Supermarket own-brand teas have outperformed big-name brands in a blind taste test conducted by consumer experts at Which?, with Sainsbury's Red Label Tea and Waitrose's Essential Original Blend both scoring 75 per cent. The two teas, priced at £1.40 and £1.45 for 80 tea bags respectively, were awarded 'best buy' status, with Sainsbury's also hailed as 'great value' at half the price of Tetley and Yorkshire Tea.
How the teas were tested
A panel of 67 regular tea drinkers tasted 11 everyday teas, including M&S, Waitrose, PG Tips, Tetley, and Tesco. Each tea was brewed according to pack instructions, and tasters added milk or sugar to their liking, always in precisely the same amounts. The teas were tasted in a fully rotated order to avoid bias, with each tester using a private booth to prevent discussion or influence.
The tasters rated flavour, aroma, appearance, and mouthfeel, with the overall score weighted as 50 per cent flavour, 25 per cent appearance, 20 per cent aroma, and 5 per cent mouthfeel. Most tasters (61 per cent) preferred milk only, while 30 per cent added both milk and sugar.
Top performers and standout qualities
Sainsbury's Red Label Tea was described as an 'excellent low-cost cuppa', with two-thirds of tasters saying they would happily make it their regular tea. Its colour was rated 'pleasing' by the vast majority, and more than half thought the strength of flavour was 'perfect', enjoying the 'bitter tea twang'.
Waitrose's Essential Original Blend impressed with overall flavour and bitterness levels that 'hit the spot', with two-thirds claiming they would drink it every day. The tea was described as looking 'just right', with a nice scent and an 'appealing mouthfeel'.
Co-op's Fairtrade 99 Tea Blend (£1.70 for 80 bags) followed with 74 per cent, praised for a 'good-looking' cup and an 'enticing aroma', with nearly three-quarters of tasters saying they'd drink it daily. Morrisons Everyday Tea (£1.30 for 80 bags) placed fourth with 73 per cent, hailed as a 'decent crowd-pleaser', though some found it 'a bit on the weak side'.
Branded teas and bottom of the rankings
Yorkshire Tea (Taylors of Harrogate) was the highest-scoring branded tea at 72 per cent, with a 'pleasingly rich colour' and 'appealing aroma', but almost a third of the panel found it 'too bitter'. Lidl's Knightsbridge Red Label Tea (£2.45 for 240 bags) scored 71 per cent, followed by Asda Everyday Tea Bags, PG Tips Original, and Tetley Original, all at 70 per cent.
At the bottom were M&S's Everyday Tea (£1.40 for 80 bags) with 68 per cent, and Tesco Original Tea (£1.40 for 80 bags) with 67 per cent. While M&S's tea had an 'appealing colour', fewer than half enjoyed its flavour, and Tesco's overall taste drew fewer fans despite half being 'happy' with its bitterness. Aldi tea bags were not included as they were undergoing reformulation at the time of testing.
