I have been a long term and satisfied user of Dilmah. But they seem to have dropped the ball on quality, with fragile bags resulting in dregs, and general flavour no longer up to expectations. What are your views and recommendations on the supermarket brands, and alternatives. Not looking for anything fancy, just a satisfying cuppa.
Best Tea Bags
GOFYS on 15/05/2017 - 07:33
Last edited 15/05/2017 - 08:26 by 1 other user
Last edited 15/05/2017 - 08:26 by 1 other user
Comments
I haven't warned to the Aldi teas, can't shake a slightly dirty taste. But persevering with the 100 pack of round ones, and their Twinings lookalike too.
If you want better quality tea, go for the loose leaf tea instead of tea bags. Otherwise for supermarket tea bags I recommend madame flavour. They are a bit pricy but the tea is nice and it's a good grade of tea leaves.
I like Boh loose leaf tea.. But it can be a PITA to get.
I drink green tea at work and find the Woolworths 50pack of bags to be the most flavoursome for bags.
The best T-bags are on CSGo.
they are the D-Bags
depends on what you like…
everyone has a different palate, what I like others may not.
different teas for different times of day.
different teas to accompany different foods.
different condiments with different teas. lemon, milk, honey, or straight black.same teas from different regions have different tastes
I like something that called orange pekoe, which in supermarkets only twinings make. its a dark red tea with very distinct earthy aroma and flavour,
Japanese green tea is good,
matcha tea powder is great,jasmine loose leaf ta from Asian grocers
earl grey is one of my favourites especially having it with dessert,
I find the orange pekoe is nice, but very hard to find other than in 10's. Sometimes you see it in 50's, but don't think they even make it in 100's, which you can sometimes find at half price.
If you like twinings orange pekoe, you can always get it in loose leaf form - https://au.iherb.com/pr/Twinings-Ceylon-Orange-Pekoe-Loose-T…. Iherb constantly have sales/ deals on ozb.
yeah I haven't tried iherb yet..
T2 has it as well and is very nice… but very expensive
I have lived with my in-laws and my wife's grandparents for extended amounts and I swear they had an addiction to tea. Must have been their English genetics.
Anyhoo, I managed to sample more than enough brands of English Breakfast and Earl Grey whilst living with them. For English Breakfast and Earl Grey tea bags I recommend Nature's Cuppa - it hands down tastes better than any other brand. I believe Woolies and Coles stock them - they're organic.
+1 for loose leaf, just need a basic in cup strainer / infuser.
We used to used Dilmah tea bags but switched exclusively to Dilmah loose leaf tea about six months ago. You get used to the time it takes to make a pot each time, but it tastes better is about half the price! Better for the environment too: less packaging and less waste.
Give Dilmah loose leaf a try at least for a while, you won't look back.
Aldi's green tea & lemon - was a surprise favourite to me.
I can't help you with the best brand tea bags to buy, but the best tea in my opinion will have to be the ancient Chinese PuEr tea. I have basically cleared my tea cabinet and only drink this now. I still keep a small supply of Rooibos to serve guests sometimes, but at home we drink PuEr all the time. They brew quite dark but is really smooth, and naturally lower in caffeine. On top of that, the medicinal benefits are vast. It helps lower/control cholesterol, helps with digestion and also helps with sleep despite the caffeine due to its stress-relieving components. They do come in different grades and I haven't done much research on what's the best quality you can buy in Australia as mine are always from family and relatives from China. However, I did try the tea bag versions from the Asian grocers at someone else's place in the past and to be honest, it tasted fine to me.
I'm from Hong Kong. Pu'er is the tea Hong Kongers drink by default at Yum Cha. No idea where to get decent Pu'er in Australia though.
Qi Tea is brilliant, can pick it up at most major supermarkets
My UK friends put me onto PG Tips, you can find them in the "UK" section of Woolies/Coles. They make a great cup of tea if you're looking for black teabag tea
Level up from tea bagging and go those metal balls and loose leaf. It's a whole new world again
I wanna know what inappropriate joke tuzii made!
I have never been a fan of Dilmah tea - I just never liked the taste. My last work provided it as its standard tea but I would always take in my own tea bags - Twinings English Breakfast, always bought at 50% off at WOW or Coles.
Agree with the YadaYadaYada - loose leaf tea is far better tasting than tea bags (which is the equivalent of instant coffee). Buy a few types from a tea shop where it should be even fresher than the loose leaf tea in a supermarket. It's a bit more expensive and time consuming to prepare but you'll never go back.
You can't beat loose leaf tea allowed to infuse in the pot - Dad would always give Mum the first pour saying it was the best ( think it's because he liked it stronger ) Then more boiling water would be put in the pot, tea cosy put on & left for about 30 mins. ready for the second cup each - always served in matching China cups & saucers. Dad would also have 3 sugars in his!
Now in our busy lifestyle Hubby & I really like the Aldi teabags - quick,easy & flavoursome - @ $1.79 for a box of 100 - good value for money. We tried PG Tips again when we were back in the U.K. a couple of years ago but found the taste completely different to how it used to be.
Have to agree that a decent cuppa is very important - especially for dunking biscuits in.! Excuse me I must go & pop the kettle on now……………..
.You can't beat loose leaf tea allowed to infuse in the pot - Dad would always give Mum the first pour saying it was the best ( think it's because he liked it stronger ) Then more boiling water would be put in the pot, tea cosy put on & left for about 30 mins. ready for the second cup each - always served in matching China cups & saucers. Dad would also have 3 sugars in his!
Now in our busy lifestyle Hubby & I really like the Aldi teabags - quick,easy & flavoursome - @ $1.79 for a box of 100 - good value for money. We tried PG Tips again when we were back in the U.K. a couple of years ago but found the taste completely different to how it used to be.
Have to agree that a decent cuppa is very important - especially for dunking biscuits in.! Excuse me I must go & pop the kettle on now……………..
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I agree on getting the loose leaf tea. Either get yourself an infuser ball, which is easy to use and rinse out or if you want to splurge out a bit more then get one of these. The infuser balls are, generally, cheap as chips and much better environmentally.
http://www.t2tea.com/en/au/teawares/brewing-tools/the-teamak…
Easy to use, relatively easy to clean, and it is easy to work on the strength of the brew.
If you're going to infuse straight into a mug, use one of these mug style infusers like http://www.t2tea.com/en/au/teawares/brewing-tools/merriest-i…, or you can get a cheaper one off ebay like http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Stainless-Steel-Round-Loose-Tea-I…. They're less fiddly than the infuser balls to use.
Thanks for this advice. I am just about to jump to loose leaf tea for environmental reasons and was wondering what I would need. These look very simple.
I don't mind Dilmah but have recently been buying Yorkshire Tea. I also like Twinings English Breakfast.
Thanks for your recommendations and reminiscing.
I thought I couldn't be bothered, but loose leaf tea, china cups and the sacred preparation rituals, are going to win.
I prefer to use a round bag - but then I leave my teabag in the cup.
I do like light, sweet black teas - delicately sipped from a china cup - and there are a couple of Twinings ones that are good for that, but for my everyday go to it's currently a running battle between Tetley All Rounder and the Aldi round tea bag in a thick mug. Both are a good strong brew.