Best tea bags: PG Tips, Tetley and Yorkshire vs supermarket own-brands

A cup of tea is a daily essential for millions of Brits. So, which bag makes the best brew?

We got together 67 tea drinkers and pitted the big brands, PG Tips, Tetley and Yorkshire Tea, against supermarket bags, including Asda, Lidl, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Tesco and more. 

In our test, it was a close-fought battle between the bags, but three Great Value supermarket teas came out on top.

Find out how the branded teas stacked up against the supermarket own labels by reading on.

Best everyday tea

Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Co-op teas are our top-scoring Best Buys. They're also Great Value, all costing around 2p per teabag.

Morrisons, Yorkshire Tea and Lidl were also well liked and not far behind the Best Buys.

Best Buy & Great Value: Sainsbury’s Red Label – 75%

£1.40 for 80 bags (56p per 100g, 2p per tea bag) 

Sainsbury’s bags made a satisfying brew, and nearly two thirds said they would happily make it their regular tea.

Looks and aroma were highly rated, with more than two thirds saying the colour was pleasing.

More than half said its strength of flavour was perfect and its bitter tea twang suited most, too.

At less than half the price of Tetley and Yorkshire Tea, Sainsbury’s bags make an excellent low-cost cuppa.

Available from Sainsbury’s.

Best Buy & Great Value: Waitrose Essential Original Blend – 75%

£1.45 for 80 bags (58p per 100g, 2p per tea bag)

They really pleased our tasters, with an impressive two thirds saying they would be happy to drink it every day.

This tea scored well on appearance and aroma, with more than two thirds saying it looked just right. It had an appealing mouthfeel, too.

Overall flavour and all-important bitterness levels both hit the spot for most of our tasters.

Available from Waitrose.

Best Buy & Great Value: Co-op Fairtrade 99 Tea Blend – 74%

£1.70 for 80 bags (68p per 100g, 2p per tea bag)

Good looks and an enticing aroma helped win Co-op’s tea plenty of fans. 

Nearly three quarters said they would be happy to have it as their daily cuppa.

For more than half of our testers, this tea had just the right flavour, while its bitter twang was enjoyed by an impressive two thirds.

A pack of Co-op's tea works out at just 2p per teabag – much cheaper than some of the branded teas.

Available from Co-op.

Morrisons Everyday Tea – 73%

£1.30 for 80 bags (56p per 100g, 2p per tea bag)

With 60% saying it could be their everyday tea, this brew makes for a decent crowd-pleaser.

It looked the part, and its mouthfeel was generally enjoyed. Most tasters were fans of its bitter twang, too.

Four out of 10 said the flavour was about right, but a similar proportion found it a bit on the weak side, so Morrisons tea might suit you if you don’t like an overly strong cuppa.

Available from Morrisons.

Yorkshire Tea (Taylors of Harrogate) – 72%

£3.75 for 80 bags (£1.50 per 100g, 5p per tea bag)

It's the priciest tea on test, but Yorkshire Tea scored highest overall of the three branded teas, with a pleasingly rich colour and appealing aroma.

Flavour and bitterness were enjoyed by half. However, close to a third found it too bitter.

On the plus side, well over half said they’d be happy to drink this as their daily cuppa. 

If these are the bags for you, stock up when they are on special offer.

Available from Aldi, Amazon, Asda, Co-op, Iceland, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose.

How other tea bags compare

• Lidl Knightsbridge Red Label – 71%. The cheapest bags on test were well liked, proving you don’t need to splash out on a big brand to enjoy a decent cuppa. Six out of 10 would be happy for it to be their daily drink. £2.45 for 240 bags (33p per 100g, 1p per tea bag). Available from Lidl (in-store only).
• Asda Everyday Tea Bags – 70%. A reasonable tea that looked the part, but nearly half found its flavour a bit lacking. £1.20 for 80 bags (52p per 100g, 2p per tea bag). Available from Asda.
• PG Tips Original – 70%. Appealing looks with a flavour and bitterness that most tasters enjoyed. £3 for 80 bags (77p per 100g, 4p per tea bag). Available from Amazon, Aldi, Asda, Co-op, Iceland, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose.
• Tetley Original – 70%. Two thirds liked its colour and around half were fans of its flavour. Bitterness levels were approved of by most. £3.15 for 80 bags (£1.26 per 100g, 4p per tea bag). Available from Aldi, Amazon, Asda, Co-op, Iceland, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose.
• M&S Everyday Tea – 68%. An appealing colour, but well under half enjoyed the flavour. £1.40 for 80 bags (56p per 100g, 2p per tea bag). Available from M&S (in-store only) and Ocado.
• Tesco Original Tea – 67%. Around a half were happy with its bitterness, but fewer were fans of the flavour of these bags. £1.40 for 80 bags (56p per 100g, 2p per tea bag). Available from Tesco.

 We didn't include Aldi tea bags as they were undergoing reformulation at the time of testing.

Find out how other store cupboard essentials, such as peanut butter, instant coffee and baked beans fared in our blind-taste tests

Full results from our everyday tea bag taste test

How we tested tea bags

All the tea bags were blind-tasted and rated by a panel of 67 people in September 2026 at our specialist test lab.

We recruited a panel of people who buy and drink tea, and who broadly represent the demographic profile of adults in the UK (age range, gender split and more). 

The taste test was blind, so our testers didn’t know which brand they were trying. They tasted the teas in a fully rotated order to avoid any bias. Each tester had a private tasting booth so they couldn’t discuss what they were tasting or be influenced by others.

The tea was brewed based on the recommended ratio (typically 200ml water per tea bag), and left to brew according to the time stated on the pack. Each taster was served a 100ml sample. Then our tasters added milk or sugar to their liking, but always precisely the same amount.

Most of the tasters (61%) liked just milk in their tea, while 30% chose both milk and sugar. Of the remainder, 6% added nothing, while 3% had sugary black tea.

The tasters rated the flavour, aroma, appearance and mouthfeel of each brand of tea and told us what they liked and disliked. 

The overall score was based on:

• 50% flavour
• 25% appearance
• 20% aroma
• 5% mouthfeel

These weightings are based on what people ranked as the most important attributes when tasting tea. All our results are checked and analysed by our in-house statistical team.

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Is tea good for you?

A mug of tea contains around 75mg of caffeine (and a mug of instant coffee around 100mg) but this will vary according to how strong you like it. 

Current consensus is that caffeine is good for you, or won’t do you any harm, in moderation. Up to 400mg per day is considered safe for most healthy adults, reduced to 200mg if you're pregnant. 

People’s sensitivity to caffeine varies widely. If your sleep is affected, or if you get jittery/anxious, drink less.

Tea contains polyphenols, which have been studied for potential effects on health, including gut health and cardiovascular health. However, evidence that drinking tea protects against diseases such as cancer and stroke is not conclusive. It is also important to note that the natural tannins found in tea can prevent your body from absorbing iron when drunk with food. This is particularly important for vegans, vegetarians, during pregnancy, or anyone with heavy periods or managing low iron stores.

Also love a coffee brew? Caffeine levels in high street coffees still vary significantly, Which? finds

Health? or Hype?

Make the right choice with recommendations you can trust, backed by expert testing.

Explore health recommendations

Tea labelling – Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance

All the teas on test are covered by either the Fairtrade or Rainforest Alliance scheme. Both schemes include social, environmental and economic requirements, but they take different approaches to producer payments and improving livelihoods.

Co-op, M&S, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose feature the Fairtrade label. Fairtrade standards include social, economic and environmental requirements. For eligible tea sold on Fairtrade terms, producers can also benefit from a Fairtrade Minimum Price and Fairtrade Premium. The Minimum Price acts as a safety net when market prices fall below the applicable Fairtrade price, while the Premium is an additional payment for producers to invest in projects of their choice.

The other supermarkets in our test – Asda, Lidl, Morrisons and Tesco – plus PG Tips, Tetley and Yorkshire Tea, display the Rainforest Alliance logo. Rainforest Alliance certification covers environmental, farming and social standards. 

Unlike Fairtrade, it does not generally guarantee a fixed minimum price for certified tea. Rainforest Alliance-certified tea is, however, subject to a mandatory premium paid by the responsible buyer on top of the market price. For tea, the premium amount is brand-led rather than set at a universal minimum by Rainforest Alliance.

Decoding food labels: find out more on the sustainability, welfare and food safety schemes on food packaging

Can you recycle tea bags?

In recent years, manufacturers have started using tea bags made of plant-based, biodegradable ‘plastic’. 

You’ll often see a sign on the box encouraging you to pop used bags into your food waste bin.

Of the bags on test, Asda, Co-op, Lidl, Morrisons, M&S, PG Tips, Tesco and Yorkshire Tea state on the pack that you can put them in your food waste bin.

However, they stop short of recommending home composting. The plant material used for the tea bags is very slow to break down and the conditions generated in industrial composters do the job more quickly than a garden compost heap.

For more detail, read our guide on whether tea bags can be a source of microplastics.

Decaffeinated tea bags

If you like the taste of tea, but don’t always want the caffeine, decaf bags are very widely available. PG Tips, Tetley and Yorkshire Tea all have a decaf version, as do the supermarket own-labels.  

In general, however, you'll pay more for a caffeine-free cuppa. 

Prices of our Best Buy 80 bag decaf equivalents stack up as follows: Sainsbury's Red Label Fairtrade Decaf costs £1.90 compared with £1.40 for the standard bags, Waitrose Original Blend Decaf is £1.85 compared with £1.45, while Co-op Fairtrade Decaffeinated 99 Blend costs £2.35 compared with £1.70. 

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Price and availability correct as of 28 September 2026