Top Ten Green Tea Bags by Brand Review

Top Ten Green Tea Bags by Brand Review

 

Green tea lovers are always looking for the perfect cup of tea. As such, we're always eager to experiment with different brands to find what meets our own individual tastes. Many tea elitists will sneer at the idea of a good tasting green tea made from a tea bag, but the flavor and quality of green tea sold commercially has never been better. 

Below I will rank the top ten green tea bags by brand. It must be said, anything will have its pros and its cons. Thankfully enough, most of these teas can be purchased as your local grocery store, but I will provide links to Amazon.com for each brand. Test the teas out yourself and comment below if you agree or disagree with my conclusions.

1. Kirkland Signature Ito En Green Tea

• Are you looking for a high-quality tea that can be purchased in bulk? Look no further, the Kirkland Signature Ito En Green Tea will satisfy just about any tea lover. Kirkland (Ito En) has provided a real pleasure here, customers are not being sold a second-rate product labeled in the broad catch all term 'Green Tea'. 

Pros:

• Won't Get Bitter. I definitely prefer teas that can stay fresh rather than go bitter if they are steeped only a little too long. 
• Quality Bag. Everything about this tea bag is well-made, a real pleasure to know everything was designed to make the tea drinker happy.
• Matcha Blend. Know anyone hooked on matcha tea? Now you can please the matcha desire with the convenience and cost savings of tea bags.
• Fresh Taste. So authentic tasting that even native Asians will likely be pleased by the flavor of this tea.
• High Quality Tea. If you want to drink high quality tea from green tea leaves that aren't residue, then rest confident in what Ito En is offering here.

Cons:

• Price. To get this quality, you will have to pay for it. From Amazon, it will cost you nearly $20 for this green tea. When shopping at Costco, it will cost only $13 or so.
• Not Organic. Many of the lower priced teas listed here are organic, but Kirkland is not offering an organic product here.
  

2. Numi Organic Tea Gunpowder Green

• Gunpowder Green Tea is one of the most interesting developments in the world of tea. Packing tea together in tight shot makes for flavorful tea that preserves and releases flavor to a remarkable degree. 

Pros:

• Jasmine Flavor. While I think Green Tea should stand by itself, jasmine is a light addition that does not at all compete with the tea flavor.
• Excellent Tea Flavor. Gunpowder Green Tea really comes ahead in translating the deliciousness that should accompany all tea.
• Not Bitter. Has a remarkable ability at not turning bitter on you

Cons:

• Price. Not as good as a deal of the bulk 100 tea bag sets. You won't be breaking the bank to afford this tea as you would with some gunpowder green varieties, but you may want to look into bulk tea for everyday needs if you are a caffeine fiend like I am.
• Be Sure You Can Drink Jasmine Tea. My sister refused to drink jasmine flavored tea because she didn't care for the smell of jasmine being associated with food.

3. Uncle Lee's Organic Green Tea

• I would recommend Uncle Lee's Organic Green Tea as a standard daily tea for many tea drinkers out there. Based upon my research, Uncle Lee's can deliver you the absolute best bang for the buck. 

Pros:

• Price Savings. Amazon has a great deal for Uncle Lee's Tea, but Walmart offers an even better deal at less than $5 per box of 100 tea bags.
• Mildness. Hard to ever get a bitter cup of tea. If you steep for more than five minutes, then the bottom of the cup will be full of bitter water.
• Packaging. I really do enjoy the nifty little paper packages these tea bags come in. Some say paper will cause the flavor of the tea to be lost, I somewhat doubt it.

Cons:

• Lacking in Strong Flavor. To get a true caffeine push, you will likely need two teabags per cup.
• Not Robust. You will get a one-tone flavor here, nothing gourmet. It reminds me of tea served at Chinese restaurants (which is fine by me).

4. Yogi Green Tea

• So many folks love the Yogi series of Green Teas. Why is that? Well, Yogi offers teas paired with all sorts of complimentary flavors. Ultimately, it all comes down to the flavor of the green tea itself. Thankfully, Yogi is offering a nice flavored green tea. Think of it as a basic comfort food with nice spice and sauce combos added to enhance the original flavor of the dish.

Pros:

• Quality Flavors. All sorts of interesting combos paired with Yogi, blueberry is the most popular and most unique flavor combo.
• Relax. Yogi seems dedicated to marketing their teas as health boosting and relaxing products, rather than pure energy boosters.
• Coffee Lovers. Are you hooked on coffee or know anyone who is? Yogi teas seem to have a great success in weaning coffee drinkers off the beans and to the more healthy tea leaves.

Cons:

• Flavored. All Yogi Teas seem to come with some kind of flavoring or another. It is entirely possible you may not want your tea tasting like blueberry or mint.
• Expect to Pay $1 More Per Box. Compared even to the slightly pricey Tazo, I always notice Yogi as being one of the more expensive teas on store shelves.

5. Tazo Zen Green Tea

• Tazo Tea fills a market American Tea Drinkers are desperate to see filled. On the one hand, we like the convenience and price savings of tea bags. On the other hand, we would like something that just feels more authentic than a bleached white blag that smells faintly earthy. Box art design of Tazo Tea always catches my eye as I walk down the tea aisle at my store. Presentation is half the battle, taste and price are the other half though.

Pros:

• Calming. While you will get a caffeine boost from drinking this tea, it also seems to offer a peace of mind somehow.
• Quality Tea Leaves. Tazo tastes nice, apparently the company uses quality tea leaves in preparing their tea bags.
• Tazo Seems to Care. It is weird to say a mass market tea is 'artisan' or anything like that, but Tazo products actually feel artistic and local.

Cons:

• Above-Average Taste, but Not Superb. While the taste is nice, I would not call it the best tasting tea you can possibly get.
• Price Point. Not the best deal out there, but not terribly more expensive than better bargains.

6. Yamamotoyama Green Tea

• There has to be at least one Japanese Green Tea on this list. True, Kirkland is actually a Japanese Green Tea, but it passes itself off as a mass market American tea. Imported Japanese Teas are somewhat of a novelty here. Unfortunately, just because it is Japanese does not mean it is superb quality.

Pros:

• Japanese. Amaze your friends with the idea of 'Japanese Tea'. If you have any friends who love Japanese culture, these tea bags make for a fun little gift.
• Mostly Good. Nothing about this tea disappoints me. While I am not blown away by it, I would be fine drinking this as a daily tea.
• Pure Tea. No additives, straight from the Asian heartland. If you want an unadulterated taste, this will make a fine choice.

Cons:

• Mediocre Flavor. While some rave, I say, 'So What?'. Honestly, this tea is not going to knock you down on your butt it tastes so good. Really it is just Plain Jane Tea in my opinion.
• Some Japanese Tea Lovers Will Dislike It. At times it can seem like all tea is this way, but some people in the know of 'true tea' will be angered at the idea of this being considered top of the line stuff.

7. Stash 'Premium' Organic Green Tea

• If you're looking for a middle of the road green tea, Stash best fits the description. Honestly, it is noticeably inferior compared to the Kirkland Green Tea, but only slightly better than the Lipton Green Tea. Now, the reason I am judging Stash so harshly is that it calls itself 'Premium', but I find it to be only average.

Pros:

• Available At Most Supermarkets. I can spot Stash Tea on the shelves of just about any supermarket in America. 
• Fine as a Daily Tea. There is nothing about Stash that should disqualify it from being a daily tea.
• Organic. Will meet the needs of anyone looking to just drink organic tea due to health or ecological concerns.

Cons:

• Okay, but Not Great. Nothing Stash Tea seems all that 'Premium' to me. In fact, the flavor of Stash is so mild I was somewhat surprised.
• Can Turn Bitter. Be careful on those steeping times. Stash Tea can be slightly forgiving, but you should err on the side of caution with these teas while they steep.

8. Prince of Peace Organic Tea

• Bulk teas are always worth looking into. Spending a fortune each week for tea is not possible for many of us. With that said, there often is tradeoff between flavor and cost savings. Prince of Peace offers one of the most affordable teas from Amazon.com, but doesn't earn the award as the most favorable unfortunately.
  

Pros:

• Price Point. Amazon will deliver this tea right to your doorstep for less than $8.
• Mild. If you want warm water with a hint of flavor, and a slight caffeine boost, the Prince of Peace Tea will get the job done.

 Cons:

• Weak Flavor. Some call it mild, others call it weak. Expect to double up on tea bags if you like your green tea to taste like something.
• Bag Quality. Not that great of quality, a real disappointment.

9. Lipton Green Tea

• If there was ever such a thing as a completely average green tea, it would be Lipton. Considering that average green teas cost close enough to the same price as good green teas, there is no real point in spending your money here. Nonetheless, Lipton has a devoted following and produces on an economy of scale for a reason.
  

Pros:

• Convenient. You're able to find Lipton tea just about anywhere.
• Average Flavor. Drinkable, but don't expect to fall in love with the brand.
• Cost Savings. 100 Bags for less $7 is a decent deal.
  

Cons: 

• Bitter if Steeped Too Long. You really will have to time the steeping time, no more than a minute and a half should be used for this brand.
• Better Stuff Out There. Don't make this your go to tea. 

10. Bigelow Green Tea

• Perhaps I just have come across a bad batch, but Bigelow really disappointed me. Now, I was not expecting a world class cup of tea from Bigelow, but the flavor was really off putting. It may just be that I enjoy steeping my teas a little longer than some, still though, something about Bigelow just didn't work with me.

Pros:

• Availability. I see Bigelow at every grocery store I go to, can always be at hand no matter where you are in the US.
• Some Enjoy Bigelow. Many report liking Bigelow, perhaps it is for some and not others.

Cons:

• Steeping Time. I could never figure out the sweet spot for steeping time with Bigelow, it always had a bitter and strange flavor when I tasted it.
• Packaging. Four tea bags come in one foil wrapper, this is annoying if you only want to use one or two tea bags at a time.

Conclusion

We live in a blessed age to have such great diversity in our tea selections. Even better, most of these teas are dirt cheap, allowing us to drink delicious caffeinated tea for only a few pennies a day. Unfortunately, quality really does differ between green tea brands. If you are ever turned off by a green tea flavor, try another. My own experience with Bigelow Tea was a bad one, but I turned to other brands and was overjoyed with their quality.

Look into Kirkland Signature Ito En Green Tea if you are wanting the highest quality green tea bags that can be bought at a reliable price. For even those new to green tea, head off to the local grocery store and buy a few different brands to try. You can't go wrong drinking green tea, it is affordable, healthful, and a pleasure to drink.