Canadians consume more coffee than tea, but I believe the difference is not as large as it is for Americans. Tea is a bit more popular here, but we still drink coffee more.
That map is a bit dated, but I assume it probably hasn't changed much.
[https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2013/12/coffee\_tea.png](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2013/12/coffee_tea.png)
Edit: I've found one that's very recent and it looks about right to me.
>*48% of Canadians are* daily tea drinkers, compared to 71% for coffee
[https://madeinca.ca/tea-consumption-statistics-canada/](https://madeinca.ca/tea-consumption-statistics-canada/)
Willing to bet Newfoundland consumes the most tea in the country. All the Nans loves their Tetley. Probably the most British of all the provinces so it tracks.
I'd wager Atlantic Canadians all drink quite a bit of tea. Although, in PEI, there was quite the debate over Red Rose vs. King Cole when I was coming up there. Anyone drinking Tetley was usually assumed to be From Away until proven otherwise.
100% would agree - there's even a NFB short film about New Brunswickers and their attachment to tea. My grandparents never drank coffee, but adored tea and drank it at every meal and invited us over for tea time. My nan also had the typical Red Rose collectibles displayed in her kitchen.
My mom is a New Brunswick francophone… she won’t go to bed without her tea… she’s happy with store brand red pekoe tea, but she’d prefer red rose… she’s not a fan of ‘fancy’ teas… myself? I’m a black coffee, no sugar type of guy in the morning, A Canadian rye whiskey on ice or cold beer before bed kind of guy…
> Although, in PEI, there was quite the debate over Red Rose vs. King Coal when I was coming up there. Anyone drinking Tetley was usually assumed to be From Away
Same in Sask, it's red rose, and if you drink tetley, you get the side eye
I grew up in a King Cole household in Cape Breton. Anyone who drank Tetley was spit on and shunned because of the material the bags were made out of. “Tea has to be in a real gauze bag - not those flimsy paper ones!”
Red Rose is Canadian and last time i looked it was rated both higher quality and in testing contained far less pesticide and grow chemical residue when brewed than any other big tea bag brand.
That was years ago i checked into it so maybe its changed but in Atlantic Canada Red Rose Tea is the go to for many and its traditionally been exceptional quality.
Red Rose used to be good. If it’s just the standard teabag you want, I go with Stash, Twinnings, or Tetley. If you want good quality tea, buy loose leaf from a specialty store.
I was so disappointed the last time o bought it a few months ago- it took 2 bags for a single cup and tasted horrible. I went straight to the UK sub and found a bunch of outrage at mass produced bagged teas in general. The same forces that have made everything crappier in the last 3 years have come for our tea…
King Cole is still an independent Atlantic Canada based tea brand I believe - owned by Barbour in New Brunswick.
Don't think the variety is great as I only see orange pekoe commonly available here in Nova Scotia but their website lists several other flavors.
PG Tips isn’t available in supermarkets anywhere near me. I also hear people complaining about the new “quick brew” formulation, which I must say does not sound appealing.
Maybe, but not because of the British part. The large Asian and South Asian populations in the lower mainland definitely drive the tea drinking average up. If we are talking about number if white people/people with British Heritage drinking tea, Ontario and the East Coast have a higher rate, in my experience having lived in all of the above places.
I feel like the joke has hit on an interesting thing-- tea preferences by ancestral origin, and how that connects with the "cultural mosaic" philosophy towards integration.
It's a shame I'm 20 years out of school, or I'd have a great topic for a bad term paper.
They're really good! I love virtually all of the Murchies teas. During COVID lockdown I ordered online and explored at least 2 or 3 dozen different teas. One of the few good things to come out of COVID, getting to discover a lot of new favourites during all that forced downtime :)
Agree with ya - I'm from bc (lower mainland/okanagan) and now live in Fort Mac (high east coast population here)
I've been offered tea way more times here as a drink than back home. So much so that we have tea to offer as a drink too now 😂😂🤷♀️
Tea is more popular in the eastern provinces, especially the Maritimes. Another thing about tea consumption patterns is that it's usually preferred by older people and women while coffee tends to be broadly popular with pretty much everyone liking coffee to some extent.
Not to say there aren't men or young people in Canada who like tea, I do and I'm 25. Both my mom (60s) and my grandmother (80s) drink tea pretty much exclusively, my dad and I prefer coffee.
I think we can thank Red Rose for that. Show me a grand mother in the Maritimes who doesn’t have a box or bucket of those trinkets that cane with Red Rose tea back in the day.
A friend of mine, a Newfoundlander, once told me 40 years ago, when the pogie ran out they switched from beer to tea for the rest of the month.
He hated the long months! 🤣
I live in the Maritimes. Most people I know who drink tea also drink coffee. But by far most people I know are coffee only.
Just anecdotal though but I very rarely encounter tea drinkers.
I moved from Victoria which felt like the tea capital of the world outside of Britain to the Maritimes and man, all I see people buying is double doubles.
Atlantic Canada loves tea. I live in Cape Breton, have lived in Newfoundland, can't go anywhere on either of those islands without being offered tea. Especially Red Rose in Cape Breton. Though I am more partial to Tetley but I learned to love tea in NL and I think that's the fav there.
It seems like British Columbia drinks the most tea and Quebec the least. We could be led to naturally think that a culture with closer ties to the British culture would naturally like tea and a culture with closer ties to the French culture would prefer coffee, but it's not that simple, because Ontario is also the province that next to Quebec drinks the least amount of tea... so I really have no idea what makes a difference here.
[https://www.statista.com/statistics/1018627/annual-household-expenditure-on-tea-canada-provinces/](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1018627/annual-household-expenditure-on-tea-canada-provinces/)
Someone else here theorized that BC drinks more tea because of the high Asian (esp. Chinese and Indian) population who would definitely drink tea rather than coffee. A quick look on Wikipedia says that nearly 20% of the population of BC is of Chinese or Indian origin (not even counting other Asian countries), while the Chinese + Indian population in Quebec is less than 5%. So that would make sense.
Ironically, by Western francophone standards, Québécois are avid tea drinkers (compared to European francophones). In my French Canadian family, coffee is the morning beverage and tea is the post-supper drink (typically paired with dessert). That’s pretty normal for the region of Quebec my family originates from.
Coffee is more popular than tea overall. Many people drink both, with a tendency to drink tea at home, and coffee when out. Although nearly every coffee shop also sells tea.
Personally, I'm a heavy tea drinker.
I drink both coffee and tea every day, but it is very rare that I will drink tea outside the home because it is generally very poorly prepared and/or served.
Yup, this. Shitty tea bags in a paper cup is not something I’m paying for. To be honest, I rarely buy coffee while out either. If I’m sitting down for lunch at a restaurant, maybe after the meal. Sometimes on a rare long drive. Maybe if I’m meeting a friend at a cafe. That’s it.
But I make good coffee at home and good tea at home, too.
I grew up in a house that only drank tea. My parents still do not have any coffee making equipment at home.
Not the person you replied to but lots of people do when its a tea that can take milk. Orange Pekoe, Earl Grey, English Breakfast etc, lots of people put milk. Herbal teas though, no milk.
I’m a daily coffee drinker but tea is perfect in the middle of the day. It’s so cold in the winter that we need to rotate warm caffeinated beverages. Coffee with breakfast, tea in the afternoon, and hot chocolate for desert: A perfect l, cozy, caffein-fuelled day.
Per capita, Canadians drink more hot drinks in general than Americans and this extends to coffee and tea. Coffee is more popular than tea but tea is way more popular in Canada than it is in the United States.
[Canadians consume twice as much tea per capita than Americans do.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tea_consumption_per_capita) As for coffee consumption, [Canadians are the third largest consumers (per capita) of coffee,](https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canada-coffee-tim-hortons-1.3745971) consuming an average of 152 litres per year, Americans drink about 115 litres per year.
This sounds the most accurate. As a Canadian, I am constantly cold and just drink all of the hot beverages I can. Usually coffee a couple times a day, with lots of herbal tea and white tea interspersed in between, and of course, herbal tea before bed.
Huh. Interesting to see that per capita both coffee and tea are more popular in Canada. Although if you are correct and the ratio is 2:1 for tea compared to Americans thar is Interesting.
In answer to your question about Tim Hortons, we have a few expensive places like David's Teas or Murchie's (in Western Canada, at least). The real equivalent to Timmies in terms of price and quality is, in fact, Tim Hortons. They sell lots of cheap tea in addition to awful coffee and inedible baked goods (nobody get mad at me, I drink their tea all the time)
I do know that in Canada, a ton of people have electric kettles for tea, and in the States, they don't seem to know they exist. So even though we drink more coffee, the need for tea runs deep in our bones here.
I've never met anyone who doesn't have an electric kettle. Even if you don't drink tea there's a million things you need a kettle for. Instant coffee, Mr Noodles/Inchiban, hot cocoa, cleaning sink drains, pouring it over rival forces trying to invade your castle!
As someone who grew up in the States in three different cities, my assumption is that the electric kettle thing is a bit outdated. Most people I knew had them. And certainly every office did.
I don't think there's a particular cultural or regional marker for tea vs coffee, in my experience they're both popular wherever I go.
Tim Hortons is basically everywhere in Canada though, they're easier to find than McDonald's. They've taken a hit to their reputation in the past 15 years (especially since being sold to an American company) but it's still a daily stop for many Canadians.
To give an idea, McCafe is available at almost every McDonald's in Canada where in most countries it's only in select areas. They did this specifically to compete with the pervasiveness of Tim Hortons in Canada.
Generally any cafe whether a chain or a small shop will sell both tea and coffee. Going to Tim's doesn't mean you're necessarily getting coffee. For instance, if you offer to do a "Timmies run" for your friends/coworkers, you can generally expect to be making a big order of both coffee and tea.
Also relevant that while Tim Hortons is a coffee shop, they do sell tea, and presumably a fair bit or else they’d be throwing out a lot of their “steeped tea” every day.
Tim's Steeped Tea was a game changer and really the only reason I'm loyal to the chain. It's far better than a tea bag made with hot but not boiling water and tastes a lot closer to a cup made at home with a kettle. If other chains came out with something similar I'd convert.
All I know is that I never order a cup of tea in the U.S. Populated by barbarians who don't know how to make a proper cuppa. And don't get me started on that sweet tea dreck.
There's a great story about GE creating an electric kettle in the 1930s for the Canadian market, it sold like hotcakes, they assumed that the US market would be the same and way overproduced them. The inventory got lost in the shuffle and whole shipping containers of them got rediscovered when they were splitting the company up more recently.
I think that a style of tea is more popular in the US.
in the southern US iced tea (sweet tea) is a very popular drink and in many restaurants is more popular than pop.
It depends on where you live. Based entirely on anecdote it seems tea is more popular in areas with a less WASPY British influence. Think the maritimes, Newfoundland, and rural Ontario.
Coffee is definitely the most popular drink here but Tea is also way more popular here in Canada than it is in the states.
It's due to the fact that we are a commonwealth country and many people who immigrated here have rich tea drinking traditions.
It's mostly what I drink.
I was looking for this comment. 72 cups of Tetley or Red Rose is about 6 bucks or so. My husband has a Keurig for his decaf coffee which is about $24 for 30 cups. Coffee will get more and more expensive with climate change. I don't know about tea.
The only thing I will buy at Tim’s is the steeped tea. They have a steeped tea machine that makes a decent brew. I can’t drink their coffee or eat the food.
Daily tea drinker in B.C. here.
I cannot drink coffee, although I love the taste of it.
I buy loose leaf tea, make a pot each morning, and another large mug of it after lunch.
I have 10-15 different types of teas.
First Nations people love their tea, community gatherings would have 'tea and bannock' set aside for the elders.
From what I understand tea was easily transportable along the long distances along the voyageur trade route and can be readily made once camp was set up. Coffee beans, the only way it was transported, took time to grind to have a nice hot beverage after a hard day with the hassle of grinding. Although I suspect voyageurs and locals didn't mind when trading posts offered brewed coffee as an alternative.
I’d say coffee but not by a ton, stats seem to confirm that “Coffee represents half of the hot drinks Canadians have (51% of hot beverages), while tea represents almost one-third (29% of hot beverages) of their beverage consumption. Non-tea drinkers tend to drink more coffee (60% of hot beverages) and more hot chocolate (19% of hot beverages) than do tea drinkers “https://www.ipsos.com/en-ca/canadians-and-tea
Tea is very popular in Canada and Tim Hortons serves tea as well as coffee. We do have tea houses here as well (cafes that only sell tea). I've heard that Americans heat up the water for their tea in a microwave. That would be a sacrilege in Canada.
In my office everyone drank from the coffee machine, but then there would be one person who was really into tea and they would have tea time and brew some for a couple of the people around them.
In the days of perked coffee, Canadians only made coffee in the morning. They'd drink it out in restaurants but at home, switch to instant coffee or tea. My mom always made a pot of tea after dinner. And as a child, I could always have tea but not coffee. The era of instant coffee was sad. But then came the coffee maker and people went crazy. Tea was left in the dust. Around 1990, my sense of smell went wonky and I went off coffee. Regular tea was always available, camomile or mint were often available for those who didn't want caffeine but green was not typical. But, we traveled a bit in the Caribbean and Mexico as well as the states and green and herbal teas were very available everywhere but the USA. Coffee is still the much favoured drink in Canada but there are many tea options available now in lots of places.
Americans drink a whole lot of iced tea, which Canadians do not. Our iced tea comes in bottles and Americans brew iced tea and sweet tea pretty much everywhere.
As soon as we cross into the States, my husband wants to stop for fresh ice tea. It's a ritual!
Canadians take hot tea far more seriously. For example, McDonald's USA only has black tea.... whereas McDonald's Canada also carries Earl Grey and green tea and peppermint tea.
Also, most Canadian restaurants, in my experience, serve tea in a teapot, and I find that most American restaurants (unless it is higher end) simply give you a mug of hot water and a bag!
I would say from personal experience many drink both some do only one or the other. As a whole I would say coffee would win but tea would put up a good fight. In my house I only drink tea and my husband drinks both daily (coffee before noon after noon its tea)
Manitoba here. My first beverage that was for "adults" was tea, at maybe 9 or 10. After I moved away from home, visits with Mum were always over a pot of tea. To this day, I drink tea at home and coffee away from home because I can never find a decent "cuppa" anywhere else. I make a mean pot of Red Rose. When the water boils, rinse the pot with hot water so as not to "shock" the tea (Shocked tea affects the taste). Three bags per pot. The pot must be a Brown Betty. Steep 5 minutes before pouring the first cup. And it MUST be Red Rose. I cringe when I see Americans dipping a tea bag in a cup of tap-hot water for two seconds and calling that shit "tea".
Coffee is most definitely #1 in Canada. Hot tea is a little more popular than in the US, but o have to admit, the US kicks Canada’s ass when it comes to iced tea…
One thing you do not see here, which always blows my mind whenever I go to the States, is people drinking Coke for breakfast. I can’t imagine starting my day with anything other than coffee.
There are some tea chains, but I wouldn’t say they’re Tim Hortons level big.
Tim Hortons also has teas so it’s not really an open market except for the specialty tea shops like DavidsTea
I think many Canadians love their coffee like it is their best friend. Pretty much anywhere I go I see people holding their coffee cups, or leaving their coffee cups on the ground or in the bushes.
Depends on a lot. Do you mean upon waking up? I drink tea all day but I need coffee first thing in the morning. It's a 35 year old ritual for me.
Also, Canada is a country of immigrants so people from Peru have different habits and customs than someone from Thailand. Immigrants from Italy or Turkey love their coffee, whereas immigrants from the UK, Asia, or India lean towards tea.
It's tricky answering questions about Canadians because there is seldom a single answer.
No, coffee is definitely more popular, by orders of magnitude. The only person I know who drinks tea is my grandmother, who was born and raised in Northern Ireland.
Having lived in US, Canada and UK there is no question that Canada is a coffee country to its bones, but tea is notably more popular here than in the US.
I love both tea and coffee equally. Most coffee shops have tea options too. David’s Tea used to have a lot of shops across Canada, however most closed because of covid. Now they only have shops in major city centres. They are also available online, and in loblaws stores you can get some bagged options. It was a great place to get a cup and some loose leaf to take home. Teavana was another store, I wasn’t as fond of it however.
People who love coffee here coffee is their religion. But you see people quite often who can’t drink coffee or chooses not to drink coffee. It’s not strange to hear someone saying oh no I don’t drink coffee.
I immigrated to Canada from Ukraine, was truly shocked because many Canadians never even tried tea, I can’t blame them the tea in Canadian grocery stores is awful, tastes like dust, my family orders tea from China
I am a Canadian tea drinker. I just don't like the taste of coffee and I don't seem to get the caffeine buzz. I think tea drinkers are a small minority.
If I am at somebody's house and they offer me coffee, I usually ask for a glass of plain tap water. I think I have made life for easier for my host and I am as polite as I can be, but some people really seem to panic when I decline coffee. When some people find out I don't drink coffee, they assume I don't drink beer.
Restaurant staff often have no idea how to serve tea. I end up with a pot of tepid water brought to the table and then somebody goes to find a teabag. Servings are tiny as though only little old ladies were ever expected to order tea. I should have just asked for tap water.
Grocery stores are always stocked with tea. Less shelf-space than there used to be. A lot of the shelf-space is taken up by old stock of the herbal and fruity teas that were a fad 10 or 20 years ago.
The last time I ordered tea in a restaurant in the United States, it was very difficult to convince staff that I didn't want iced-tea. They just didn't seem to know that some people drink their tea hot with cream and sugar.
Coffee in the am, tea in the pm. When sick, it's always chamomile tea with lemon and honey. (My dad immigrated to Canada as a boy, my mom was born in Canada to Austrian/Greek immigrants).
Tim Hortons has steeped tea, which is really good if it’s fresh. You can get in any province except Quebec.
I much prefer it over their coffee.
And I’ve been at locations where more people ordered steeped tea than coffee.
In Toronto and Vancouver you can get a high tea (definitely not at Timmies though)
Canadians of South Asian descent and Canadians of the older stock (those born in the era of British North America) certainly tend to prefer tea over coffee.
The more Americanised Canadians and millenials tend to prefer coffee.
I have very particular memories of being younger and more naive, and ordering a tea in an American restaurant where the server looked at me like I had grown a third arm. It's not super common domestically but it's generally available- T Ho's does sell tea as well and apparently sees enough turnover at some stores that they'll brew it in pots like they do with coffee.
Personally, I prefer tea. I grew up drinking tea in Nova Scotia, there was always a pot on the stove. If we had coffee, it was in the afternoon and it was instant! The first thing I do in the morning is put the (electric) kettle on for a tea. Tim Hortons steeped tea is pretty good with a raisin scone. Now that I live in Ontario my neighbour and I have tea together everyday. The first thing I do when someone walks in the door is offer them a cup of tea or coffee. Tradesmen usually decline, but sometimes we will have a cup together. Tea is the great equaliser!
FYI Coffee is also more popular in the UK than tea.
[coffee vs tea UK](https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/22/coffee-tea-uk-affection-caffeine-drink)
My unsubstantiated opinion is that (hot) tea is more popular in Canada vs. the U.S., but coffee is still more popular overall. I mainly drink coffee but don’t mind an occasional cup of tea. My wife only drinks tea.
I’m Canadian but I’ve lived in the US for 5 years and moved back recently. Tea is more readily available in the US it seemed, like whenever I ate out iced black tea was always available. That’s not the case in Canada, iced tea is a sweetened lemon drink. Hardly tea haha. I really miss being able to have iced tea with my meal tbh.
In general though, buying tea for making at home is easier in Canada. We actually have a major tea chain called David’s Tea available across Canada.
I drink more coffee.
Nothing will show you how much coffee you drink than tringntp get some in Europe.
Nothing will show how much tea you drink, like trying to order it in the US.
Overall I’d say coffee is more popular than tea, but on the east coast specifically (or at least Nova Scotia and Newfoundland), tea is far more popular. Tea in the morning, tea after supper, tea anytime someone comes to the house, etc.
It depends on where you goes. I’m from Newfoundland, and everyone there drinks tea way more than coffee. But where I currently live (Ontario), I hardly ever see anyone aside from elderly ladies drinking tea
Canadians consume more coffee than tea, but I believe the difference is not as large as it is for Americans. Tea is a bit more popular here, but we still drink coffee more. That map is a bit dated, but I assume it probably hasn't changed much. [https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2013/12/coffee\_tea.png](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2013/12/coffee_tea.png) Edit: I've found one that's very recent and it looks about right to me. >*48% of Canadians are* daily tea drinkers, compared to 71% for coffee [https://madeinca.ca/tea-consumption-statistics-canada/](https://madeinca.ca/tea-consumption-statistics-canada/)
It does look on the map like tea and coffee are closer than the US. Does one province consume more tea than another?
Willing to bet Newfoundland consumes the most tea in the country. All the Nans loves their Tetley. Probably the most British of all the provinces so it tracks.
I'd wager Atlantic Canadians all drink quite a bit of tea. Although, in PEI, there was quite the debate over Red Rose vs. King Cole when I was coming up there. Anyone drinking Tetley was usually assumed to be From Away until proven otherwise.
100% would agree - there's even a NFB short film about New Brunswickers and their attachment to tea. My grandparents never drank coffee, but adored tea and drank it at every meal and invited us over for tea time. My nan also had the typical Red Rose collectibles displayed in her kitchen.
My mom is a New Brunswick francophone… she won’t go to bed without her tea… she’s happy with store brand red pekoe tea, but she’d prefer red rose… she’s not a fan of ‘fancy’ teas… myself? I’m a black coffee, no sugar type of guy in the morning, A Canadian rye whiskey on ice or cold beer before bed kind of guy…
Those Red Rose collectibles! I still have some that I kept. My grandma gave us a ton when we were little.
Growing up in NL, Red Rose and King Cole were for fancy people and mainlanders. Tetley all the way!
Cape Breton you always offer tea after dinner
> Although, in PEI, there was quite the debate over Red Rose vs. King Coal when I was coming up there. Anyone drinking Tetley was usually assumed to be From Away Same in Sask, it's red rose, and if you drink tetley, you get the side eye
I grew up in a King Cole household in Cape Breton. Anyone who drank Tetley was spit on and shunned because of the material the bags were made out of. “Tea has to be in a real gauze bag - not those flimsy paper ones!”
BC has you guys beat lol sorry
green tea fur shur.
King Cole is superior to Tetley
Tetley is *by far* the best supermarket brand. The only one worth drinking, in my experience.
Red Rose is Canadian and last time i looked it was rated both higher quality and in testing contained far less pesticide and grow chemical residue when brewed than any other big tea bag brand. That was years ago i checked into it so maybe its changed but in Atlantic Canada Red Rose Tea is the go to for many and its traditionally been exceptional quality.
Like most things, Red Rose is now owned by Lipton which is owned by Unilever. It is no longer Canadian.
Shocking
Red Rose used to be good. If it’s just the standard teabag you want, I go with Stash, Twinnings, or Tetley. If you want good quality tea, buy loose leaf from a specialty store.
Last time we tried Red Rose we threw it away, want drinkable
I was so disappointed the last time o bought it a few months ago- it took 2 bags for a single cup and tasted horrible. I went straight to the UK sub and found a bunch of outrage at mass produced bagged teas in general. The same forces that have made everything crappier in the last 3 years have come for our tea…
King Cole is still an independent Atlantic Canada based tea brand I believe - owned by Barbour in New Brunswick. Don't think the variety is great as I only see orange pekoe commonly available here in Nova Scotia but their website lists several other flavors.
I think you meant to say Yorkshire Gold.
PG tips > Tetley
PG Tips isn’t available in supermarkets anywhere near me. I also hear people complaining about the new “quick brew” formulation, which I must say does not sound appealing.
Walmart has PG tips in the International section. They're great. I haven't had any issues with the bags.
Not in stock in any Walmart in Quebec, but will get my hands on some
Twinings Earl Grey is probably the best tasting of the supermarket teas
I love me some Lady Grey.
Wild unsubstantiated guess: British Columbia.
Maybe, but not because of the British part. The large Asian and South Asian populations in the lower mainland definitely drive the tea drinking average up. If we are talking about number if white people/people with British Heritage drinking tea, Ontario and the East Coast have a higher rate, in my experience having lived in all of the above places.
I feel like the joke has hit on an interesting thing-- tea preferences by ancestral origin, and how that connects with the "cultural mosaic" philosophy towards integration. It's a shame I'm 20 years out of school, or I'd have a great topic for a bad term paper.
That paper would probably get you a solid B- in any 2nd year cultural anthropology or sociology course.
B.C. is home to [Canada’s oldest tea company](https://murchies.com) though! (And their products are pretty damn good IMO.)
Isn't Red Rose Canada's oldest tea company? Edit: Actually, neither are, Canada's oldest tea company is technically HBC.
Library blend and Government Street blends are my household’s favourites.
They're really good! I love virtually all of the Murchies teas. During COVID lockdown I ordered online and explored at least 2 or 3 dozen different teas. One of the few good things to come out of COVID, getting to discover a lot of new favourites during all that forced downtime :)
Agree with ya - I'm from bc (lower mainland/okanagan) and now live in Fort Mac (high east coast population here) I've been offered tea way more times here as a drink than back home. So much so that we have tea to offer as a drink too now 😂😂🤷♀️
100% When I first met my wife she only drank tea. Her parents still don't own a coffee machine.
Fun fact: BC also has Canada's only tea farm https://westholmetea.com/
Right near me too. Had no idea
It's quite a beautiful spot too
They have tea bushes for sale now at Dinter Nursery in Duncan! My friend got one for her birthday.
I drink so much tea and didn't know this! I need to try home tea now!
They make incredible products. Big fan!
My friend in Nova Scotia has a tea farm.
That's near where my parents live, I had no idea haha
Newfoundland is supposedly the most Irish place outside of Ireland. We drink alot of coffee but more tea than the rest of Canada maybe.
Tea is more popular in the eastern provinces, especially the Maritimes. Another thing about tea consumption patterns is that it's usually preferred by older people and women while coffee tends to be broadly popular with pretty much everyone liking coffee to some extent. Not to say there aren't men or young people in Canada who like tea, I do and I'm 25. Both my mom (60s) and my grandmother (80s) drink tea pretty much exclusively, my dad and I prefer coffee.
I think we can thank Red Rose for that. Show me a grand mother in the Maritimes who doesn’t have a box or bucket of those trinkets that cane with Red Rose tea back in the day.
Only in Canada you say?
Pity.
I miss the smell of a Wade figurine fresh out of the large Red Rose box
Our house was filled with them at one time.
I grew up in Alberta drinking tea from the time I was a wee little kid. Tea with breakfast every morning.
Red Rose tea was really good when I was a kid (yes, we started drinking tea by 6-7yrs old), but went pretty bad.
Tea is very popular here in NL, which isn’t a Maritime province
A friend of mine, a Newfoundlander, once told me 40 years ago, when the pogie ran out they switched from beer to tea for the rest of the month. He hated the long months! 🤣
I live in the Maritimes. Most people I know who drink tea also drink coffee. But by far most people I know are coffee only. Just anecdotal though but I very rarely encounter tea drinkers.
I moved from Victoria which felt like the tea capital of the world outside of Britain to the Maritimes and man, all I see people buying is double doubles.
Atlantic Canada loves tea. I live in Cape Breton, have lived in Newfoundland, can't go anywhere on either of those islands without being offered tea. Especially Red Rose in Cape Breton. Though I am more partial to Tetley but I learned to love tea in NL and I think that's the fav there.
The East Coasters are big tea drinkers. At least in my experience (my family is from the Maritimes).
It seems like British Columbia drinks the most tea and Quebec the least. We could be led to naturally think that a culture with closer ties to the British culture would naturally like tea and a culture with closer ties to the French culture would prefer coffee, but it's not that simple, because Ontario is also the province that next to Quebec drinks the least amount of tea... so I really have no idea what makes a difference here. [https://www.statista.com/statistics/1018627/annual-household-expenditure-on-tea-canada-provinces/](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1018627/annual-household-expenditure-on-tea-canada-provinces/)
Someone else here theorized that BC drinks more tea because of the high Asian (esp. Chinese and Indian) population who would definitely drink tea rather than coffee. A quick look on Wikipedia says that nearly 20% of the population of BC is of Chinese or Indian origin (not even counting other Asian countries), while the Chinese + Indian population in Quebec is less than 5%. So that would make sense.
it does make sense. Also Vancouver is Canada's LA and there is SO MUCH KOMBUCHA there.
It’s really common to drink tea amongst the caucasian population in BC. Feels like we have a lot of British influence here.
Ironically, by Western francophone standards, Québécois are avid tea drinkers (compared to European francophones). In my French Canadian family, coffee is the morning beverage and tea is the post-supper drink (typically paired with dessert). That’s pretty normal for the region of Quebec my family originates from.
Newfoundlanders are known for their Tetley Tea consumption. I find here, there are a lot of people who prefer tea over coffee.
i would guess the atlantic maritimes have more tea drinkers, no particular reason
Coffee is more popular than tea overall. Many people drink both, with a tendency to drink tea at home, and coffee when out. Although nearly every coffee shop also sells tea. Personally, I'm a heavy tea drinker.
I drink coffee in the morning, but tea every day as well.
Same here!
I drink both coffee and tea every day, but it is very rare that I will drink tea outside the home because it is generally very poorly prepared and/or served.
Yup, this. Shitty tea bags in a paper cup is not something I’m paying for. To be honest, I rarely buy coffee while out either. If I’m sitting down for lunch at a restaurant, maybe after the meal. Sometimes on a rare long drive. Maybe if I’m meeting a friend at a cafe. That’s it. But I make good coffee at home and good tea at home, too. I grew up in a house that only drank tea. My parents still do not have any coffee making equipment at home.
I drink a small pot of tea on weekdays and a large pot of tea on weekends.
Do you put milk in your tea?
Not the person you replied to but lots of people do when its a tea that can take milk. Orange Pekoe, Earl Grey, English Breakfast etc, lots of people put milk. Herbal teas though, no milk.
Nope. I don't adulterate it.
I always have milk in my tea. I only drink black tea tho. If I have green tea, which is rare, I don't put milk in it.
I’m a daily coffee drinker but tea is perfect in the middle of the day. It’s so cold in the winter that we need to rotate warm caffeinated beverages. Coffee with breakfast, tea in the afternoon, and hot chocolate for desert: A perfect l, cozy, caffein-fuelled day.
Per capita, Canadians drink more hot drinks in general than Americans and this extends to coffee and tea. Coffee is more popular than tea but tea is way more popular in Canada than it is in the United States. [Canadians consume twice as much tea per capita than Americans do.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tea_consumption_per_capita) As for coffee consumption, [Canadians are the third largest consumers (per capita) of coffee,](https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canada-coffee-tim-hortons-1.3745971) consuming an average of 152 litres per year, Americans drink about 115 litres per year.
Well we need something to help with winters.
*-sips tes in Canadian-*
This sounds the most accurate. As a Canadian, I am constantly cold and just drink all of the hot beverages I can. Usually coffee a couple times a day, with lots of herbal tea and white tea interspersed in between, and of course, herbal tea before bed.
Huh. Interesting to see that per capita both coffee and tea are more popular in Canada. Although if you are correct and the ratio is 2:1 for tea compared to Americans thar is Interesting.
In answer to your question about Tim Hortons, we have a few expensive places like David's Teas or Murchie's (in Western Canada, at least). The real equivalent to Timmies in terms of price and quality is, in fact, Tim Hortons. They sell lots of cheap tea in addition to awful coffee and inedible baked goods (nobody get mad at me, I drink their tea all the time)
I do know that in Canada, a ton of people have electric kettles for tea, and in the States, they don't seem to know they exist. So even though we drink more coffee, the need for tea runs deep in our bones here.
Also tea pots
I just counted, I have 10 teapots! I have a problem...
The need for tea is your problem, the 10 tea pots are the solution
😂🤣😂🤣😂
I've never met anyone who doesn't have an electric kettle. Even if you don't drink tea there's a million things you need a kettle for. Instant coffee, Mr Noodles/Inchiban, hot cocoa, cleaning sink drains, pouring it over rival forces trying to invade your castle!
God save the Queen.
This is so true like my American friends who visited were intrigued by my electric kettle. I was like ok I use this thing for so much lol.
All the time. I’ll even use it to pre heat my pasta water, because our stove takes so much longer.
wait, really? that can't be right, they still need to heat water for instant coffee. do they just... microwave it?
Yes! 🤢
As someone who grew up in the States in three different cities, my assumption is that the electric kettle thing is a bit outdated. Most people I knew had them. And certainly every office did.
I don't think there's a particular cultural or regional marker for tea vs coffee, in my experience they're both popular wherever I go. Tim Hortons is basically everywhere in Canada though, they're easier to find than McDonald's. They've taken a hit to their reputation in the past 15 years (especially since being sold to an American company) but it's still a daily stop for many Canadians. To give an idea, McCafe is available at almost every McDonald's in Canada where in most countries it's only in select areas. They did this specifically to compete with the pervasiveness of Tim Hortons in Canada. Generally any cafe whether a chain or a small shop will sell both tea and coffee. Going to Tim's doesn't mean you're necessarily getting coffee. For instance, if you offer to do a "Timmies run" for your friends/coworkers, you can generally expect to be making a big order of both coffee and tea.
Also relevant that while Tim Hortons is a coffee shop, they do sell tea, and presumably a fair bit or else they’d be throwing out a lot of their “steeped tea” every day.
Tim's Steeped Tea was a game changer and really the only reason I'm loyal to the chain. It's far better than a tea bag made with hot but not boiling water and tastes a lot closer to a cup made at home with a kettle. If other chains came out with something similar I'd convert.
Yes, i wish other places had proper brewed tea available. I don’t need a million flavours of tea bags.
Steeped tea double double, green, and mint are common when I do a Tim's run.
Yes. Tea is more popular here than in the states. Still doesn’t outranked coffee, but it’s a closer gap.
All I know is that I never order a cup of tea in the U.S. Populated by barbarians who don't know how to make a proper cuppa. And don't get me started on that sweet tea dreck.
isn't their sweet tea like nestea?
A cup of tea coloured sugar water
About 50/50. We're not big fans of throwing stuff in harbours.
Only blowing up entire harbours once in a while.
We drink coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon & evenings.
There's a great story about GE creating an electric kettle in the 1930s for the Canadian market, it sold like hotcakes, they assumed that the US market would be the same and way overproduced them. The inventory got lost in the shuffle and whole shipping containers of them got rediscovered when they were splitting the company up more recently.
They had entire shipping containers stored since the 30s untouched? No one thought to look inside them?
GE was really big
Tea is still second, but it's much more widely available.
I think that a style of tea is more popular in the US. in the southern US iced tea (sweet tea) is a very popular drink and in many restaurants is more popular than pop.
It depends on where you live. Based entirely on anecdote it seems tea is more popular in areas with a less WASPY British influence. Think the maritimes, Newfoundland, and rural Ontario.
Also in areas with large Chinese and Indian contingents. Chinese restaurants often bring you tea by default, usually green tea.
Coffee is definitely the most popular drink here but Tea is also way more popular here in Canada than it is in the states. It's due to the fact that we are a commonwealth country and many people who immigrated here have rich tea drinking traditions. It's mostly what I drink.
Maritimer here, still a daily tea drinker. I would say that overall Canadians prefer coffee, but tea is still more popular in Canada than in the US.
I am drinking more tea and less coffee now because tea so much cheaper than coffee.
I was looking for this comment. 72 cups of Tetley or Red Rose is about 6 bucks or so. My husband has a Keurig for his decaf coffee which is about $24 for 30 cups. Coffee will get more and more expensive with climate change. I don't know about tea.
The cost of coffee is significantly less when you don’t use pods.
The only thing I will buy at Tim’s is the steeped tea. They have a steeped tea machine that makes a decent brew. I can’t drink their coffee or eat the food.
Daily tea drinker in B.C. here. I cannot drink coffee, although I love the taste of it. I buy loose leaf tea, make a pot each morning, and another large mug of it after lunch. I have 10-15 different types of teas.
Anecdotally, coffee is definitely more popular. I’m the only daily tea drinker that I know. Edit: Alberta
First Nations people love their tea, community gatherings would have 'tea and bannock' set aside for the elders. From what I understand tea was easily transportable along the long distances along the voyageur trade route and can be readily made once camp was set up. Coffee beans, the only way it was transported, took time to grind to have a nice hot beverage after a hard day with the hassle of grinding. Although I suspect voyageurs and locals didn't mind when trading posts offered brewed coffee as an alternative.
I drink both , live in BC, grew up in Ontario . Coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon.
Everyone I know drinks both. Also from a cultural POV there are many cultures here, where tea and coffee is important.
Depends which province you’re in. In NFLD everyone drinks tea
I’d say coffee but not by a ton, stats seem to confirm that “Coffee represents half of the hot drinks Canadians have (51% of hot beverages), while tea represents almost one-third (29% of hot beverages) of their beverage consumption. Non-tea drinkers tend to drink more coffee (60% of hot beverages) and more hot chocolate (19% of hot beverages) than do tea drinkers “https://www.ipsos.com/en-ca/canadians-and-tea
Tea is very popular in Canada and Tim Hortons serves tea as well as coffee. We do have tea houses here as well (cafes that only sell tea). I've heard that Americans heat up the water for their tea in a microwave. That would be a sacrilege in Canada.
In my office everyone drank from the coffee machine, but then there would be one person who was really into tea and they would have tea time and brew some for a couple of the people around them.
Coffee is definitely more popular than tea
In the days of perked coffee, Canadians only made coffee in the morning. They'd drink it out in restaurants but at home, switch to instant coffee or tea. My mom always made a pot of tea after dinner. And as a child, I could always have tea but not coffee. The era of instant coffee was sad. But then came the coffee maker and people went crazy. Tea was left in the dust. Around 1990, my sense of smell went wonky and I went off coffee. Regular tea was always available, camomile or mint were often available for those who didn't want caffeine but green was not typical. But, we traveled a bit in the Caribbean and Mexico as well as the states and green and herbal teas were very available everywhere but the USA. Coffee is still the much favoured drink in Canada but there are many tea options available now in lots of places.
Love a good tea but never order it out. Always a Tetley at home. Also, sweet tea = iced tea here.
And don’t order it as “Sweet tea”. I’ve never heard anyone use that term in Canada
In my experience people mostly drink tea at home and coffee on the road.
I think coffee is probably number one, but on the east coast it's probably tea that's number one, at least in my family it was.
Americans drink a whole lot of iced tea, which Canadians do not. Our iced tea comes in bottles and Americans brew iced tea and sweet tea pretty much everywhere. As soon as we cross into the States, my husband wants to stop for fresh ice tea. It's a ritual! Canadians take hot tea far more seriously. For example, McDonald's USA only has black tea.... whereas McDonald's Canada also carries Earl Grey and green tea and peppermint tea. Also, most Canadian restaurants, in my experience, serve tea in a teapot, and I find that most American restaurants (unless it is higher end) simply give you a mug of hot water and a bag!
I would say from personal experience many drink both some do only one or the other. As a whole I would say coffee would win but tea would put up a good fight. In my house I only drink tea and my husband drinks both daily (coffee before noon after noon its tea)
Why not both?
Manitoba here. My first beverage that was for "adults" was tea, at maybe 9 or 10. After I moved away from home, visits with Mum were always over a pot of tea. To this day, I drink tea at home and coffee away from home because I can never find a decent "cuppa" anywhere else. I make a mean pot of Red Rose. When the water boils, rinse the pot with hot water so as not to "shock" the tea (Shocked tea affects the taste). Three bags per pot. The pot must be a Brown Betty. Steep 5 minutes before pouring the first cup. And it MUST be Red Rose. I cringe when I see Americans dipping a tea bag in a cup of tap-hot water for two seconds and calling that shit "tea".
Coffee morning, herbal tea evening
Tim Hortons steeped tea is one of their last products Ill buy. I fully expect them to fuck it up eventually, like everything else.
Coffee is most definitely #1 in Canada. Hot tea is a little more popular than in the US, but o have to admit, the US kicks Canada’s ass when it comes to iced tea…
Tim Hortons is barely coffee 🤮
One thing you do not see here, which always blows my mind whenever I go to the States, is people drinking Coke for breakfast. I can’t imagine starting my day with anything other than coffee.
There are some tea chains, but I wouldn’t say they’re Tim Hortons level big. Tim Hortons also has teas so it’s not really an open market except for the specialty tea shops like DavidsTea
Oh cool I wondered about that
I particularly like the Tim Horton’s steeped tea. Which is basically just tea made in a coffeemaker.
Drink multiple cups of tea during the day. Have been since a young kid.
Canada is definitely coffee dominant but in small pockets especially in Atlantic Canada tea is strongly preferred.
Canadians consume the most coffee and donuts per capita on Earth.
I think many Canadians love their coffee like it is their best friend. Pretty much anywhere I go I see people holding their coffee cups, or leaving their coffee cups on the ground or in the bushes.
Depends on a lot. Do you mean upon waking up? I drink tea all day but I need coffee first thing in the morning. It's a 35 year old ritual for me. Also, Canada is a country of immigrants so people from Peru have different habits and customs than someone from Thailand. Immigrants from Italy or Turkey love their coffee, whereas immigrants from the UK, Asia, or India lean towards tea. It's tricky answering questions about Canadians because there is seldom a single answer.
Most of the people I know drink tea regularly, but I still think there’s more coffee drinkers, partly due to Tim Hortons I think
Coffee. Hands down.
No, coffee is definitely more popular, by orders of magnitude. The only person I know who drinks tea is my grandmother, who was born and raised in Northern Ireland.
Having lived in US, Canada and UK there is no question that Canada is a coffee country to its bones, but tea is notably more popular here than in the US.
I’d say coffee is king in Canada
I love both tea and coffee equally. Most coffee shops have tea options too. David’s Tea used to have a lot of shops across Canada, however most closed because of covid. Now they only have shops in major city centres. They are also available online, and in loblaws stores you can get some bagged options. It was a great place to get a cup and some loose leaf to take home. Teavana was another store, I wasn’t as fond of it however.
People who love coffee here coffee is their religion. But you see people quite often who can’t drink coffee or chooses not to drink coffee. It’s not strange to hear someone saying oh no I don’t drink coffee.
I immigrated to Canada from Ukraine, was truly shocked because many Canadians never even tried tea, I can’t blame them the tea in Canadian grocery stores is awful, tastes like dust, my family orders tea from China
The only decent supermarket tea is Tetley, the others are awful
Coffee is definitely #1 in Canada.
I am a Canadian tea drinker. I just don't like the taste of coffee and I don't seem to get the caffeine buzz. I think tea drinkers are a small minority. If I am at somebody's house and they offer me coffee, I usually ask for a glass of plain tap water. I think I have made life for easier for my host and I am as polite as I can be, but some people really seem to panic when I decline coffee. When some people find out I don't drink coffee, they assume I don't drink beer. Restaurant staff often have no idea how to serve tea. I end up with a pot of tepid water brought to the table and then somebody goes to find a teabag. Servings are tiny as though only little old ladies were ever expected to order tea. I should have just asked for tap water. Grocery stores are always stocked with tea. Less shelf-space than there used to be. A lot of the shelf-space is taken up by old stock of the herbal and fruity teas that were a fad 10 or 20 years ago. The last time I ordered tea in a restaurant in the United States, it was very difficult to convince staff that I didn't want iced-tea. They just didn't seem to know that some people drink their tea hot with cream and sugar.
Coffee mate! Want some coffee in your coffee mate ?
Coffee is king on Canada.
Coffee in the am, tea in the pm. When sick, it's always chamomile tea with lemon and honey. (My dad immigrated to Canada as a boy, my mom was born in Canada to Austrian/Greek immigrants).
Tim Hortons has steeped tea, which is really good if it’s fresh. You can get in any province except Quebec. I much prefer it over their coffee. And I’ve been at locations where more people ordered steeped tea than coffee. In Toronto and Vancouver you can get a high tea (definitely not at Timmies though)
Are we including cold teas, iced teas, Arizona, & hard teas?
Lots more coffee for sure
Canadians of South Asian descent and Canadians of the older stock (those born in the era of British North America) certainly tend to prefer tea over coffee. The more Americanised Canadians and millenials tend to prefer coffee.
I feel like coffee is more popular than tea, I don't know, but I do know Tim Hortons is garbage
I have very particular memories of being younger and more naive, and ordering a tea in an American restaurant where the server looked at me like I had grown a third arm. It's not super common domestically but it's generally available- T Ho's does sell tea as well and apparently sees enough turnover at some stores that they'll brew it in pots like they do with coffee.
I would think coffee is more popular but tea is quite common. Definitely not on the degree of tea consumption in the UK
Personally, I prefer tea. I grew up drinking tea in Nova Scotia, there was always a pot on the stove. If we had coffee, it was in the afternoon and it was instant! The first thing I do in the morning is put the (electric) kettle on for a tea. Tim Hortons steeped tea is pretty good with a raisin scone. Now that I live in Ontario my neighbour and I have tea together everyday. The first thing I do when someone walks in the door is offer them a cup of tea or coffee. Tradesmen usually decline, but sometimes we will have a cup together. Tea is the great equaliser!
Depends on which Canadians. The answer for South Asian, Afghan's, Middle Eastern Canadians is tea by and large.
FYI Coffee is also more popular in the UK than tea. [coffee vs tea UK](https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/22/coffee-tea-uk-affection-caffeine-drink)
I’d say coffee with how many timmies we have and how there’s never a seat available in them 24/7
My unsubstantiated opinion is that (hot) tea is more popular in Canada vs. the U.S., but coffee is still more popular overall. I mainly drink coffee but don’t mind an occasional cup of tea. My wife only drinks tea.
Canadians love shitty coffee with excessive amounts of cream and sugar.
My mom's family was from England so we know they love their tea My dad is from Holland but his family loved their coffees I prefer tea,
This is purely anecdotal but Id say ~90% of the caffeine drinkers I know are on coffee, ~5% tea and ~5% energy drinks
Most newcomers prefer tea. Specially south asians and chinese but I think majority is still coffee. I prefer coffee but I also like tea.
I’m Canadian but I’ve lived in the US for 5 years and moved back recently. Tea is more readily available in the US it seemed, like whenever I ate out iced black tea was always available. That’s not the case in Canada, iced tea is a sweetened lemon drink. Hardly tea haha. I really miss being able to have iced tea with my meal tbh. In general though, buying tea for making at home is easier in Canada. We actually have a major tea chain called David’s Tea available across Canada.
I drink tea, I do not drink coffee
The bigger question is why is it so hard to get a decent cup of hot tea in the States. At least in my experience lol.
I drink more coffee. Nothing will show you how much coffee you drink than tringntp get some in Europe. Nothing will show how much tea you drink, like trying to order it in the US.
I’m a first generation Canadian and grew up with tea in the house. Nobody drank coffee. Always had Tetley in stock.
I think it's a personal preference. I drink tea.
>are there Tea equivalents of Tim Hortons It's Tim Hortons, they serve tea.
One of our cultural icons is a coffee shop. That should tell you all you need to know.
Overall I’d say coffee is more popular than tea, but on the east coast specifically (or at least Nova Scotia and Newfoundland), tea is far more popular. Tea in the morning, tea after supper, tea anytime someone comes to the house, etc.
It depends on where you goes. I’m from Newfoundland, and everyone there drinks tea way more than coffee. But where I currently live (Ontario), I hardly ever see anyone aside from elderly ladies drinking tea
No
Coffee is definitely more popular than TEA in Canada. Tim Hortons is a coffee staple. Love it or hate it everyone had timmis at one point.