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Tea and coffee

Black tea bag reviews

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Last updated: 07 March 2024
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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
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Brand

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List of brands we tested in this review.

    Price

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

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

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    Intensity score

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    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

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

      Price per tea bag

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      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
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