Its funny to read all the comments from americans and brits about who has better tea. Living in China, I feel sorry you have to think of Tetley, Twinnings, or "PG Tips" as tea at all and not the garbage that it is. There plenty of online stores where you can get decent tea which you don't have to pollute with bovine liquids to cover the unpleasent taste.
I think I will always be able to enjoy a nice cup of southern ice tea, though.

will, liushi, china

If any of you readers live in a city with ANY sort of E. Indian population, you will find the Indian/Pakistani grocers sell the most amazing teas, at very affordable prices-- one can afford to experiment with the strong "CTC" teas, as well as the classic Darjeeling, Assam and Ceylon long-leaf varieties.
Where I live, Seattle, Washington, USA, there is a large presence of Chinese, Japanese, Cambodian and Vietnamese peoples, and so the shops in this town offer a bewilderingly high number of sources for exquisite teas. It would take you a good two years, with fastidious notation in a large notebook, to sample and catalog all the Chinese teas available here, and that's just the China tea.
But my point is, as good as P.G.Tips or Tetley may be, there are many alternatives in the "ethnic" shops which wipe the floor with those well-known brands, and even offer the consumer a chance to try blending varietals to create their own super-blend tea, good for morning noon or night drinking.

Tor Middlewood, Seattle, USA

There are many imported and "premium" teas available everywhere in the Milwaukee, WI area. If the midwest has a good selection, I am sure just about any city in the US has a reasonable selection. I drink English tea every morning and believe it or not carry my own tea bags in case there is a restaurant which has a sub-par brand available when I may want a cup on a cold winter's day... I also find that the chain stores like Whole Foods, Trader Joes and World Market have great selections of name brand imports but sometimes they can be pricy. Are you ready for this? Milwaukee is also home to artisanal Rishi Tea. There are several "Tea Parlours" now as well. I just think more people drink coffee in the US and the tea drinkers are expanding their horizons. Most coffee places also offer a select of great teas...

Mara Beck-Rinnemaki, Milwaukee, WI, USA

Where about Taylor's of Hargrove and Yorkshire Red? I've been drinking it for years but had to order it off the internet. Now I have two shops selling it locally.

Casey Musselman, Kennesaw, Georgia/US

As a tea drinker I would welcome America opening up and getting over 1773. Tea is generally cheaper, better for you and more refreshing than coffee.

Neil, Sandwich, UK

I love how ignorant people can be. Americans can't boil water? Come on, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. My family has been drinking tea for generations; and yes, I mean hot tea. I grew up in New England and hot tea was available at just about every restaurant I went to. I'm now in Colorado and guess what, I can still order hot tea. A lot of restaurants offer a variety of tea, not just black Lipton tea. Please be informed before making a ridiculous accusation.

MA, Denver, Colorado, USA

Frank, yes have a nice cuppa. And how about a few Midol to go with it?

Al, NYC,

Tea is very refreshing and I am glad to hear that America is finally wising up to tea. Yes, $6.99 is alot to pay for tea, but my aunt who lives in New Mexico swears by Tetley which she drinks over in the U.S. I find Red bush (Rooibos) is much more refreshing at the moment

Nathan Ollett, Bury St Edmunds, UK

As a Texan, I think the reason most of us don't partake in tea is certainly because of the miserable heat. But another reason could be that it's not "manly" to drink hot tea. As a woman, I can order it and no one thinks twice. But it's more socially acceptable for a guy to order a cup of coffee to accompany his meal than to request a cup of hot tea.

In the southern states (Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, etc.), many people drink "sweet tea," which is iced tea made from what is almost a simple syrup boiled with tea bags. I don't care for it, but the trend is spreading westward to Texas. Now at some restaurants you have to specify "sweet" or "unsweet" when you order.

We've had PG Tips available for a couple years now. I think the popularity/availability of fine teas is greater in larger metropolitan cities. Many restaurants in the Dallas/Fort Worth area offer hot tea, but they'll give you a look if you order hot tea when it's 104 degrees F outside.

Kara, Fort Worth, TX, USA

What took you so long?

Brits aren't obsessed with tea like the stereotypes make you believe, as an example I haven't had a cup of tea for minutes now! :-)

Mr T, blackrock,

Tea is nice and refreshing, I think that it is only natural that a market will move in directions away from the norm, but as for$6.99 for PG tips, i think that someone is selling a simple basic as a premium sought after product, I thought that the Americans were more savvy than that, it is usually us here in the UK that pay more than the Americans, not the other way around!

Domninc Tattersall, Burnley, England

Dear me, iced tea? Positively barbaric! When the temperature gets up simply replace the milk with a slice of lemon and enjoy!

SFC, Manchester,

Lipton is great when you like it hot or cold and want a lighter cup of tea without milk. The new flavoured Lipton Pyramid teas are also fantastic - a real treat. PG is a lot stronger so if you want thick UK style tea with milk then its ideal. Lots of ways to enjoy the best drink in the World, remember its water with added goodness.

Neil, Paris, France

I've been buying PG Tips for years. In fact just had a cuppa this morning as I had bought a new box of loose leaf last night at the local grocery.

Now what I would really like to see is Ribena sold on a regular basis in the States

as for iced tea it is the only way to have tea in the summer in the South. I grew up in Texas and drinking hot tea on a 100 degree F afternoon is just not done

Peter, Richmond, Va

To Frank from Brighton:

Since you equate intelligence with what a consumer pays for a particular item, just what do you pay for a gallon of gasoline in the U.K.?

And as for iced-tea, well, I was raised on it from the time I was a child in south east Texas... on a farm, Frank! When you live a day on the Gulf Coast and the temperature is over a hundred degrees farenheit at just about a hundred percent humidity, that "disgusting" iced brew tastes pretty darn good. You might note that my mother made it in a gallon glass. She put lots of Lipton tea bags in cold water, left it on the porch in the sun, and let it cook all day. By nightfall, you get a nice, brown rich mixture that is glorious over ice with a little lemon. Aren't we just absolute barbarians!?

J Primrose, Sacramento, California

Please add Madison, Wisconsin to the list! We can buy PG Tips, Williamsons, and others at our local bargain-oriented supermarket at regular prices. If it's not at Woodman's Supermarket, I order on-line. The Internet is a wonderful thing ......

And yes, restaurants here expect to make tea with tepid water in rapidly-cooling metal pitchers. On the other hand, I've lately seen that arrangement in the UK as well.

Geoffrey Langlois, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

What took you so long?

Brits aren't obsessed with tea like the stereotypes make you believe, as an example I haven't had a cup of tea for weeks now.

Howard, Manchester,

Oh please do not be so sanctimonious. I am a tea drinker and I can assure you that British brands have been sold in the US for decades. Tetley Tea's British Blend is a round tea bag made in the UK. Twinings is sold everywhere. I found a box of Yorkshire tea on a sale rack at TJ Maxx a few days ago. When I am in London, I stock up on Marks & Sparks strong tea and bring back boxes to the US to last me a year or so. Some years ago, a northern New Jersey chain of grocery stores had an agreement with M&S. I was able to buy my favorite tea on this side of the Pond, but when the chain was sold to another chain, the agreement ended.

I now live in the south where Ice tea rules - and I do have my own ice tea machine - and I would never ask for a cup of hot tea in a restaurant. However, statistics have shown that Americans have been drinking tea for years

Marlene Koenig, Alexandria, VA, USA

I don't know where the claim that Americans don't drink, enjoy or know how to make a good cup of tea comes from. I've lived in New England my entire life, my grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, friends parents, friends, myself, my 24 year old daughter loves tea, and we know how to make it.. I'm sure you can find something else to whinge on about us.. ;)

We don't rely on Lipton either. I remember my gran bought loose tea, and my parents tending to buy Tetley. PG Tips has been for sale in the States for at least 6 years now. It's sold rather cheaply at the bargain chain store Christmas Tree Shops, and at groceries like Stop & Shop as well.

Nor are we obsessed with herbal tea, though I enjoy it occasionally. One of my favorite teas at present is a delightful first flush darjeeling that I found.

BTW, re: the Boston Tea Party, get over that already.. we also celebrate the burning of the HMS Gaspee too, complete with burning effigy each Spring. You Brits need to travel more.

Marie, Boston, MA, US

Good old Yorkshire Tea (ordinary and Gold Label) is readily available in Charlottesville,Virginia - probably other brands too. The price quoted of $6.99 for 40 PG Tips seems a bit steep.

Paul, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA

I've worked in the US Gulf region for five years and the only people that I have seen drinking tea are guys who work with the British regularly and have been brave enough to try tea. It's just not drunk at all unless it's ice cold in a jug with lemon. I've never been to a restaurant in Texas that serves tea. I have asked for it and normally there is a sense of wonderment when I aske for "hot" tea. Which is not normally so because you get a cup of warm water with a tea bag on the tray to dunk into it. I will accept that up north where people tend to have a rather more cosmopolitan outlook tea is found and is made correctly. But even so, coffee rules pretty much everywhere,

Mark Chisholm, Dereham, UK

I can also happily report the apearance of PG on the shelves of several of our local Krogers. The price is also a little less extortionate at under $5 a box. My morning sanity has been restored.

Karen Newman,, expat, Cincinnati, OH

What we really need to do is introduce them to the delights of mushy peas, particularly with fish fish and chips; none of these silly French fries of course.

Dr Nick Ashley, Huntingdon, England

Ian from Maryland is right - Americans cannot boil water!
Iced tea is the result - disgusting stuff !
Coffee makes itself in a pot (some include egg shells!)
Starbucks proved Americans are stupid by charging $5 for a cuppa Joe!
As stated earlier tea should be loose and made in a pot warmed first and with some milk - lemon and sugar can be adde if pretentious!
To charge $7 (£3.50) for tea bags that costs £1.40 in Asda
proves that Americans are so really stupid that they not only voted Bush in twice but might also vote in another Clinton!
Heaven help us -I need a good cuppa!

Frank, Brighton, UK

I live about fifty miles outside of Las Vegas (origionally from Wales) and I was surprised to see PG appear on the shelves of my local Albertsons but I was even more surprised (happily, I might add) to find they also stock Branston pickles. Theres hope for this country yet.

Paul, Las Vegas, USA

The problem I always found in America was not getting the tea in restaurants, but getting the boiling water !

In Florida they regard you as a dangerously deranged psycho if you ask for tea in any other format than iced, and when I visited friends of mine there they didn't actually own a kettle, rendering the whole process of my several early morning cuppas a dangerously difficult operation involving saucepans of water and pre-dawn hand/eye co-ordination with it's attendant dangers of scalding in places you REALLY don't want to be scalded.......

Paul Chenery, London,

One reason Americans drink little tea is because they generally don't know how to make a proper cup of tea. Almost everyone simply drops a teabag in a cup and pours lukewarm water on top. The result is undrinkable. The fact that Liptons is the most common type of teabag found is another negative. On the other hand, I am shocked by how fewer and fewer people in the UK use loose tea nowadays. There really is no comparison between a proper pot of tea made with loose tea (in my case a mix of Twinings Earl Grey and English Breakfast) and a cup made with a teabag.

Ian, Frederick, USA /MD

I think wherever these statistics where gathered didn't come to the southern part of the U.S. Most of my family, friends and co-workers are tea drinkers, almost all of them always have been. I am almost 50 and was raised on tea (I hate coffee).
All of us love & drink English tea.
Here are the real facts, Southern Americans have always loved our tea, hot or cold and of course when it's cold it must have sugar. LOL My family and I originally came from the midwest, and a lot of our family & friends from there love tea as well, so I am confused about your statistics.
I am at a loss as to why the Boston Tea Party is even mentioned as it was a protest against taxes over 200 years ago!! Good heavens this article makes it sound like we American havn't a clue what English tea is like or why you love it so. We adore our tea, we always did, English or not.

Laura Gutsmann, Winder, Georgia/USA

Yes but would someone tell them that tea doesn't have to contain orange, rasperry or any other smelly things. Black tea, with or without milk (or cream, as they say here) is just fine!

Toni S Hargis, expat, Chicago, USA