PRESTIGIOUS English tea company Twinings has come up with a solution to the problem of the thousands of cups of tea which are forgotten and left to get cold each day in the UK.

The firm, which was established by a Gloucestershire family of the same name, has developed a prototype mug with an alarm which sounds when the tea has reached perfect drinking temperature.

The company commissioned research into the forgotten cup of tea and discovered that three quarters of Brits have a cuppa as their first drink of the day but 22 per cent of those forget to drink it.

According to the study, residents of Cardiff are worst at forgetting to drink their tea with 38 per cent admitting they regularly leave their tea to cool down but then forget to drink it. The people of Birmingham come 10th on the list.

The research shows that making a cup of tea is the first thing a third of Brits do when they get up in the morning. The main reason for forgetting to drink it is because it is too hot.

Twining’s solution has been to develop the 'Forget-tea-not' cup which plays a song to let the drinker know when the tea has reached the perfect temperature for drinking.

A temperature sensor within the base of the mug detects when the tea is at the perfect temperature for drinking and alerts the user. This is done by playing the tune of Bing! Bang! Bong! through an inbuilt speaker in the cup, giving a boost of musical positivity to kick start the day.

Twinings Master Blenders advise that the perfect temperature for tea after adding milk, at the point of the first sip, is 68C – this is the temperature at which the Twinings English Strong Breakfast tea blend delivers maximum flavour.

The shape of the ‘Forget-tea-not’ cup has also been specially designed to deliver the best possible flavour to the tea drinker, says Twinings. The cup has a large rim diameter so that the tea reaches more taste buds – including those at the front of the tongue which pick up the sweeter notes in the tea.

The cups have been hand-painted by artist Cosmin Ciofirdel in the Twinings English Strong Breakfast colour palette. While 'Forget-tea-not' is not yet available to buy, Twinings may look to roll out the prototype for wider consumption in the future.

Vicky Keenan, head of Brand at Twinings, said: “A cup of tea first thing in the morning can help pave the way for a successful day. Almost a third of Brits explained that letting the tea go cold spoils the enjoyment of the first cup of tea of the day, and so we created this prototype mug to really help Brits to savour their first cup of the day.

“With the ‘Forget-tea-not’ cup playing a positive tune and a hot cup of Twinings English Strong Breakfast Tea, you can rest assured that your first cup of tea of the day will be a quality one and you’ll have the best possible start to the day ahead.”