Are you really a Sheffield student if you haven’t converted to Yorkshire Tea?

If there’s one thing which makes the looming exam season more bearable, it’s copious amounts of tea. There for you in the bitter early mornings, the relief of mid-afternoon, and prompting you to stay awake for late-night revision, tea has always been a student essential. But if you’re a Sheffield student, the broad term ‘tea’ just doesn’t cut it: we want Yorkshire Tea or nothing.

For many, the conversion to Yorkshire Tea has been slow but stealthy. Recall the days when you were a worry-free fresher: your parents had just dropped you off, you were trying to work out the difference between ‘nowt’ and ‘owt’, and you were lumbered with 150 bags of Typhoo Tea to get through. Typhoo? You haven’t heard that brand in a lifetime. Do tea bags still exist that aren’t square? You can’t even remember what it tastes like, but you know it would be inferior to a proper Yorkshire brew.

Fast forward a few months: the Typhoo is a distant memory and your housemates have been making steady progress through a value pack of Yorkshire Tea. You’ve just gone home for Christmas, where your mum practically throws a scolding mug of tea at you as soon as your bags hit the floor. Having a kind gesture makes a nice change, but the change in taste is not so welcome. You thought that the taste upgrade from Typhoo to Yorkshire Tea was down to the price increase, but Mum’s splashed out on Twinings and it’s still not hitting the mark. Pining after a proper brew, your conversion to Yorkshire Tea has fully blossomed.

As with most afflictions of the heart, a devotion to Yorkshire Tea will open up your eyes to the Northern world around you. Ever noticed that Coffee Revs and the IC Cafe only write Yorkshire Tea as the tea options on their menu? It’s because anything else is a hazy memory. Similarly, you usually ignore most adverts when watching TV at home, but the Yorkshire Tea ones catch your attention. They even feature the Brownlee Brothers and the Kaiser Chiefs – if that isn’t a seal of approval I don’t know what is.

Making revision that bit more bearable

There’s even something about the packaging that adds to your love for it – the scene is just so Yorkshire. You can almost see the grey sky and temperamental weather looming over those little stone houses. Plus it only takes a short ride on the bus to find out that the peaks literally looks exactly the same as the packaging. Even the small red tag hanging out of a takeaway cup is enough to put a spring in your step to lectures.

The conversion to Yorkshire Tea isn’t just a change to your shopping list, it’s a change in your way of life. If you ever needed proof that Yorkshire is God’s own County, just switch the kettle on.