOID - Don’t put rubbish in your tea. Biscuits go with tea, not in it. Soggy crumbs in the bottom of a cup is a pet hate of mine. But with a cuppa, Jammie Dodgers by the packet.

Q) If you could have a cuppa with anyone, alive or dead, who would it be and why?

I’d love to have a cuppa with Joe Strummer of The Clash - I’d love to hear tales from his career and get his take on Modern Music and the state of the world in general. I bet he liked a proper brew.

Hannah Phipps

Next up is Hannah, Bdaily’s marketing and content coordinator, who specialises in, aside from tea, organising and delivering the content for Bdaily Marketing clients. She also works to promote all of Bdaily online, including the running of its social media accounts and blog, producing marketing content such as articles, and creating ads and beyond.

Q) First things first: What type of tea is your go-to?

As the tea connoisseur of the Bdaily office, this is a very difficult question! I love anything minty or citrusy when it comes to herbal teas (peppermint is always a winner). But if I am honest, nothing beats a classic cup of English breakfast tea does it?!

Q) Referring to our state-of-the-art tea colour chart, which number best represents your cuppa?

It has to be a 13 or above. Anything under 6 is far too weak in my opinion…if it is more milk than tea it is not my ‘cup of tea’ (pun thoroughly intended)

Q) China cup and saucer or sturdy mug?

Nothing beats a proper sturdy mug, does it? Although it’s fun to pretend to be a bit fancy with a nice cup and saucer, there is nothing fun about burning your knuckles every time you pick up a cup with a tiny handle!

Q) What is your dunking biscuit of choice?

This is a pretty tricky one, but I would have to say a chocolate digestive. Perfect consistency to dunk without falling apart, a little bit of melted chocolate - what’s not to like. Bonus points if it’s a caramel one

Q) If you could have a cuppa with anyone, alive or dead, who would it be and why?

There is a nail artist ‘influencer’ I watch on YouTube called SimplyNailogical, who not only loves nail paints but is a BIG fan of weird and wonderful teas. I think I would honestly be very happy for her to show me through her tea collection and then sit, drink tea, and do nail art together - kinda sounds like my perfect evening, to be honest.

Ashleigh Male

As Bdaily’s resident business development manager, Ash is responsible for driving business growth and revenue, as well as developing a network of contacts to attract new businesses to work with Bdaily. So, in short, very important stuff.

Q) First things first: What type of tea is your go-to?

Typhoo Tea, but also partial to a Pukka nighttime tea on an evening.

Q) Referring to our state-of-the-art tea colour chart, which number best represents your cuppa?

Q) China cup and saucer or sturdy mug?

Stirdy mug.

Q) What is your dunking biscuit of choice?

Gold Bar - a vintage favourite.

Q) If you could have a cuppa with anyone, alive or dead, who would it be and why?

Steven Bartlett - I think he is truly inspiring & I am an avid fan of his podcasts & have read his book which tells a story of his fascinating rise to success. He is only 29 and such an accomplished entrepreneur. I love the way he thinks & I would love to have a good conversation over a cuppa with him.

Mark Adair

We now come to the latest addition to the Bdaily crew, Mark. As a correspondent, Mark has been getting into the groove of publishing all manner of news in addition to whittling away on some special content for Bdaily Premium.

Q) First things first: What type of tea is your go-to?

Love a good breakfast tea with a little bit of milk and honey

Q) Referring to our state-of-the-art tea colour chart, which number best represents your cuppa?

13

Q) China cup and saucer or sturdy mug?

Sturdy mug.

Q) What is your dunking biscuit of choice?

My dunking biscuit of choice would have to be the hob nob, it’s second to none.

Q) If you could have a cuppa with anyone, alive or dead, who would it be and why?

Nelson Mandela, it’d undoubtedly be the most inspiring cup of tea of my life.

Matthew Neville

Last and most definitely not least we have myself. As a correspondent for Bdaily, it’s my job to deliver you piping hot news every day, as well as writing bespoke content for Bdaily Premium.

Q) First things first: What type of tea is your go-to?

As much as I most often drink your bog standard stuff, my favourite is a toss-up between green and jasmine tea, as I am a massively pretentious individual.

Q) Referring to our state-of-the-art tea colour chart, which number best represents your cuppa?

16 I reckon, I haven’t been much of a milk person since I was crawling around in a nappy.

Q) China cup and saucer or sturdy mug?

I’ll take either as long as it’s sporting a funky design of some sort. Anyone who’s seen some of the ties I wear in the office knows I have a penchant for the garish.

Q) What is your dunking biscuit of choice?

I would argue that the Biscoff Lotus biscuit is the prime dunking instrument, though their appearance requires me to have not scoffed the entire packet before the kettle’s finished boiling.

Q) If you could have a cuppa with anyone, alive or dead, who would it be and why?

I feel obligated here to represent the rotund-headed curiosity that is Karl Pilkington. He’d be a fascinating fellow to chat to and I imagine he’d have some valuable philosophical ponderings to share over a brew.

Thank you for reading. We hope that you enjoyed this rare piece of insight into our team’s odd taste in hot beverages and that you share some of our less conventional views. Happy International Tea Day!