A research conducted by Which? has revealed which is the best UK supermarket tea brand, and you’d be shock to find out that it’s not the worldwide known PG Tips, who falls into second place.
Drinking tea has been a part of British culture, hence the ‘tea time’ stereotype. In a survey to find out which tea is the best one in the UK market, you’d be shocked to find out that it’s the iconic PG Tips.
On average, a person in the UK drinks around two to three cups of tea a day, with an average consumption of 884 cups a year. The UK as a whole drinks over 165 million cups of tea every day.
In an analysis conducted by website Which?, a group of British shoppers tasted different kinds of UK supermarket tea bags, revealing the nation’s favourite cup of tea. Tasters blind-tasted a total of 12 teas from Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, as well as other big brands including PG Tips and Tetley.
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In the top spot was Asda’s Everyday Tea Bags, who received an impressive score of 72% taking the crown for Best Buy and Great Value endorsement. The tea bags are available to purchase, costing £1.20 for a total of 80 bags.
Asda’s Everyday Tea Bags also scored high points for their smell and appearance, with more than two-thirds agreeing that the colour was also spot-on. The colour was also described to be just right.
In second place, there was a tie between PG Tips Original, Sainsbury’s Red Label and Tetley Original with a score of 71% among the tasters.
Aldi ’s Diplomat Red Label, Co-op 99 Blend Fairtrade Tea, Waitrose Essential Original Blend Tea Bags and Taylors of Harrogate Yorkshire Tea scored 70% among the tasters.
More than 75% of the tasters liked the colour of Aldi ’s Diplomat Red Label and it scored highly on both smell and taste. On the other hand, over 60% of judges liked the colour and bitterness level of Twinings but fewer than half said they were satisfied.
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Interestingly, Aldi’s tea is priced at £1.85 for 160 bags, offering double the quantity than Asda for 65p extra. Also, despite being half the price, Sainsbury’s Red Label received the same score as Tetley Original.
Natalie Hitchins, Head of Home Products and Services at Which?, said: “A cup of tea is a daily essential for millions. Our results show that the bigger and more expensive brands aren’t necessarily the best for taste – with a supermarket own-brand costing less than 2p per cup emerging ahead of rivals costing up to four times as much.”
Final scores for best teas, according to Which?
- Asda Everyday Tea Bags – 72%
- PG Tips Original – 71%
- Sainsbury’s Red Label – 71%
- Tetley Original – 71%
- Aldi Diplomat Red Label – 70%
- Co-op 99 Blend Fairtrade Tea – 70%
- Waitrose Essential Original Blend Tea Bags – 70%
- Taylors of Harrogate Yorkshire Tea – 70%
- Lidl Knightsbridge Red Label Tea Bags – 69%
- Morrisons Everyday Tea – 68%
- Tesco Original Tea – 67%
- Twinings Everyday – 67%