The battle for the nation’s best brew is usually a face-off between the usual big-brand suspects. But this year, a supermarket own-brand teabag has come out on top.
Asda’s Everyday teabags were crowned the best cuppa of 2024 by the consumer group Which?. The budget brew, which costs £1.20 for 80 bags, achieved the top score of 72% in a blind tasting by 79 “experienced and committed” tea drinkers.
The testers noted the brew’s aroma and appearance, with 68% judging the colour “perfect” and 49% finding the flavour to be “just right”. The product was also the cheapest of those tested, with each bag coming in at 1.5p.
On the other end of the scale, the high-end teabags Twinings Everyday came joint-last with a score of 67%. At £4.80 for 80 bags, Twinings teabags cost four times the price of Asda’s offering, with each bag setting back tea drinkers 6p. While more than 60% of tasters liked the colour and bitterness level of the Twinings brew, fewer than half were satisfied with the strength of flavour.
PG Tips Original, which costs £3 for 80 bags, came in a tight joint-second on 71%, with 68% of the expert tea drinkers judging the colour to be “just how a cup of tea should look”, while a similar proportion were satisfied with the strength of bitterness.
Tetley Original, which comes in at £2.50 for 80 bags, also scored 71%, with tasters judging the tea to look good while offering a “pleasant mouthfeel” and an enticing aroma, with 54% agreeing it had strength of flavour. However, 27% said it was too bitter for their taste.
Sainsbury’s Red Label, which costs £1.25 for 80 bags, was the third product to achieve an overall score of 71%, scoring well on colour, aroma and mouthfeel. It is the second highest scoring supermarket own-brand tea tested in the survey.
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Four brands received a score of 70% – Aldi’s Diplomat Red Label (£1.85 for 160 bags), Co-op’s 99 Blend Fairtrade Tea (£1.45 for 80 bags), Waitrose Essential Original Blend teabags (£1.25 per 80 bags) and Taylors of Harrogate Yorkshire Tea (£3.30 for 80 bags).
Tied at the bottom of the table with Twinings Everyday was Tesco’s Original Tea. While two-thirds of the panel enjoyed the bitterness of Tesco Original, 35% said it was too dark and 34% considered it not to be strong enough.
Natalie Hitchins, the head of home products and services at Which?, said: “A cup of tea is a daily essential for millions and many of us will passionately defend our favourite brand.
“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.
“The scores demonstrate that brands and supermarkets know you can’t get a substandard cuppa past a nation of discerning tea drinkers, but Which? has proved that you don’t need to spend a lot for a good brew.”