Good old British cuppa gets a revamp in a can

The British idea of a relaxing cuppa could be changed for ever with the launch of tea in a tin yesterday.

Hot cups of tea, coffee and chocolate will be on sale alongside traditional cans after four years of research to develop them.

The idea initially came from Japan where tea and coffee have been sold in cans for a number of years. This sector of the market accounts for 70 per cent of canned drink sales, dwarfing soft drinks.

The different types of drinks will be stored in hot cabinets which keep the cans at between 55 - 57C - normal drinking temperature. Once heated, they should be drunk within seven days for "optimum quality".

The ring-pull cans are made from material similar to that of a soupcan but are covered with polystyrene labels which keep the tea hot without burning the hands. Both the tea and coffee come white.

Brooke Bond, who pioneered the drinks, said tea was the hardest drink to convert to can-form and eventually came up with a formula of freshly brewed PG Tips and milk powder.

The cans are being sold initially in the Greater Manchester area from the New Year.