Aussies have rated Twinings as the top brand in Canstar Blue’s latest speciality tea ratings, with the brand scoring five stars across all categories, including taste, variety & range, packaging convenience, value for money and overall satisfaction.
Our review compares specialty tea on customer satisfaction, so you can find out what other Aussies think about the compared brands before you go ahead with a purchase. Think of it as like asking hundreds of your closest mates which specialty tea they think is best!
Canstar Blue surveyed 569 Australians for their feedback on the specialty tea(s) they’ve purchased from a supermarket or grocer and consumed in the last three months.
The winning brand is the one that receives the highest Overall satisfaction rating once all the scores from the Overall satisfaction criteria are combined and averaged.
Brands must have received at least 30 responses to be included, so not all brands available in the market have been compared in this survey. The brands rated in this survey are listed below in order of best overall satisfaction.
Find more detailed information on our Most Satisfied Customer methodology.
Twinings is often synonymous with tea, with the brand offering no shortage of options for those looking to have a cuppa. In addition to traditional black tea, Twinings also offers peppermint, lemon & ginger, camomile, strawberry & raspberry & loganberry, camomile & spearmint, cranberry & pomegranate, orange & cinnamon, along with plenty of other flavours for those looking for something a bit different. Package sizes will vary between flavours, with packs ranging from 10 to 80, with Twinings available at major supermarkets such as Coles and Woolworths.
There are many different types of tea out there, with brands getting more experimental by adding in different flavours, fruits and spices to jazz things up a little. Here are the most common types of teas explained.
Black tea is perhaps the most popular of all varieties and is where classic favourites such as English Breakfast and Earl Grey fall under. Black tea is fully oxidised, and is most commonly produced in India. There are three types of black tea produced in India – Darjeeling, Assam and Nilgiri. Ceylon is another popular variety from Sri Lanka. Even within this category there are many subcategories – ones even the biggest tea buff would have trouble being an expert in. For a classic cuppa out on the deck, you can’t go wrong with black tea.
Black tea is perhaps the most popular of all varieties and is where classic favourites such as English Breakfast and Earl Grey fall under. Black tea is fully oxidised, and is most commonly produced in India. There are three types of black tea produced in India – Darjeeling, Assam and Nilgiri. Ceylon is another popular variety from Sri Lanka. Even within this category there are many subcategories – ones even the biggest tea buff would have trouble being an expert in. For a classic cuppa out on the deck, you can’t go wrong with black tea.
Oolong tea is perhaps the most complex tea out there to perfect, and there’s a lot of variety. Oolong tea can be very lightly oxidised, or heavily oxidised to give the desired characteristics and profile. Oolong tea generally needs to be steeped multiple times to get the most from it, with aromas and tastes commonly fruity. As a fun fact, ‘oolong’ comes from the term ‘Wu-long’, which is Chinese for ‘black dragon’. So, get some fire in your belly and sip on an oolong.
Gaining in popularity in Australia are herbal teas, so what are they? Well, herbal infusions are extra ingredients added to the process other than tea leaves. The technical term for herbal tea is ‘tisane’. Here you’ll find teas such as chamomile, peppermint and lemongrass and ginger among other flavours. Really, the possibilities are endless, with flavours as exotic as rose, liquorice, choc mint and beyond.
Oolong tea is an aromatic Chinese tea made from the same leaves used to create green and black tea, the Camellia sinensis plant, except the leaves are not fully oxidised. In comparison, the leaves for green tea are not oxidised at all, while the leaves for black tea undergo full oxidisation. Oolong tea is ideally brewed with a higher leaf-to-water ratio than other types of tea, which you can easily achieve by adding an extra scoop of loose-leaf tea or steeping the tea bag multiple times.
This report was written by Canstar Blue’s Site Editor, Dean Heckscher. He’s our resident expert on all things automotive, health & fitness, streaming and more. Dean is also one of Canstar Blue’s customer research report producers, helping to turn complicated subjects into easily-digestible information for our readers. He’s passionate about helping consumers make better-informed purchase decisions on all manner of consumer goods and services.
Samantha Howse is Canstar Blue’s Consumer Research Specialist, coordinating the consumer research program behind our customer satisfaction awards across Canstar and Canstar Blue in Australia and New Zealand. Sam has earned a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) from Griffith University and, with seven years in market research and 2 years in marketing, she is experienced in survey design, implementation and analysis, coupled with an understanding of marketing principles and best practice.
Here are the past winners from Canstar Blue’s specialty tea ratings:
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