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A supermarket's own brand has been chosen as the best cup of tea, with surprising results.
Asda has beaten big brands such as PG Tips, Tetley and Twinings in a taste test to find Britain's best cup of tea.
Asda's Everyday Tea Bags achieved the top score of 72% in a blind tasting of 79 “experienced and committed” tea drinkers assembled by consumer group Which?.
Tasters praised the product, which costs £1.20 for 80 bags, for its aroma and appearance, with 68% judging the colour as perfect and 49% finding the flavour “just right”.
PG Tips Original, which costs £3 for 80 bags, was next at 71%, with 68% believing the colour was “just how a cup of tea should look”, while a similar proportion were satisfied with the intensity of the bitterness.
Tetley Original, which costs £2.50 for 80 teabags, also scored 71%. Tasters thought the tea looked good, while also having a “pleasant mouthfeel” and an inviting aroma. 54% thought it had a strong flavour. However, 27% said it was too bitter for their liking.
Sainsbury's Red Label at £1.25 for 80 bags was the third product to achieve an overall score of 71%, scoring well for colour, aroma and mouthfeel.
Four brands received a score of 70%: Aldi's Diplomat Red Label (£1.85 for 160 bags), Co-op's 99 Blend Fairtrade Tea (£1.45 for 80 bags), Waitrose Essential Original Blend Tea Bags (£1.25 for 80 bags) and Taylors of Harrogate Yorkshire Tea (£3.30 for 80 bags).
Tied at the bottom of the table with 67% were Twinings Everyday and Tesco Original Tea.
Natalie Hitchins, director of home products and services at Which?, said: “A cup of tea is a daily essential for millions of people and many of us will passionately advocate for our favourite brand.
“Our results show that the biggest, most expensive brands are not necessarily the best when it comes to taste: a supermarket own brand costing less than 2p a cup outperforms rivals costing up to four times as much.
“The ratings show that brands and supermarkets know you can’t get a sub-par cup of tea in a nation of discerning tea drinkers, but Which? has shown you don’t have to spend a lot to get a good brew.”
At £4.80 for 80 bags, Twinings is four times the price of Asda's winning bid, and while more than 60% of tasters liked the colour and level of bitterness of Twinings, less than half were satisfied with the intensity of the flavour.
While two-thirds of the panel enjoyed the bitterness of Tesco Original, 35% said it was too dark and 34% felt it was not strong enough.
