Tea buying guide
Choose black tea by strength, flavour and format
Black tea ranges from strong, malty breakfast blends to lighter, aromatic and fruit-flavoured cups. Start with how you drink tea—plain or with milk—then compare strength, leaf format and flavour rather than treating every black tea as interchangeable.
What to compare
- For milk, look for a fuller-bodied breakfast or everyday blend; for drinking plain, consider a lighter single-origin or aromatic tea.
- Choose bags for speed and consistency, or loose leaf when you want to adjust dose and steeping more precisely.
- Flavoured black tea can add fruit, spice, vanilla or citrus notes while keeping a black-tea base.
Questions about this collection
Does black tea contain caffeine?
Yes, unless it is specifically decaffeinated. The amount in a cup varies with the tea, leaf quantity, water temperature and brewing time.
Which black tea works best with milk?
Fuller-bodied breakfast, Assam-style and robust everyday blends usually remain clear through milk. Delicate or highly aromatic black teas are often best tasted plain first.
How is black tea different from green tea?
Both come from the tea plant, but black tea is more fully oxidised during processing. That changes its colour, aroma and flavour; it does not make every black tea stronger or more caffeinated than every green tea.
