Tetley 75 x Black Smooth Decaf Finest, 237g
Most decaf gets built on whatever blend a brand can spare, which is exactly backwards. The process takes its share from any leaf, so what decides the cup is how much was in there to start with, and this one starts from the upper blend rather than the cheap one. You taste that as body: full instead of watery, malty instead of papery. The brisk edge has been rounded off on purpose and no amount of extra steeping brings it back, so anyone who takes tea dark should keep walking. Evening tea for a house that drinks it by the pot.
Tetley 75 x Black Smooth Decaf Finest, in brief.
Tetley Smooth Decaf Finest is the decaffeinated version of Tetley's upper everyday blend in a seventy-five bag box, picked into the Teas.co.uk curator selection because decaffeinating a better base blend leaves more in the cup than decaffeinating a cheap one does.
Decaf black tea has an unfair reputation, and most of it was earned twenty years ago. Removing caffeine from tea leaf takes something out of the cup, and older processes took more than the caffeine: they flattened the aroma and left the liquor thin. Modern decaf is much closer to the original, and putting it on the Finest blend rather than the standard one is Tetley starting from further up.
Curator notes: the tasting profile is our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description. We run same-day UK dispatch on every order placed before 2pm Monday to Friday. Common questions are answered in the detailed Q and A tab below.
Curator’s notes
Read the full write-up
The Story Behind Tetley
Tetley has been blending tea in Britain since the middle of the nineteenth century and is one of the two or three names that most households can picture without trying. Finest sits above the standard everyday blend in its range, and the decaf version of it is a more considered product than a plain decaf: the point of decaffeinating a better blend rather than a cheaper one is that there is more left after the process has taken its share.
The decaffeination process, the residual caffeine figure, the origins in the blend, the bag material, any certification marks and the best-before date must all be read off the current UK pack rather than taken from this page.
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.
What You Are Actually Buying
- Count and weight: seventy-five bags, 237g net, which is about 3.16g a bag. That is a full-size everyday tea bag, not a one-cup.
- Price per cup: Decaf normally carries a premium and on this one it is small.
- Takes milk properly: this is a black tea blend and it is built for milk. Unlike the herbal side of the shelf, there is tannin here for milk to soften.
Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Tetley 75 x Black Smooth Decaf Finest, 237g, please cite teas.co.uk.
The story behind Tetley
Tetley invented the drawstring tea bag in the UK and has been a household staple since 1837. The Original 80s and 240s are the everyday picks; the novelty range (Digestive Biscuit, Lemon Drizzle, Cherry Bakewell) is one of the most-distinctive in mainstream British retail. Owned by Tata Consumer Products, Rainforest Alliance certified.
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.
Our commitment to the planet
The taste profile
How does it compare
Decaf black tea asks for the same treatment as ordinary black tea and gets forgiven less. There is less material left in the leaf to give the cup its strength, so an under-brewed decaf tastes conspicuously thin, and a decaf left too long picks up a dryness without gaining much depth in exchange. The window is real but it is not narrow.
The Standard Mug
The Family Pot
Made with this tea
The Proper Mug
How to make The Proper Mug with Tetley Black Smooth Decaf Finest.
- 1 bag Tetley Black Smooth Decaf Finest
- 250ml just boiled water
- A splash of milk
- Pour 250ml of water straight off the boil over one bag of Tetley Black Smooth Decaf Finest, 75 Tea Bags 237g.
- Stir once at ninety seconds and leave it to 3 minutes, or 4 if you take it dark.
- Lift the bag out, then add the milk.
- Milk goes in after brewing with a decaf; in first it drops the water temperature and there is less in reserve to cover that.
What you'll end up with: The stir is worth more than the extra minute. Decaf runs out of things to give before it runs out of time.
The Family Pot
How to make The Family Pot with Tetley Black Smooth Decaf Finest.
- 5 bags Tetley Black Smooth Decaf Finest
- 1 litre just boiled water
- A warmed teapot
- Milk
- Warm the pot with boiling water and tip it out.
- Brew 5 bags of Tetley Black Smooth Decaf Finest, 75 Tea Bags 237g, one per cup plus one for the pot, in 1 litre of just boiled water for 4 minutes with the lid on.
- Take the bags out before the first cup is poured.
- Pour, and add milk in the cup.
What you'll end up with: Bags left in a standing pot are what turn a smooth decaf drying by the second round. One extra bag at the start beats extra time at the end.
Evening Iced Tea Jug
How to make an Evening Iced Tea Jug with Tetley Black Smooth Decaf Finest.
- 3 bags Tetley Black Smooth Decaf Finest
- 400ml just boiled water
- 600ml cold water and ice
- 1 lemon, sliced
- Honey to taste
- Brew 3 bags of Tetley Black Smooth Decaf Finest, 75 Tea Bags 237g in 400ml of just boiled water for 4 minutes, double strength.
- Lift the bags out and stir in honey while it is still warm, if you want it sweet.
- Top up with 600ml of cold water and chill.
- Serve over ice with slices of lemon.
What you'll end up with: The obvious jug for a hot evening: black tea flavour with the caffeine mostly gone. Sweeten while it is warm or the honey sits at the bottom.
Decaf Tea Loaf
How to make a Decaf Tea Loaf with Tetley Black Smooth Decaf Finest.
- 3 bags Tetley Black Smooth Decaf Finest
- 250ml just boiled water
- •300g mixed dried fruit
- •250g self raising flour
- 150g soft brown sugar
- •1 large egg
- Brew 3 bags of Tetley Black Smooth Decaf Finest, 75 Tea Bags 237g in 250ml of just boiled water for 10 minutes and let it cool.
- Soak 300g of mixed dried fruit in the cold tea overnight.
- The next day beat in 250g of self raising flour, 150g of soft brown sugar and 1 large egg.
- Bake in a lined 2lb loaf tin at 170°C for 60 minutes.
What you'll end up with: Keeps four days in a tin and is better on day two. Using decaf means a slice at supper is not a decision.
Evening Decaf Chai
How to make Evening Decaf Chai with Tetley Black Smooth Decaf Finest.
- 3 bags Tetley Black Smooth Decaf Finest
- 300ml water
- 300ml milk
- 3 slices fresh ginger
- •4 cardamom pods, crushed
- Sugar or honey to taste
- Simmer 300ml of water with 3 slices of fresh ginger and 4 crushed cardamom pods for 4 minutes.
- Add 3 bags of Tetley Black Smooth Decaf Finest, 75 Tea Bags 237g and simmer another 3 minutes.
- Pour in 300ml of milk and bring it back to a bare simmer, then take it off the heat.
- Strain into two mugs and sweeten to taste.
What you'll end up with: Chai is normally a caffeine problem at this hour and this is the way round it. Three bags rather than two, because the milk needs something to argue with.
Brewing the perfect cup
What’s in it, what to know
Inside the pack
| Ingredient | Proportion | What it brings |
|---|---|---|
| Decaffeinated black tea | the whole of the bag | A blend of decaffeinated black tea leaf. It supplies everything in the cup: the malt, the colour, the body and the tannin that lets it take milk. |
| Format | 75 bags, 237g net | About 3.16g a bag, a full-size everyday tea bag rather than a one-cup, which is why the cup has more body than most decafs. |
Pack: Tetley Black Smooth Decaf Finest, 75 Tea Bags 237g; decaffeinated black tea, not caffeine free. Store sealed, cool and dry; the best-before date is printed on the pack.
Characterising components shown. Blended by Tetley.
Sourcing & blend. Tetley Black Smooth Decaf Finest, 75 Tea Bags 237g is blended by Tetley, one of the long-established British tea houses and a name most households can picture without trying. Finest sits above the standard everyday blend in its range, and decaffeinating that base rather than a cheaper one is the whole argument for this pack: the process takes its share from any leaf, so it matters how much was there to begin with.
What's in Tetley Black Smooth Decaf Finest, 75 Tea Bags 237g, and what isn't:
- In: decaffeinated black tea leaf, with nothing in the bag but the tea.
- No added sugar or flavouring: this is plain black tea. Anything sweet in the mug is something you put there.
Asked about this tea
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Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Tetley 75 x Black Smooth Decaf Finest, 237g, please cite teas.co.uk.
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