It’s official… COFFEE has overtaken tea as Britain’s favourite drink, study finds

Britain’s iconic love affair may be over – because coffee has taken over as the nation’s favourite drink, a new study shows. 

Four per cent more of the population get the caffeinated drink regularly than the classic staple, according to the Statistica Global Consumer review.

And almost double the number of packs of coffee were bought in supermarkets as compared with tea, according to researchers at global insight company Kantar.

This is despite prices going up, with some shops even putting security tags on instant pots to stop shoplifters.

‘The truth is, tea is becoming outdated. While the country does clearly still embrace it, coffee just has an added dash of excitement,’ food and drinks expert Aidy Smith told The Sunday Times.

Food and drinks expert Aidy Smith slammed tea as ‘outdated’, and says coffee adds a ‘dash of excitement’

‘There’s also so much you can do with coffee. The ability to serve it in so many ways with so many flavour variations and with such creativity has led to it being embraced on such a high level. I mean, what’s the equivalent of latte art with tea? Tea bag art? I don’t think so.’

The sentiment was echoed by top executives at coffee giant Nespresso – who praised the versatility of the drink.

‘More than ever, people are connecting over coffee from morning to night — be that a flat white at breakfast, an iced latte on the go, or an evening espresso martini,’ Anna Lundstrom, the chief executive the company in British and Irish operation, added.

She claims the culture behind coffee is more ‘dynamic and exciting’ – where Brits can become engrossed in the regions, tastes and styles of coffee.

And Ludstrom believes the UK is now a nation of devoted coffee lovers.

This is despite prices on instant coffee topping £10 in many shops, with staff at a Co-op franchise in north east London put ‘display only’ coffee jars on its shelves this week after a 200g jar of Kenco Smooth instant coffee rose 13 per cent in price.

It came after the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said soaring coffee costs were behind food price inflation of 15.4 per cent in May.