Best tea brands: the best tea bags for Great British brews
There is nothing better than a cup of tea and these are the best tea brands.
Tea is the drink that fuels a nation. Running through our veins like an endless river of caffeine, there’s no problem that a good brew can’t solve.
How you make it defines you as a person. Favour a strong builder’s tea? One sugar or two? Just please, whatever you do, don’t get us started on the rogue addition of soy or almond milk.
Recent years have seen our nation’s drinking habits change dramatically. According to a report by Mintel, 37% of 25-34 year-olds drink 5-6 different kinds of tea a month, suggesting variety really is the key of life. A separate study conducted by National Tea Day revealed 80% of brands noted the current ‘health and wellness’ trend as something that has changed our buying habits.
From potent fruit concoctions to punchy black-tea hybrids, these brands have it all in terms of variety, quality and ethical principles.
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10. Typhoo
The brand that famously put the ‘oo in Typhoo’, this Great British tea company started life back in 1903. Derived from the Chinese word for doctor, Typhoo was originally named Typhoo Tipps Tea - the extra p being a printing typo that hung around for years. The brand also offers a range of tea-related baking recipes. Just in case you’re after the full afternoon tea experience.
9. T2 Tea
An international addition to our line-up, T2 Tea is blended in Melbourne, Australia. It sells over 100 different teas, from traditional flavours like English Breakfast to more unusual offerings like Gorgeous Geisha (a variety of green tea) and a Creme Brulee infusion. It aims to be 100% sustainably sourced by the end of 2019, and plans to make all gift wrapping and take-away cups reusable, recyclable or compostable by the end of 2020.
8. Pukka
Pukka now graces every supermarket shelf from here to timbuktu. It serves up all manner of herbal varieties to cater to our ever-evolving tastes. Fair for Life certified, Pukka prides itself on sourcing organic ingredients and continuously aiming to reduce its carbon footprint because it believes “a healthy world means a healthy you”. We’re pretty sure its tagline should be: punchy name, punchy flavour.
7. Tetley
Strangely enough, the Tetley brothers didn’t initially set out to revolutionise the tea industry. Flogging salt to Yorkshiremen was their primary business, but in 1837 that all changed when they added tea to their repertoire.
Sourced from Kenya, China, Malawi, Ceylon, Darjeeling, Assam, Indonesia, and Argentina, Tetley has professional tea tasters in seven countries around the world. The British tea brand is a founder member of the Ethical Tea Partnership and sources 100% of its tea from Rainforest Alliance Certified gardens. It has even created its own unique tea-tasting language called “Uhuru” that allows Tetley tasters and blenders to describe and grade the quality of the teas.
6. PG Tips
A household name, PG Tips was created by Arthur Brooke, who opened his first tea shop in Manchester in 1869. Originally called ‘Pre-Gest-Tea’ in 1930 before being abbreviated to the PG Tips we know and love today.
The name highlights that PG Tips only uses the top two leaves and bud of each plant to create its blend. Its distinctive, fresh flavour, inspired by the tea gardens in Kericho. The brand’s first tea bag was created in 1960 and it has never looked back, with the introduction of their unique pyramid tea bag as recently as 1990.