Consumer champions Which? have named the best tea bags available in UK supermarkets, and two own-brand products have come out on top, beating well-known names like PG Tips and Tetley.
In the consumer group's latest taste test, tea fans were gathered and asked to blindly taste different teas. As the teas were not labelled, the test removed as much bias as possible.
Own brands take the top spots
Sainsbury's Red Label Tea (£1.40 for 80 tea bags) and Waitrose's Essential Original Blend (£1.45 for 80 bags) both came out on top. Both were named 'best buy' products by the consumer group, but Which? also named Sainsbury's tea 'great value'.
Testers praised Sainsbury's tea bags for having an "excellent" taste while also being relatively cheap. It was also well-reviewed in terms of aroma and colour, with many finding the strength of the flavour to be "perfect".
How the rest ranked
Co-op's Fairtrade 99 Tea Blend (£1.70 for 80 tea bags) scored 74 per cent, coming in third place, praised for its taste and aroma. Morrisons Everyday Tea (£1.30 for 80 bags) came in fourth place with a score of 73 per cent, with many enjoying the flavour but some finding it on the weaker side.
Yorkshire Tea (Taylors of Harrogate), which costs £3.75 for 80 bags, rounded off the top five. Lidl's Knightsbridge Red Label Tea (£2.45 for 240 bags) came in sixth place, scoring 71 per cent, closely followed by Asda Everyday Tea Bags (£1.20 for 80 bags), PG Tips Original (£3 for 80 bags), and Tetley Original (£3.15 for 80 bags), which all earned a score of 70 per cent.
M&S's Everyday Tea (£1.40 for 80 bags) and Tesco Original Tea (£1.40 for 80 bags) were at the bottom of the ranking.
