Best grocery store tea
Do you have a favorite grocery store tea brand or variety? I’m new here and have been reading a lot of reviews, but I’ve noticed many of them are for tea that must be ordered online or perhaps purchased at specialty shops. But, are there great teas lurking in the aisles of the lowly grocery store?
I’m lucky enough that my local grocery stores have a pretty good variety, but I feel a bit overwhelmed by all the choices and end up purchasing the same old favorites. Even grocery store brands can get expensive, too, or at least too expensive to take a chance on a complete unknown.
So, could you help point me toward some great teas you’ve found on the grocery shelves? (I’m in the US) It would also be helpful if you posted approximate price and quantity. :)
My grocery (not the walmart) store doesn’t sell loose leaf tea so I’ve never bought any there- especially when my tea shop is only 10 min farther than the grocery store. I’ve noticed they’ve got quite a collection of bagged teas, but I don’t even look because I don’t want be tempted to buy any (even though I very rarely buy bagged tea) lol. I know my store has Yogi tea which I’d gladly try- their kombucha is so good and they have a few others I want to try.
Revolution is pretty good, I think it’s whole leaf tea in pyramid bags. I bought a sampler (just 1 bag each of 6 varieties) and decided based on it that I will buy their Dragon Eye oolong next. Sorry, I don’t remember price but $5-$8 is my norm for groc store teabags. Numi and Republic of Tea are also decent quality.
I’d suggest writing down the names of a few that catch your eye at the store, then coming on Steepster and reading reviews so you’ll have a better idea whether or not you’ll like it. I try to do that now instead of impulse buys off the shelf (except sometimes the closeouts or markdown shelf gets the better of me!)
You could also find a tea-drinking buddy close by and either split boxes, or swap teas you don’t end up loving.
With just a couple of exceptions, I’ve rarely had a bad Celestial Seasonings variety—those are Wal-Mart staples here in the Midwest.
I should get internet on my phone, because I hate buying teas without first checking to see if they’ve been reviewed on Steepster first.
Most of the grocery stories in my area don’t really have too great a selection, and I’ve found that the TWO best places to get tea, minus going to my favourite tea shops, are Winners (a catch-all store that takes in other store’s overstock; I am often amazed by the interesting tea I find there; it often stocks the mysterious Hazo [not Tazo!], to which I have taken a liking), and the Organics grocery store up the street, which carries the likes of Numi, DoMatcha (well, I’m Canadian so I can’t promise this in any American organic grocery stores) and MightyLeaf, as well as carrying a good selection of Yogi.
On that note, I suggest seeing if there are any organic stores in your area. “Organic” and “Tea” just go together. Most of the brands at mine are ones I see in other places too, although more extensive in selection (I found loose-leaf Stash there!)—but most aren’t too expensive. Organic Tea isn’t a wildly different or new concept. Many well-known tea brands are organic.
Shaws and Hanafords here in Maine stock many teas like Revolution, Mighty Leaf, Teaspot, Yogi, Numi, Tazo, and Ineeka.
My grocery stores have Revolution, Tazo (not Hazo though, at least that I’ve noticed – mysterious indeed!), Numi, Yogi..perhaps some others. I’ll have to look more closely next time. I usually end up at the tea aisle at the end of a long shopping trip, so it’s usually quick decision time. Maybe next time I’ll stop by the tea first.
My usual brands are more on the Bigelow/Stash/Celestial Seasonings end. I recently got some Twinings Lapsang Souchong, which was a bit of a splurge. :) I wouldn’t feel bad about the “higher end” brands if I were fairly sure I was getting something I would like.
Anyway, thanks for the recommendations! I’m still looking for specific brands/flavors, if anyone else has suggestions.
Dilmah’s Exceptional Range (in pyramid teabags) is surprisingly good for a grocery store tea – I’ve tried a few of their breakfast teas in this range and their rose & vanilla black tea is delicious :)
As far as grocery store tea goes, I love the Irish Breakfast from Twinings.
that’s a good one too – my hubby’s favorite. He couldn’t tell it from Harney & Sons (bagged).
Oh, I think I’ve actually had that one, and liked it! I should try more Twinings teas.
I’ve only had one Twinings tea that I didn’t enjoy and that was the Earl Grey. It wasn’t bad, just a bit weak. The Lady Grey is really great though. I also haven’t had a bad Celestial Seasonings, their Morning Thunder mate is actually very good.
Oh, I just tried another bagged tea that was great! Lipton’s Vanilla Caramel Truffle was surprisingly good – I’m really going to have to pick some up next time I go to the store.
Twinings has quite a reliable set of teas, to be sure. Lipton’s pyramid bags are good, too — that vanilla caramel truffle is a flavor I can’t get anywhere else and it keeps me coming back to it! I wasn’t terribly impressed with the Lipton lemon black tea, but that was because I wanted something really lemony. For those of us too lazy to get lemon juice to put in tea, though, it’s a good substitute.
No, it’s in a sort of butterscotch-yellow and white box. “Black Pearl” comes in a black box, it seems.
Haha ok it seems I was remembering the box wrong, but I had the tea right. I have actually had this. And while I will disagree w/ mrawlins2 and say I don’t feel it’s very coffeeish, it is ok. Maybe 50-65 range.
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