These royally-approved tea experts reveal we've been making it all wrong

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We're a nation of tea drinkers - whether it's Harry Potter inspired, we're heading to a Mean Girls afternoon tea or sipping on a simple and satisfying morning brew.

It could explain why pretty much the entire UK population was horrified by this American woman's TikTok tea video (you'll want to watch it from behind a cushion).

However, while we all think we've mastered the art of the perfect cuppa, it seems that we may have been doing it wrong this whole time, according to the experts.

And not just any experts - the Queen's official tea supplier, darling.

Twinings revealed that whatever tea you choose, be it breakfast, Earl Grey or Darjeeling, there are some very important steps that must be taken which includes warming the teapot with hot water first and letting it sit for four minutes.

But there's one thing that has really divided people.

The tea masters, who were first 'honoured' by Queen Victoria, said: 'When adding milk, pour it into the cup before adding your tea.

'This allows the milk to cool the tea, rather than letting the tea heat the milk.'

Who knew?!

Stephen Twining, Director of Corporate Relations, is the 10th generation of the tea making family, who have been providing the royals with their rosy lee since 1837.

He told Town & Country magazine that if you are to drink black tea, it must brew for exactly four minutes, and that the teapot must be filled with hot water beforehand. Once it's warm, you need to refill and bring water to the boil and pour it directly over the teabag instantly.

'As a company we've had the honour of supplying every successive British King and Queen from that day to the very current day,' he says, and apparently, 'in tea, colour is not flavour'.

So now you know.

Jadie Troy-Pryde
News Editor

Jadie Troy-Pryde is News Editor, covering celebrity and entertainment, royal, lifestyle and viral news. Before joining the team in 2018 as the Lifestyle and Social Media Editor, she worked at a number of women’s fashion and lifestyle titles including Grazia, Women’s Health and Stylist, and now heads the Marie Claire UK news desk.