Actor Timothy Spall has responded to the criticism he received after sharing with fans that when making a cup of tea he uses both a Yorkshire Tea and an Earl Grey tea bag.
The Harry Potter star appeared on the Off Menu podcast with comedians Ed Gamble and James Acaster last year when he made the beverage bombshell to the two funnymen.
Ed asked: “It’s a mix of teas?”, with Timothy explaining: “Well yeah, two bags. Stick ‘em in, two Yorkshire or whatever the equivalent builders is, then a bag of Earl Grey.
“Let it become so strong that you can stand your spoon up in it, then it’s ready to go.”
The Harry Potter star said: “You’re getting your old fashioned transport caff tea, basic tea that I was brought up on, and then the poncey kind of tea that one is introduced to in a life of sophistication.”
James said: “I’ve never met anyone who’s double-bagged it, let alone cross-bagged”, with Timothy then referring to the process as “cross-fertilising”.
During an appearance on Lorraine on Wednesday, the veteran actor sat down with host Christine Lampard and addressed the “international controversy” his admission sparked.
He said: “I find it quite interesting. You make a cup of tea in the morning and you have no idea you’re going to get hate mail about what you have with your toast.”
He then joked: “It split the nation! It’s an outrage! I have an Earl Grey and a Yorkshire tea bag in my tea.”
He explained: “I’m very inclusive. I like to go towards your building man, your working everyman and your sophisticated ponce. What’s wrong with that? That’s me in a nutshell.”
Christine asked whether he had accidentally come across the surprise combination and decided he liked it, to which Timothy said he could not remember how he came across the unique cup of tea.
He said: “It’s so normal, I suppose it’s a bit like doing something normal until you discover it's illegal and it's pointed out to you – ‘You can’t be doing that, not in this day and age’.
“I just like the taste of it. It’s also got to be left in for a long time. It’s got to taste like you’ve dropped a load of old pennies in it. It’s rustic and sophisticated.”
While he makes a pot of his quirky blend of teas every morning, Timothy said on the podcast that he isn’t impressed by other less traditional herbal teabags like “fennel and raspberry and all them things that aren’t supposed to be in teas”.
