Please tell me the best tea bags and instant coffee to have in my home for surprise visitors?

[mumofoneAloneandwell]

I dont drink tea or coffee at all

Ive got my eye on some cups and saucers and a tea pot

I need to be prepared for potential guests popping up and want to wow them as much as poss

Please advise - sorry to be so dull

M&S coffee bags are good to have in stock for visitors. I use them at work to cut down on my posh coffee habit and I find them good quality

My dd is almost 7 😅

But we are in a new area and dont know anyone - we're finally meeting fellow sen mums and I've overthought this

I've gone Yorkshire gold tea bags
A cafetiere
Still choosing ground coffee that I can chuck in the freezer
Oat and soy long life milk

People probably wont pop in expecting refreshments but its a good habit to be prepared for anything 🤷‍♀️

I firmly support all the Yorkshire tea posters. I’d add, as I don’t think I’ve seen it mentioned, that it might be easier, if you have space, to get a small teapot? Especially if you have say 2-3 friends over who all fancy a tea, it would probably be easier to put a pot on (2-3 bags depending on size and strength - I use two Yorkshire bags in a 1.5l teapot and that gives me about 4-5 decent mugs). If you’re up for making this much effort, I’d get a nice tray, a wee jug or two for milk, a sugar bowl and a tea cosy for the pot, then you just let people pour their own, no worrying about how strong someone likes it or how much milk or if milk goes in first or second…

You could do the same for coffee if you have a cafetière - you just make a pot of tea and a pot of coffee, put it all on a tray and let your guests sort it themselves. Less stress for you, albeit at the cost of storage space and more to clear up afterwards!

Just an aside on ground coffee, don’t put the used grounds down your sink! They’re good to go in the garden or food waste bin.

Yorkshire tea

Its not that strong. I have milky tea. Its the best tea

The "best' tea depends on your water. I don't rate Yorkshire tea at all. We have soft water here. Clipper organic works very well, as well as PG tips.

But for the OP who really just needs one type of tea to be hospitable, better get one which can make a strong cup for those that want it and can be brewed less long for those who don’t. A delicate tea will only serve the latter.

I agree. One of my friends likes very weak tea, so I dip the teabag in very briefly fir her then reuse it for myself. I just leave it in longer for me.

I think the suggestions to get a mokapot/cafetiere and ground coffee are probably not the best for a coffee novice. Best not to invest in these yet and see how it goes with coffee bags first.

The OP might find that her new friends are all tea drinkers anyway.

Taylor’s coffee bags.
Aldi English breakfast tea.

if you don't receive guests often you need sealed teabags so they don't lose flavour.
same for coffee really.
instant coffee individual sticks or coffee bags (lyons)

To all those snobs that say all instant coffee is rubbish, bollocks.
Azera, Kenco, Gold blend are all perfectly acceptable. I’d avoid own brands though. Put them in a nice container and no one knows anyway.
anyone who ‘just drops in’ on me should be grateful they get anything if I don’t drink it! I don’t drink alcohol and wouldn’t get any in on the off chance that someone might pop in!!

Brew Tea has the best teabags. Rolled leaves instead of ground and doesn’t leave such a strong aftertaste on your tongue. Visitors have been impressed and caught DDad trying to take a few home after his last visit.

Don't buy oat or soy milks. Big waste of money unless you have many daily visitors who request those milk-substitutes and will use them up before they go off.

My advice is to ask your visitors if they have a preference each time they visit. You probably have repeat visitors and they are the ones you want to make happy. I use to find I disliked PG Tips for instance. Now I can't taste difference between that and Yorkshire or any other.

It's a matter of taste.
Instant coffee is fine for most people even if they like proper coffee. I actually prefer instant but only drink decaff.
For tea it's more about how strong you make it. Don't over think it.

Another person who doesn’t like Yorkshire tea. Agree it tastes stewed. Gold for me
if you offered me instant coffee I would rather refuse but would not want to be seen as rude. But I’d not be enjoying it 😂 cafetière is better I agree

Nescafé original decaf. It has a lovely caramelly taste. I prefer PG Tips tea bags myself, but Yorkshire Tea is a good, reliable cuppa.
I’m afraid there’s no single way to make a good cup of tea. It depends entirely on the taste of the individual. DH, for instance, likes to brew his for a good five minutes before adding just a dash of whole fat milk. I drink my tea black so I have a quick dip of a tea bag in some boiling water and that’s me done.

They’re okish as a hot drink if you think of them as a thing in their own right rather than comparing to proper coffee. And if you don’t use instant very often it doesn’t keep well after opening, ending up as a solid lump. A few individually packaged coffee bags avoids this problem. We take some Taylor’s bags on holiday, regular for me and decaf for DH.

m&s shortbread tea is incredible - would deffo recommend!

i like the nescafé smooth espresso or any of the finely milled ones by nescafé - i find them better than the big granules!

m&s gold tea too, delish - think that’s what it’s called anyway xx

It is, and they might not pop in but I'm sure they would be happy to be invited over. Hope you really get chance to connect with some of the parents.

Fair point.

Just buy a small bottle of instant coffee and see how you get on. As a sen mum, the best kind of coffee is one that someone else made for you!

With biscuits - I need my sugar rush.

If you bake just use your caster sugar. Only difference is that it’s finer. Don’t waste money buying granulated.

Nooo!!!!

You have to ask people how they like their tea.

I like a proper brew, not weak milky piss water and no sugar. I’d rather make it myself than be given a bad cup of tea.

I do think you’re over thinking this.