PG Tips: Consistency in Simplicity

We live in a world where popularity grows around the latest and greatest of any given thing. Whether it's technology, fashion, medicine, literature, and even people that become celebrated figures by our society-the struggle for the top spot continues by means of any claim or gimmick. This isn't to say that the latest and greatest is always a sham though. I have no doubt that Apple has outdone themselves by gifting the world with the Retinal display MacBook Pro. What I mean to say is that in so many aspects of American society companies and businesses advertise the same thing: the most advanced this, the most refined that, the boldest flavor, the newly innovated, the critically acclaimed, the fastest, or the highest ranking. But despite all their talk and hype nothing proves a product like the test of time. 

This stands true for tea, especially considering today's flooded market. There are hundreds of tea companies and brands out there who promise the highest quality tea leaves in the finest silk bags from the most select farms around the world and yet, the flavor doesn't reflect such claims. It's almost as if these European tea brands think we Colonists won't know the difference or will be easily satisfied with ornate tea tins and creative flavor names. This is where PG Tips comes riding in as the knight in shining armour.

PG Tips is an English tea company that has been around since the late nineteenth century-1869 to be exact. It began as the one man operation of Arthur Brooke who sold his tea leaves to his local grocer. The tea became especially popular once it was advertised as "Pre Gest Tee," meaning it could be drunk before food was consumed or digested. Whether it was thought to be unhealthy to drink tea on an empty stomach during this time I do not know but am curious to find out. Maybe Brooke did his own research to discover that tea could be drunk whenever you darn well please and used this revolutionary info as a segue into the big leagues of tea. Regardless, the grocer then began abbreviating the tea as "PG" in the store. Lastly, "tips" was substituted in place of "tea" because the tea leaves were picked from the top two leaves and bud of the tea plant. The name PG Tips has stuck ever since as well as its growing following. 

 The other afternoon I sat flipping through an interior decorating magazine and stumbled across this page that features a few things about designer Rose Tarlow and her influences. 

The important thing to note here is the bottom right corner of the page that reads,"I bought a flat in London 30 years ago. The workers doing the renovations were always drinking PG Tips tea and I got hooked on it." For 30 years this one person has been drinking this one brand of tea. Talk about withstanding the test of time. PG Tips original flavor has become a classic of black teas all over the world so much so that it's readily available on the shelf of my corner drug store. And that is because the brand has stuck to a product that people have consistently responded positively towards decade after decade. No fancy tea names, no just slightly reshaped radically changed, redesigned, and revolutionized tea bag, no shiny tin. Just quality tea leaves that speak quietly for themselves.  

Although it's fun to go out and try new brands and flavors, keep in mind that names and advertising are sometimes tastier than the product. So familiarize yourself with the classics, the real McCoys, the Greats, and the survivors of time so that you may not be fooled by the temporary fads in tea! 

Until next time! 

~Pippa