Best (mainly English) tea brands and where to find them at low prices

Tea is becoming an increasingly popular drink as it is a refreshing alternative to the morning coffee. With that, tea usually does not contain as much caffeine as a cup of coffee and has a significant variety of health benefits, such as having antioxidants, increasing mental alertness, improving the immune system, and possibly improve bad breath! Unlike coffee, tea usually will not create the mental crash.

Many of us who need our daily fix of caffeine will probably go to the grocery store to get a box of Lipton's or some other well-known/generic brand. This does not seem to be a problem as it appears to be very affordable and convenient. Yet, American tea is known for being very weak and tasteless, making the tea experience much less enjoyable. On the other hand, the people across the pond know how to make it right. People deserve good tea for their money.

The following are a few brands I have found after a lot of research that people consistently found to make a great cuppa.

This is by far the best black tea I have ever had. It is very, very smooth for a black tea, but I cannot find it sold anywhere on the internet--I have also checked Google UK and no hope. If anyone has seen this tea online, please feel free to post on the bottom.

Unlike many major tea brands, this tea company is a family tea company, and quality definitely comes first. They also are very environmentally conscious, which never hurts!

The English have claimed that this company creates one of the best teas if not the best, and unlike American tea, British tea is quite strong, where one bag can make multiple cups of tea. According to their site, they will mix around twenty different types of tea to make a great blend, and there have been relatively little complaints and great praises for this tea.

The more economical variety is the red label, and at around 10c per bag, this alternative could be affordable without sacrificing great taste!

There have been amazing reviews on the Gold Label, where many people have changed their routine tea to be this one.

It is indeed possible that these teas may change your daily caffeine routine!

This tea supposedly brews a better cuppa than the Red Label and is marginally more expensive than the Red Label.

Want to spice up your options?

Taylor's of Harrogate also offers specialty teas. I have listed a few below.

They also offer selected decaffeinated varieties as well.

The quintessential tea. The name explains it all. Good. English. tea.

From personal experience, this tea is quite strong, and although this might seem highly unorthodox to many tea drinkers, I love letting my tea bag steep in my cup to obtain more flavor. Many bags that are steeped for a really long time will turn really bitter, but this bag, in my opinion, did not seem to get bitter, rather much stronger. With one tea bag, it could very well be possible to make a whole kettle of very strong tea without compromising taste. This tea also had really strong reviews.

If you would like to try some more English tea, I would try Yorkshire Gold first, and if you want to possibly switch it up a bit, this is a good alternative.

I know I wrote I would only mention English teas, but I think this brand is worth mentioning.

Harney and Sons is good for its specialty teas; they have very strange varieties, but they have also received very strong reviews. More pricier than the upper two brands, these teas seem fit for those days when you want to change your routine after drinking black tea for the last month ...or year!

You can also find their teas for purchase through their website: www.harney.com

After providing so many options, I hope I have opened up a new dimension of teas to you. Sure there are many time-old brands such as Tetley's, PG Tips, Twinnings (actually not that bad), and many other English teas, but before you go to the grocery store to pick up these teas, make a dare to try something different. For many, it will hopefully not be a regrettable choice.

For those who do not have the time to boil water, do not want to microwave water, do not have an automatic boiling water dispenser, or do not have one of those single cup coffee machines, you may want to consider buying even an electric heater. If you are not nit-picky about the possible subtle differences between electrically brewed tea and pot brewed, then it could save heating costs and it could be prepared a lot quicker.  If you want an automatic tea maker, those are also available but are much more expensive.