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PG Tips from PG Tips

Steepster Score 86 Ratings Rate This Tea

76/100

PG Tips

Black Tea by PG Tips

PG Tips has been the best known and most popular brand of tea in the UK for over 75 years. Stronger than most Indian and African teas, PG Tips has a similar taste to our English Breakfast Tea.

Always innovating and improving its products, PG Tips features pyramid-shaped tea bags, which allow more room for tea to infuse and produce a better flavor. The Freeflow material used in PG Tips tea bags is made of webbed fibers, which allow water to pass through the filter, reaching the tea quickly and decreasing the brewing time. The Freeflow Pyramid bags result in fast brewing and a superior taste.

Contents: 40 teabags, 4.4 oz

91 Tasting Notes

laurenpressley
41
laurenpressley 8 tasting notes

backlogging. So, call me crazy, but somehow I had never had this before. I went to a friend’s house last night and had several fun options. This and something from my shopping list, included. The other one required a specific brewing time and temperature (as best I recalled), and I couldn’t believe I still hadn’t had this, so I gave it a go.

Good stuff! It reminded me a lot of my precious Brattle Street Blend, and was a good strength. I think I’m going to get a box of this as my go to tea bag option in the future. (And will probably replace my Twinings with it.)

I finally got a box of this last evening. So though I typically like to brew a pot of loose leaf tea on weekend mornings, and I just got several other fun teas from Tealuxe, I was excited to start the day with this one.

So now begins the experimentation to determine how I like this brewed. I started with a 3 minute steep and I’m having it plain. The flavor is exactly what I want out of a breakfast style tea, but stronger than I expected. I’m probably going to experiment with a shorter steep next time. I will definitely be experimenting with the milk/sweetener as well.

Yay for tea related projects!

finally! this is the cup of tea I’ve been waiting for all day!!

I’m back at work, and trying to be productive. I have a cup of this to start the day and try to get myself going earlier than I have for the past two (I think I slept in until 1030 both days!!)… hopefully I’ll get a lot of (decaf) tea in today as I try to get myself back in gear.

Yum! I had a big mug, and didn’t really get a good cup of tea yesterday, so I decided to double up and have a large cup today. I was able to fish out one tea bag, but the other sank to the bottom and stayed there for a while. I couldn’t bring myself to drink the last half of the cup because it was so over steeped, so I really ended up with one extra strong cuppa instead. It was still good, just not quite what I had planned on. :)

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Amy
71
Amy

I hit a wall with my other english breakfast tea (Mr. St. James repackaged as the London Transport Museum), jumping through dangerous internet hoops of fire to find the origin of this recent morning bagged favorite. In a slight panic mode to find a worthy kick-start replacement, I purchased PG Tips. I figured if this is one of the top breakfast teas in England, then the blend might be very similar as I have all but given up hope of finding this tea. It’s the pyramid PG tips bag. At first when I poured the boiled water over the bag the water was very light. I thought, “Uh oh” I might have to double up. Then a minute later the water transformed into a beautiful deep dark coppery color signaling the robust flavor I had been searching for. The mix is indeed similar, with a little bit more weight on the assam (at least to me, does anyone know of the traditional blend has equal parts Ceylon, Kenyan, and Assam leaves for the formula?). I decided to stop at 3 minutes of steeping fearing the bitter would set in, and might double dare myself to try 4 minutes next time. Caffeine kick on one bag at 3min. is impressive – even with milk and sugar. The flavor shines right through. Although bagged tea is a rough 2nd choice to loose leaf, I am beginning to see that with a “Great” quality bagged tea, I can still get a pretty decent flavor, I just need to make sure I don’t drown the tea bag in too much water.

Jenny
80

I ran out of my Extra Strong Black Tea by Marks & Spencer, and since importing it is ridiculously expensive — I’m switching over to PG Tips (available much more easily in the US, and can be purchased at World Market to add to my explorer points).

I’ve been having my A&D’s assam with milk for my afternoon tea, but since I’m travelling for the next few weeks I decided it was easier and just as tasty to snag a box of PG Tips. <3

Scatterbrain
24
Scatterbrain 2 tasting notes

I picked some of this up today because I’ve been on a bit of a black tea kick lately (which is strange for me), and I no longer have any loose-leaf blacks in the house. I had heard that this was the best black tea you could get in a grocery store. While I obviously didn’t have high expectations, I thought it would be better than this. I smelled it and thought “this smells like any other grocery store black – dull, flat, and uninteresting.”. And when I brewed it and tried it at different temperatures, it didn’t get much better. Still dull. Still flat. Still uninteresting. But along with that, I was also greeted with a bitter punch it the face. So yeah, I guess it is a little more “bold” than most grocery store brands, but I didn’t find it any better.

Tonight I steeped this for a shorter time than last time and I realized it’s not as bad as I thought, it is a tiny bit better than other grocery store blacks but still, not by much. It’s still boring and flat and leaves me wanting more. But the good news is that I got an early allowance tonight and placed an order with Teavivre for 3.5 ounces each of their bailin gongfu black and tie guan yin, I’m very excited. I wish Teavivre had an earl grey tea, for some reason I’m REALLY craving bergamot lately which is strange for me. I’m almost tempted to go buy a box of Twinings earl grey (that’s how much I’m craving bergamot). But that’s enough rambling for now…

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jennlea
70

Picked this up today at the International Food Market after forgetting to pick some up the last few times I went. I swear I always forget something even if I have a list with me.

First tried steeping this for 3 minutes (which is where I start all black teas) because I don’t like really strong tea. But 3 minutes was WAY too long for my tastes. Whoa. It was strong beyond belief to me. I couldn’t even finish a few sips. So I tossed out that cup and tried again with a 1 minute steep time. Much, much better.

This is a good basic black tea for everyday. Nothing extraordinary, but it does the trick of satisfying the tea craving.

rabbysmom
100
rabbysmom 4 tasting notes

Never tried this before! Had my first cup yesterday afternoon and loved it! I can add milk and sugar and still taste the nice flavor of tea. ( When I add milk and sugar to Twining’s Irish Breakfast the tea seems overwhelmed by the additions, which is strange considering that it is supposed to be really strong. )

This is so yummy that I went to bed last night actually looking forward to my PG Tips in the morning! Woke up early today and ALMOST got out of bed at a crazy-early hour just because I was craving this tea. LOL Anyways, this is obviously a keeper and will replace my former morning favorite, Twining’s Irish Breakfast. :)

Two cups this morning first thing. Take my daughter to preschool for her first full day then come home to enjoy one of my last lazy mornings before I start work tomorrow. Third cup with a buttery english muffin and some Bible reading. All good things.

Yea, this is now officially my morning cuppa. Because sometimes you just want good, plain tea.

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Mike Jutan
95

PG Tips, you dirty beast of awesome.

This tea takes me friggin’ BACK. I love this. It is a powerhouse of British glory and reminds me of the year I lived in England. I could drink this all the time. It’s really awesome, the flavour is powerful and bold but not overpowering by any means. Really, pretty much a perfect tea.

This stuff is good with anything. I don’t usually drink tea black but it’s even awesome like that. Very good with milk, good with cream if you’re fancy like that, and epically awesome with lemon juice and sugar. As Wallace from Wallace & Gromit might say, “This stuff goes down a treat!”

Do yourself a favour and go buy a box of this now. You’ll probably punch yourself in the face with shame once you realize you should have been drinking this for years. This was at the top of my tea cupboard hiding for a while but I just moved it down to eye-level so I can drink it more often.

Probably not ideal for an evening tea due to the caffeine, but truly glorious for breakfast or especially when the clock strikes 4. It’s tea time, baby!

Nina
23

Am I missing something here? PG Tips scores so well amongst you lot and I can’t stand the stuff. In fact, I bought some Yorkshire, Hampstead and Teapigs for friends that still have this rubbish in their cupboards. I hope they have now seen the light.

Brett
52
Brett 2 tasting notes

I really oversteeped this tea. I was anticipating that it would be undrinkable, since others have commented how strong this tea is, but it was fine. Of course I added milk and sugar. Not as nice as Twinings, but still better than any American tea, including Tetley’s British Blend.

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poemaXX
74
poemaXX 3 tasting notes

I was very skeptical when my friend gifted me a few bags of this unassuming black tea. Color me impressed! So nice with milk and honey. I’m a fan!

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Meagan T.
85
Meagan T. 2 tasting notes

This is my favourite cup of “comfort” tea. Any time I’m feeling blue, a mug of hot PG Tips is sure to make me feel better!

Another morning cup of PG Tips. This tea helps me start the day off right.

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GREEN TEA TV
98

It is one of the best black teas in a teabag I have ever had.

Anyanka
70

I’ve been mad dashing around lately and not brewing any tea. But I do have a cup of something bagged in the morning, lately Yorkshire Tea. This morning, I went back to my old pre-steepster, pre-looseleaf, pre-tea-snobbery tea. PG Tips. And I still like it!

Sometimes this comes off mineral-tasting to me, but today I hit the sweet spot and it was just right. One travel cup, one tea bag, 4 minutes steeping with water just boiled, 2 tsp whatever creamer thing I have, and 1 tsp sugar.

I never drank tea with milk- always plain or with sugar because when I tried it with milk, it was disgusting. (Once as a child I added milk and lemon and that worked out as well as can be expected.) Then I realized I’d been overdoing it. I drink my coffee unsweetened with a lot of cream, and would prepare tea exactly the same way. And overpower the tea and basically make hotwatermilk, never a delicious beverage.

This tea isn’t subtle or nuanced and you probably don’t want to sip it and try to savor its delicate flavors, but it’s nice in the early morning when you’re shaking off the cobwebs.

lecheval
93

A few years ago I was wandering about my grocery’s store international aisle, they had all sorts of cool stuff, exotic beans and pickles, wine gums, oats from ireland, and tea. They had about 3 different kinds of “exotic” teas from the UK and Ireland. I found them interesting because up to this point I had only been drinking Lipton and other horrible US market teas that we get. The box proudly read “#1 Tea in the UK.” so I thought “Why not? It’s on sale.”

So began the love affair that I have with this tea today. PG Tips has seen me through many a study session, many a cold morning, many a cold afternoon and night, and many through a good morning cuppa. It’s a basic black tea, that’s that but it’s comforting. I just poil my water until the kettle is whistling, throw in a teabag into my mug, pour some water over it and then let it sit for about 5 minutes and then I add some milk. Simply perfect but makes my day so much better.

Overall, there are better teas out there (Yorkshire, Barry’s ,etc.) but PG Tips remains a favorite to me.

Serenity
97

Nearly instantaneous comfort, this is the kind of tea I grew up on. Sure I may be bad at math and far from robust, but don’t blame tea. Holds its own with milk, peeg as I like to call it is best brought to you in bed. It helps part the cobwebs from dreams and starts you on your tea filled day’s journey.

QueenOfTarts
89

This is a great, simple tea.
Delicious with milk and sugar.

Heyes
65

Another good tea from the “bagged” tea world. When compared to other bagged teas this is a real champion. Consistent mouth-feel, flavor, color, and very easy to brew. I have had worse loose teas.

I would describe it as (and in all cases mildly) caramel, floral, and barky. It has that general “black tea” taste. That was not “generic” it was general.

Worth keeping in the cupboard, cuz sometimes you just gotta have a quick cuppa.

ClassieLassie
98
ClassieLassie 5 tasting notes

The best tea, ever. Required: Milk, Sugar.
Its about the only the thing I drink anymore.

Still my favorite tea, ever.
Great for all day sipping.
So glad I’m over this cold, so I can drink milk in my tea again!

Compared with cups of Red label Yorkshire and Yorkshire Gold at the same time.
Brewed each 4 minutes, added 2 spoonfuls of sugar and a tablespoon of milk to each.

PG Tips: Still my favorite over all the others. No tweaking needed on time, temp, or add-ins, unlike the Yorkshires. Also easier to find; now if my local grocers would just stock the decaf version as well and save me a trip to the British specialty import store…..

Still my go to tea for anything, especially first thing in the morning and all day drinking. I even picked up a “tea wallet” just so I could easily and less messily haul some around in my bag, since none of the restaurants, coffee shops, or friends houses around me carry it (its all bigelow, lipton, tetley, or tazo around here – yick).

Kettle to boil, then pour over tea. Let sit undisturbed for exactly 4 minutes. Toss out bag and stir in 2 spoonfuls of unbleached sugar and a generous splash of milk. May be served with a chocolate digestive if I’m feeling indulgent.

Backlogging from the weekend.

I read someone’s review where he or she said PG Tips was a “comfortable sameness” each and every time. I think that’s about right. I always know what to expect – I have the steep time, water temperature and amount, sugar and milk amounts to add – all worked out and can replicate a perfect cuppa while half asleep.

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smartfemme
97

I met PG Tips black tea about seven years ago through an English friend. You cannot find it in a shop in my country, that’s why since then I always ask anyone who travel to Britain to get some for me. I’ve bought it online the past years and it’s definitely my favourite English Breakfast tea. Is a strong one and I use to add a little milk on it.

Carla
80

My standard cup of strong black tea, with a splash of milk. My go-to “I don’t want to have to make a decision about tea” cuppa tea. Yum.