Stars turn to singing the brews in praise of local tea

But forget about a Jack Daniels and Coke or a glass of Cristal champagne, a growing legion of musicians and celebrities are instead opting to switch on the kettle for a cup of Yorkshire Tea. Famous names including Noel Gallagher, Madonna and Ozzy Osbourne have long held a soft spot for the brand, but they are being joined by a lengthening list of celebrity endorsements. And word is spreading across the globe as they use the social networking site, Twitter, to sing the praises of the humble cuppa produced by Taylors of Harrogate. Yorkshire Tea was mentioned 32,000 times on the internet in the past 30 days, compared with just 1,200 occasions in the same period last year as a new generation of fans attempt to glean more information. Louis Tomlinson, a member of the boy band One Direction who have become a major act across the Atlantic, is among the famous faces adding to the mounting clamour about Yorkshire Tea. Taylors of Harrogate’s brand communications manager, Dom Dwight, has been in contact with the 20-year-old singer via email after he tweeted about Yorkshire Tea, and has spoken to his mother, Jay, on the phone. Doncaster-born Mr Tomlinson stocked up on Yorkshire Tea so he would not miss the brew while on the road in the USA and admitted: “I have to have my Yorkshire Tea with me.” Yorkshire Tea has attracted more than 21,200 followers on Twitter and saw 11,000 mentions in just one day after the brand was endorsed by the singer. Other celebrities including Danny O’Donoghue, the lead singer with The Script and one of the judges on the BBC series The Voice, and Leeds’ own Kaiser Chiefs have all expressed their love of the tea. Mr Dwight said: “There appears to be a real movement behind Yorkshire Tea at the moment, and there is a very real danger that it is becoming a cool brand. “A lot of these celebrities have been fans for a while now, but it is Twitter that is bringing it to people’s attention. “It has been the catalyst, and there has been a real burst of interest.” Tim Burgess, the frontman with indie band The Charlatans, is a prolific tweeter and has been in regular contact with the company via the social networking site. Mr Dwight revealed that a box of Yorkshire Tea with the famous logo changed to include Mr Burgess’s name has been sent to the singer as a gift for the publicity he has given. The brand has also featured in hugely popular television programmes, such as the US drama, Homeland, which showed Damien Lewis’s character, Sergeant Nicholas Brody, having a brew. It has also been seen in a long-running fly-on-the-wall documentary series called LA Ink, which features rock-star tattoo artist Dan Smith, who works at the High Voltage parlour and is also a big Yorkshire Tea fan. Mr Dwight said: “One of the more surreal moments was when I was sitting at home tweeting to Tim Burgess about what was happening on Homeland on the television. He is a huge fan of the show, and wanted to catch up with what was happening while he was on tour in Milan. “Twitter has opened us up to a whole new audience, and the best thing about it is that everyone is on an equal footing. “Whether you are a big company, a pop star or just a member of the public, everyone is able to chat directly to each other about Yorkshire Tea. “We have always had a level of support, but people didn’t perhaps realise that they were part of such a big movement backing Yorkshire Tea. “It seems as though there has been a change in the times – pop stars are not perhaps chasing such a glamorous image these days, they want to be seen to be more in touch with people and Yorkshire Tea fits that image perfectly.” Other fans include television presenter Alan Carr, singer Rufus Wainwright and rapper Tinie Tempah as well as Radio 1 DJ Sara Cox, who tweeted that the hard water blend is a “life-changing brew”. Taylors of Harrogate has already embarked on a high-profile marketing campaign in America after Yorkshire Tea’s iconic tea wagon, Little Urn, embarked on an epic tour of the US last year. The converted ice cream van was shipped out across the Atlantic for a high-profile road trip across the States, calling in at a string of world-famous landmarks while covering almost 5,000 miles and serving up about 2,500 cups of tea. Taylors of Harrogate was looking to raise the profile of its product by handing out free cups of tea across America to Brits abroad unable to get their hands on a proper cuppa. The Yorkshire Post joined Little Urn on its travels for a week in January last year.