Skip to content   Skip to footer navigation 

Tea and coffee

Black tea bag reviews

Buy smarter with CHOICE membership

Join CHOICE

Or Learn more

Last updated: 07 March 2024
Fact-checked

Fact-checked

Checked for accuracy by our qualified fact-checkers and verifiers. Find out more about fact-checking at CHOICE.

We blind taste test and compare 32 supermarket black tea bags from brands including Lipton, Twinings, T2, Dilmah and more to find out which ones taste best.

 

We've also partnered with Shop Ethical on this review to show the ratings the Ethical Consumer Group gives to each company (not product).

How we test

Products

We tested 32 black tea bags that are available nationally in major supermarket chains. We did not test green, oolong, white, chai, fruit or herbal teas, or tea blends (such as Earl Grey) or decaffeinated tea.

Tasting

This was a blind taste test where four expert judges were randomly assigned the tea samples. The total volume of boiled water used with each tea bag was 180mL and each tea was tasted black (without milk).

The CHOICE Expert Rating was determined by assessing colour, aroma, overall flavour, aftertaste and mouthfeel. Each tea was also given a rating to score its intensity, however this did not form part of the CHOICE Expert Rating. The judges also described the flavour notes of the tea, with profiles including floral, fruity, earthy, vegetal, umami, nutty, sweet, smoky and fire. Most of these also had subcategory profiles. The judges were asked to name the top three flavours they could taste (if any), as well as any other flavour profiles they detected.

Scores

We recommend any tea bag with a CHOICE Expert Rating of 70% or above.

Matthew Steen
By Shadia Djakovic
Show less
Filter

Brand

Expand to view more details.

List of brands we tested in this review.

    Price

    Expand to view more details.

    Pack price (not on special) as of March 2024.

    enter value/s in increments of 1 between 1.89 and 13.5

    Recommended products

    Remove product

    Member only

    This test score is for members only. Join now to unlock our expert results.

    Already a member?

    Intensity score

    Expand to view more details.

    Our expert judges scored each sample for intensity from 1 to 7, with 7 being the most intense. This was converted into a percentage to form the intensity score, but does not factor into the CHOICE Expert Rating.

    enter value/s in increments of i between 36 and 71

    Bag type

    Expand to view more details.

    The type/shape of tea bag: standard, pyramid, square or circle.

      Price per tea bag

      Expand to view more details.

      Based on the pack price (not on special) as of March 2024.

      enter value/s in increments of i between 0.02 and 0.52

      Included in this review

      Members-only access
      • Bag type
      • CHOICE Expert Rating
      • Intensity score
      • Flavour profiles
      • Shop Ethical rating
      • Compostable
      • Recommended
      • Price
      • Price per bag
      • Pack size (g)
      • Bags per pack
      • Tea leaf weight per bag (g)
      • Sustainable tea certification
      • Minimum percentage of Australian ingredients
      Close

      Product selected for a detailed comparison

      Clear all
      Compare shortlist