Budget supermarket tea named nation’s favourite after taste test

Good news for those looking to save some pennies

There's few things that unite Brits like a cuppa, but everyone has their preferred brand.

From the Yorkshire Tea fanatics to the PG Tips ultras, people will defend their favourite brand to the hilt.

But it turns out fans of all these tea behemoths might be wrong, according to Which?.

The consumer experts decided to carry out a test to determine which tea brand Brits love the most.

A panel of 79 "experienced and committed tea drinkers" blind-tested 12 varieties of tea bags, ranging from supermarkets own brands to big names such as PG Tips, Tetley, Twinings and Yorkshire Tea.

The panelists were asked to rate each tea on the taste, mouthfeel, aroma and appearance, and explained what it was about each one that they liked and disliked.

And after trying all 12, the tea experts crowned a surprising winner: Asda.

Yes, in fantastic news for those of you looking to save a few pennies, the budget option of Asda's Everyday Tea Bags came out on top.

Whilst just under half (49 per cent) said it tasted "just right," the taste testers awarded the bags strong marks for aroma and appearance, and an impressive 68 per cent said it had the perfect tea colour.

These scores combined saw Asda's own brand - which retails at just £1.20 for 80 bags - get an overall score of 72 per cent, pipping PG Tips Original (£3 for 80 bags), Tetley Original (£2.50 for 80 bags) and another supermarket own brand, Sainsbury's Red Label (£1.25 for 80), to the title.

The three runners-up all scored 71 per cent.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the table it was a poor showing from Twinings Everyday (at a premium £4.80 for 80) and Tesco Original Tea (£1.25 for 80) which both scored 67 per cent.

Natalie Hitchins, Which? head of home products and services, said: "A cup of tea is a daily essential for millions and many of us will passionately defend our favourite brand. 

“Our results show that the bigger and more expensive brands aren't necessarily the best for taste - with a supermarket own-brand costing less than 2p per cup emerging ahead of rivals costing up to four times as much.

"The scores demonstrate that brands and supermarkets know you can't get a sub-standard cuppa past a nation of discerning tea drinkers."