Rip-off tea bags??

Scritti

Hi all. This is my first post. Been reading for a LONG time and picked up so many tips and ideas from the posters on this fantstic site.

Anyways, have finally decided to join up and join in. So here goes...

Twinings Everyday Tea.

Grrr.

The sheer number of posts I've read saying "I've tried 587 differents types of tea and I just HAVE to have Twinings".

Really?

Because I think Twinings is a total rip-off. The price of the things in comparison to most other tea bags is mental.

My ex is an absolute die-hard, everything-else-is-rubbish Twinings tea drinker. Or was. So convinced was I that it was purely down to the subliminal perception of packaging, price and name brand that I started to substitute her tea bags with Lidl's standard red-box tea bags which look and smell exactly the same.

She didn't notice one bit. I did this for over a month until she'd drank the entire 160 bag box and there was no way she could deny that the tea was exactly the same.

She now - and this is one of the worst brand snobs I've ever encountered - drink's only the Lidl tea now she was forced to admit that spending the extra on the Twinings stuff was a fool's game.

I admit that you may be able to taste some difference if you drink it black with no sugar but anyone who drinks it with milk and sugar and honestly thinks that Twinings really is worth paying THREE TIMES the cost of the Lidl or Aldi tea bags either has the most amazingly perceptive taste buds in Britain or is kidding themselves that they are spoiling themselves with luxury tea. You're paying a ridiculously inflated price for the "luxury" of an identical tea to the Lidl one just because it comes in a yellow box with the word Twinings etched on it.

Based on previous posts from you guys, I've tried the Sains Basics Tea, the Lidl & Aldi ones, Twinings, Tetley, etc over the past year or two. The number of people I've read saying the Sains Basics ones are "weak" puzzled me - they certainly are NOT weak by any stretch of the imagination. If you can live with drinking tea called Basics, the Sains one is a solid gold BARGAIN and will save you loads of money.

If you can't cope with that, the £2 for 160 bags Lidl and Aldi teas are pretty much identical and both lovely.

Anything more expensive than that is a waste of money IMO. I've tried the lot and gave them to loads of friends and nobody could ever taste the difference. You'd get far more difference in taste putting in a bit more or less sugar or milk.

Each to their own and feel free to disagree but I reckon 90% of people who "can't live without their Twinings" would fail a blind taste test.

Luxury toilet roll I can understand spending extra money on as all of the cheap ones I've tried might as well be made by Black & Decker. But tea bags? Pah.

shammyjack

All teabags are a rip off whether Twinings or Lidl's .

I only use loose tea for a much better brew. Coop, Sainsburys , Tesco, Morrisons and Asda all do their own version of a red Label loose tea at around £1.20 - £1.40 for 250 gms, much cheaper than tea bags and a better cuppa !

Scritti

shammyjack wrote: »

All teabags are a rip off whether Twinings or Lidl's .

I only use loose tea for a much better brew. Coop, Sainsburys , Tesco, Morrisons and Asda all do their own version of a red Label loose tea at around £1.20 - £1.40 for 250 gms, much cheaper than tea bags and a better cuppa !

Hmm! Do you know, for reasons I don't know, I've never even considered using loose tea leaves. What have I been thinking?

I remember my nan swore by tea leaves and a teapot and hers was the nicest tea I've ever tasted!

I think you're right. I'm going to get myself a teapot and give it a go.

And it just backs up my argument against expensive tea bags I think. They all taste pretty much the same and if you were that bothered, why on earth aren't you making a "proper" cup brewed with loose leaves??

Thanks shammyjack, a new teapot and some loose leaf tea are now on my "to buy" list!

shammyjack

Nice one ! Another convert to the cause !

PS ! Don't forget to warm the pot first and use water that is still boiling in the kettle as you pour it .

Gigervamp

Don't forget to buy a tea strainer too!

Battleaxe44

Take the pot to the kettle, never the kettle to the pot. Nothing beats a a cuppa from a teapot.....about time for another one for me

viv0147

If you like Typhoo tea it's on sale in Farmfoods 1,100 teabags for £9.95

yangptangkipperbang

viv0147 wrote: »

If you like Typhoo tea it's on sale in Farmfoods 1,100 teabags for £9.95

The problem is that after you have used the first 100 the rest have lost their flavour and taste like stewed socks...........but if you are running a very busy caff

fionajbanana

Gigervamp wrote: »

Don't forget to buy a tea strainer too!

or a mini sieve which my grandmother paid 39p for in a cheapy shop.