Paul McCartney Reveals How He Takes His Tea

Never one to waste an opportunity to answer some of his fans in-depth questions about songwriting, his fascinatingly deep and world changing relationship with John Lennon, or the technical hurdles he overcame to produce some of the important music of the past century — Paul McCartney instead chose to discuss. . . drinking tea.

McCartney answered the question posted via his official website's (PaulMcCartney.com) “You Gave Me The Answer” fan corner, which asked the former-Beatle how he took his tea. He replied, “How do I take my tea? I take my tea with some soya milk and one sugar. If I’m really feeling naughty, one and a half sugars. . . I know, I’m living on the edge!”

He added: “The funny thing is, I’m not a big tea drinker, but at the studio these things become a ritual. You guys have seen me drink it at the office too. It’s like — here’s a bagel, with a cup of tea. And that’s the only time I ever really have tea. I drink it at the studio or at the office, it just seems to fit. I don’t want a big lunch, so just that bagel and tea is great. And yeah, that’s how I take it — soya milk and one sugar.”

One of the standout tracks on Paul McCartney's 2005 Chaos And Creation album was the almost Elizabethan-sounding track, “English Tea.” McCartney shed light on the backstory to the song: “I was abroad and I'd asked for a cup of tea. Now, if you're in England, you say, 'Cup of tea' — and they know what you mean. But, if you're abroad, they say, 'What kind of tea?' But, you have to say, 'English breakfast tea' — and then you'll get a cup of tea. And, I've got quite a few friends, and I'm thinking of a particular, sort of, older lady, who's posh. And I noticed that when she talked, she just had other phrases. So whereas I might say, 'Would you like a cup of tea?' — she'd say, 'Would you care to take a cup of tea.'”