The great British teabag hunt thread

Today, and indeed last week, there would appear to be no good value teabags at any of the Tescos I know of in this city (I know of 4).

Tesco Finest was the only one that was worthy of my seal of approval, being a 3g bag, and a box of 80 at appox 11zl.

Having tried a variety of other brands, some also calling themselves Finest and similar, they were demonstrably tasteless by comparison.

The first thing British tea drinkers want is strength. So our teabags are usually 3 grams each. Most Polish teabags are 1.5 or 1.6g each. Some of the cheaper Polish brands are not recogniseable as tea at all, and are probably mostly tea dust.

The only temporary substitutes for Tesco's Finest and at a reasonable price are a variety sold by Biedronka, believe it or not. Not too bad if two bags are used.

Lipton's 2g bags are fairly good I suppose, but don't have the oomph of the Tesco Finest and are not as well priced.

M&S of course have teabags but seldom are they what I consider attractively priced for regular purchase.

Some of you might post a list of brands which you think I don't know about and should have included as a substitute. I have tried them all here and within the price range I don't have any other recommendations. Some of the well-accepted brands here just make me wonder how they achieved that status as they are very poor compared to even supermarket own brands in the UK.

If anyone knows of a shop in Wroc that is selling a UK brand of tea bag at a sensible price, please let me know. If the brand is one I'd have heard of but has Polish text/blurb printed on the actual box, it's already a no no in my experience.

(Yeah I know you Americans drink your tea black and love Lipton's - this is a thread for us Brits who take our tea white!)

Sorry but I can't help (always stock up on Twinings when I'm back in the UK).

The tea is only one component in a good brew. The water is the other. You have to find a tea that goes well with your local water. That's why blenders blend tea for particular areas. I've posted here before about the excellent 'Yorkshire Tea' brand, which tastes great in the north of England but awful in London.

Isn't that made near Poznan these days?

Bleugh! Don't tell me you put UHT milk in tea. I stopped putting any dairy products in my cup decades ago, and now, when I'm back in blighty, I take my tea as nature intended there, too. Once you go black, you never go back. Or something like that.


I have no doubt that the excellent people at Twinings take the water into consideration. Their tea tastes great where I live, anyway.

Apparently not the stuff for the UK market, most of that is still processed in good old Hampshire.

I do! But it's because fresh milk makes me sick, black tea (especially in the morning) makes me projectile vomit - and well, I can drink UHT milk as much as I want without throwing up ;)


Not me. I barely use the things - water goes in, milk goes in, tea is dipped in/out to turn it a nice cup-of-tea colour, teabag is thrown in the bin.


I like Tetley here :(

That's like crime in a multi-storey car-park: wrong on so many levels.

Hahahaha :D

Yet the wife drinks it abnormally strong, the teabag is often left in the cup for 10-15 minutes, disgusting :(

I can't stand tea if the teabag has been sitting in there for more than 30 seconds or so. Undrinkable for me and my fragile stomach!

Thanks for that image.


Delph, you should read The Book of Tea by Okakura Kakuzo. We haven't given up on you yet.

That's not tea, it's milky water! You might as well not bother with the tea bag at all!

It's not going to happen, I'm just not a huge fan...

(I won't even mention the fact that Lipton's is sitting in the cupboard)

Don't tell anyone else but I go to Wilkinsons and buy Typhoo One Cup and it's fine, I prefer it to Twinings. I know, I just do..!


I don't like Yorkshire Tea, over-rated. Perhaps it's the water thing.


Fresh milk only, full fat brings out the flavour of the tea.


Polska Tetley? Not for me thanks.


I used to work with someone who drank tea like that, they also loved trashy take away sandwiches.

Buy a good loose leaf Assam and brew it in a pot.
No paper bag stuff can match it.

(I'm not British though, and I take my tea black, so you may just as well ignore my comment ;)

But it's nice! There's no horrid taste of...tea in it.


How did you know that I like take away sandwiches too?

(only ones made from scratch, mind you - not petrol station ones!)

That's definitely a winner :)

I second it. I just run out of HYLEYS (Ceylon tea from the planter) - tea Scottish pekoe. Big leaf stuff.This one is from export to Russia I guess, because all the writing is mostly in Russian, and I bought it in a little "mydło i powidło" Russian store that imports stuff from CE Europe. But this is because I am too lazy to go downtown and shop in one of those huge tea shops. My Chinese friends taught me something how to distinguish good leaves from the old: by smell, by colour, etc.

;o)


I tried last year, preferred the teabags and wasn't too thrilled with the loose leaf here anyway

Right, the Kiepskis are on Polsat2, so do excuse me!

I remember being in Greece and someone was kind enough to bring me a box of PG Tips, what joy after ODing on coffee and avoiding horrible Lipton's tea bags!!

But Poland has great loose leaf tea! You don't need those nasty bags!

Yes, we don't need them. But we don't technically need Marmite on toast to go with our Twinings in the morning either. Or Wilkin & Sons Tiptree Little Scarlet strawberry jam or Tiny Tip Raspberry jam. We just want them.

oh well Marmite, that's quite different! and tiny tips jam!
but I do remember being rather impressed with the tea in Poland compared to other European countries, there seemed to be a good choice.

You tried the XO Marmite yet? I had a couple of jars shipped over and am highly impressed. Next up with be the new Marmite Gold and a couple of jars of Ma'amite.

I feel sick. Marmite and strong tea in the morning, blurrrgh.

nope I will give it a go.....
right all this talk of tea is sending me to the kitchen to make a brew..I have this fab loose leaf 'Ahmad Tea' ....the best yet makes PG tips taste like dishwater.

ahmadtea.com

So do i.
Marmite is........disgusting stuff.
Breakfast should be tea and marmalade on toast. simples!

Don't hang around, it's just been re-released but is still a limited edition. Of course, once you have it, you're good for a few years (I have a jar of Marmite which is best before 2006, tastes great!)

Was not impressed when I tried it.

Co-op 99 loose leaf tea knocks the spots out of most of them.

Marmite, sorry Harry I just can't touch it.

Hint - "Ramsey" from Biedronka.

I buy Dilmah in Real -- either the bags or the loose tea.

I like Dilmah in leaves more...