The Best Tea from Our Taste Tests

The best tea encompasses a lot of things. There are tea bags for making hot tea, of course—and even under that umbrella, you have black tea, green tea, herbal tea, and so much more. But then there’s everything else in the realm: bottled iced tea, instant boba tea, matcha powder, yerba mate, and even tea spiked with booze. Welp, if you’re bent on finding the best tasting tea to drink, good news: We’ve tasted it all. Here’s all the best tea from our many, many taste tests.

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Lipton Black Tea

Best Black Tea

Lipton Black Tea

Sometimes, classics are classics for a reason. That’s the case with Lipton tea, the best tea we found in our black tea taste test. It’s affordable, simple, and straight forward, but it’s genuinely good, too. It’s herbaceous and just a touch bitter, and what we like best about it is that it’s versatile. You can use Lipton tea bags to make anything from iced tea to homemade bubble tea.

Read the full ranking of the best black tea

Rating:

10/10

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Kroger Decaf Black Tea

Best Decaf Black Tea

Kroger Decaf Black Tea

If you love black tea but caffeine makes you feel like pulling your own face off, Kroger makes the best tea for decaf tea drinkers. It’s bold and bright, with a mild tannic finish. It’s not as flavorful as the full-caff teas we tried, but it gets the job done when you need something cozy to sip in the evening and don’t want to be awake until 3 a.m.

Read the full ranking of the best black tea

Rating:

7/10

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best english breakfast tea

Best English Breakfast Tea

Harney & Sons English Breakfast Tea Sachets

You don’t have to be English and you certainly don’t have to eat breakfast to enjoy this bold, flavorful blend of black teas from around the world. Sure, you could settle for Bigelow or Twinings, but these Harney & Sons tea bags (sorry, tea sachets) we picked up at World Market made the best tasting tea we tried in our English breakfast tea taste test. It’s robust without being overly bitter. It’s refined, and not just because the bags come in a cute reusable tin—promise.

Read the full ranking of the best English breakfast tea

Rating:

10/10

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best chai

Best Chai Tea Bags

Bigelow Vanilla Chai Black Tea

Chai tea should be spicy and interesting, but it should also taste like more than just straight-up cinnamon to the dome. That’s why the best tea we tried in our taste test of chai tea bags was Bigelow Vanilla Chai. It’s still plenty spicy—you can taste cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.—but the added vanilla flavor smooths any rough edges and makes the drink taste more like a chai tea latte, even if you don’t add milk. In fact, this is some of the best tea if you don’t want to add sugar to your cup—it’s perfectly sweet without any additions. 

Read the full ranking of the best chai tea bags

Rating:

10/10

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best earl grey tea

Best Earl Grey Tea

Good Earth Creme Earl Grey Black Tea

Earl Grey tea may sound intimidating (fun fact: it’s named after a 19th century British prime minister), but it’s really just good, tasty black tea with bergamot oil added for a nice, bright pop of citrus flavor. Some Earl Grey can be a touch astringent, but this “creme” Earl Grey from Good Earth adds a little vanilla flavor to the mix for a more well-rounded sip, and that made it the best tasting tea we tried in this particular taste test. We also like that these tea bags are biodegradable. The Earl would be proud. 

Read the full ranking of the best Earl Grey tea

Rating:

10/10

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best green tea

Best Green Tea Bags

Whole Foods 365 Organic Green Tea

It’s not easy being green—and honestly, it’s not easy to find the best green tea. It’s known for having a pretty mild flavor profile and that can make taste testing tough. But we know good stuff when we try it, and this Whole Foods green tea stood out from the rest of the pack. It’s complex and earthy without being bitter. It’s the best tasting tea to accompany your takeout sushi on a quiet Friday night.

Read the full ranking of the best green tea

Rating:

10/10

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best herbal tea

Best Herbal Tea Bags

Yogi Honey Lavender Stress Relief Soothing Serenity Blend

There are a lot of types of herbal tea (in fact, we conducted separate taste tests to find the best peppermint, ginger, and chamomile tea), and it can be easy to get overwhelmed when you’re standing in the tea aisle weighing the virtues of lavender over rose. If you want something that really encompasses that classic, generic “herbal tea” flavor, try Yogi Honey Lavender. It’s herbal, it’s floral, and it’s a touch sweet thanks to the added honey. Taste tester Jordan Myrick usually hates lavender-infused foods and drinks, but even they agreed this is the best tea when you want an herbal option in the cupboard. 

Read the full ranking of the best herbal tea

Rating:

10/10

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best peppermint tea

Best Peppermint Tea Bags

Traditional Medicinals Organic Peppermint

Peppermint tea should be bright and refreshing without tasting like toothpaste. Traditional medicinals nailed it. This is some of the best tea for cold winter afternoons—it really tastes like freshly picked mint, not just bitter peppermint oil (and not toothpaste, either). It’s some of the best tasting tea for flu season, that’s for sure. 

Read the full ranking of the best peppermint tea

Rating:

10/10

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best ginger tea

Best Ginger Tea Bags

Traditional Medicinals Organic Ginger

It’s bold, it’s spicy, it’s truly some of the best tea if you need to clear your nasal passages right up. Traditional Medicinals Organic Ginger was the best tasting tea we tried in our ginger tea taste test, and not just because it has the most ginger flavor (although that certainly helps). It’s got dimension, too, along with some lovely, floral notes that soften the harsh burn of the ginger. You’ll feel this tea going down, and we think that’s a good thing. It’s peppy and soothing at the same time. 

Read the full ranking of the best ginger tea

Rating:

10/10

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best chamomile tea

Best Chamomile Tea Bags

Tadin Herb & Tea Co. Chamomile Herbal Tea

Go ahead and run yourself a bath and get ready to really relax—we found the best tasting tea for chamomile fans. Tadin’s chamomile tea is fragrant without being flowery and it doesn’t have the sourness that some chamomile teas have. It’s balanced and pleasant. This is the best tea to really kick back with.

Read the full ranking of the best chamomile tea

Rating:

10/10

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best tea k cups

Best Tea K Cups

Tejava Black Tea

If you simply do not have time to steep your tea, then K Cups may be the answer. We’re ambivalent about K Cup coffee (some of it’s pretty bad), but a lot of the K Cup tea we tried was pretty darn good. If you want something bold, flavorful, and reliable (and fast), try these Tejava black tea pods. K Cup coffee can taste stale, but this tea brews up with a nice, fresh flavor. It’s bold and floral and a touch grassy, too. We ranked all sorts of tea pods (chai lattes, green tea, lemon ginger tea), but if black tea is your jam, this is one of the best tasting teas to drink from your Keurig.

Read the full ranking of the best Keurig tea pods

Rating:

10/10

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best iced tea

Best Iced Tea

Best Iced Tea: Gold Peak Sweet Tea

Sweet tea made with a boatload of cane sugar isn’t for everyone—but if you grew up in the South or you simply love sweet tea, Gold Peak makes the best iced tea you can buy. It’s strong and bold, and, frankly, sugar is the perfect complement to those big flavors. The next time you’re heading to the beach on a hot summer day, pack a couple of these in the cooler. 

Read the full ranking of the best iced tea

Rating:

9.5/10

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half iced tea half lemonade

Best Arnold Palmer

Gold Peak Lemonade Flavored Iced Tea Drink

Gold Peak also makes the best iced tea for people who don’t just want a squirt of lemon—they want lemonade in the mix. This is an Arnold Palmer for true tea lovers. Gold Peak brews nice, strong tea, so it’s not overpowered by the citrussy portion of the concoction. In fact, what we liked most about this is that it’s a true 50-50 split between lemonade flavor and tea flavor. Like a lot of the best teas (and tea-adjacent bevs) this is perfectly balanced.

Read the full ranking of the best Arnold Palmers

Rating:

10/10

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best yerba mate

Best Yerba Mate

Guayaki Traditional Terere

Those big, tall cans of Guayaki may be tempting, but their best yerba mate comes in a bottle. The Traditional Terere (the sweetened version, specifically) has a bold, earthy tea flavor we love. It’s nice that the best tea in this case is made by one of the most accessible brands. 

Read the full ranking of the best yerba mate

Rating:

10/10

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best chai concentrate

Best Chai Concentrate

Minor Figures Barista Chai Concentrate

If you’re a sucker for an iced chai latte but you don’t want to go broke buying Starbucks every day, we’re very pleased to introduce you to the positively delicious chai tea concentrate. It makes our list of the best tea because it actually tastes like tea—not just spices and sugar. Although, it is plenty spicy and pleasantly sweet. Minor Figures is known for its excellent oat milk; buy both and you’ll never feel the need to get your venti oat milk iced chai latte at the coffee shop again. 

Read the full ranking of the best chai concentrate

Rating:

10/10

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mizuho instant boba

Best Boba Tea Kit

Mizuho Boba Black Milk Tea

Yup, our search for the best tea even extends bubble tea. Engage your DIY spirit and try this instant boba tea kit, which includes a powder you mix with milk as well as the squishy tapioca pearls we love. Once again, this is one of the best tasting teas because it actually tastes like tea. If your order at Boba Time is always a classic milk tea with brown sugar pearls, then we bet you’ll love this as much as we did. 

Read the full ranking of the best instant boba tea kits

Rating:

10/10

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Jade Leaf Organic Ceremonial Matcha Teahouse Edition

Best Matcha Powder

Jade Leaf Organic Ceremonial Matcha Teahouse Edition

This matcha takes a little longer to prepare than its counterparts, but we think it’s worth it. It tastes great—green and grassy, but not bitter. You could call this the best tea for matcha fans—or you could call it unmatched matcha. We’ll leave it up to you. 

Read the full ranking of the best matcha powder

Rating:

9.5/10

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arizona green tea with ginseng and honey

Best Arizona Tea

Green Tea with Ginseng and Honey

You know it. You love it. It’s the Arizona tea you’ve been sipping since the ‘90s and it’s still the best tea Arizona sells. Besides being a highly nostalgic convenience store classic, Arizona Green Tea with Ginseng and Honey is flavorful, earthy, and sweet—and it contains ginseng, which has to be a good thing, right? It’s forever one of the best tasting teas to drink after a quick stop at the convenience store.

Read the full ranking of every Arizona drink

Rating:

10/10

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best hard tea

Best Hard Tea

Arnold Palmer Spiked Original Half Iced Tea & Half Lemonade

Despite being “hard,” a lot of hard teas have a pretty weak tea flavor. Really, when we sat down for our hard tea taste test, we really just wanted something that gives you a buzz and actually tastes like tea. Incidentally, a “hard” Arnie Palmer was the best hard tea we tried. It has a really nice, smooth black tea flavor. It’s refreshing, too, especially if you can’t choose between hard tea and hard lemonade. Arnie made up your mind for you!

Read the full ranking of the best hard tea 

Rating:

9/10

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About the Author

Sporked Staff

The Sporked Staff tastes everything and anything. They are obsessive about groceries and finding the best of any type of food or drink, from frozen fried shrimp to Dijon mustard to gummy candy. And they're always on a hunt for the best new products. When they aren't eating professionally, they're eating recreationally. And often they're browsing grocery store aisles, just for fun.