Typhoo Tea Guide Guide

Typhoo Tea

Typhoo Tea is a Birmingham-founded British heritage brand, originating in 1903, once dominant and now a value-tier mainstream option with a loyal following. The "OO with Typhoo" tagline is part of British tea cultural memory.

Published 20 Mar 2026 Curator-written, not crowdsourced

Typhoo, in summary: A Birmingham-founded British heritage tea brand, going since 1903, now a dependable value-tier everyday black tea. History, range, pricing and how to brew below.

Last reviewed by the teas.co.uk team in March 2026.

Explore in our shop: Typhoo Original Breakfast, 80 Tea Bags 290g.

The brand

See our Typhoo brand page for the full history.

How Typhoo Original tastes

Standard British black tea: strong, malty, milk-friendly. Curator Rating: 4.9/5.

How to brew

1 bag in 200ml just-boiled water.
Steep 3-4 minutes.
Add a splash of milk and sugar to taste.

The Typhoo range

Typhoo Original (English Breakfast standard).
Typhoo Decaf.
Typhoo Earl Grey.
Some herbal range.

Pricing

Value tier, typically 4-7p per cup at the 240-bag pack.

Use cases

Daily British black tea.
The workplace tea round.
Budget-conscious households.
Heritage-brand preference.

Where to buy

UK supermarkets, corner shops and online retailers.

FAQ

Caffeine? 40-50mg per cup.

Vegan? Yes, with plant milk.

Cheaper than the Big Three? Often.

Founded? 1903, in Birmingham.

Heritage? Yes, over 120 years.

Typhoo Tea at a glance

Field	Detail
Founded	1903 by John Sumner Jr in Birmingham; one of the oldest UK supermarket tea brands
Current owner	Supreme Imports (acquired from Apeejay Surrendra in 2024)
Type	Mainstream value-tier black tea blends, predominantly Assam and Kenyan bag tea
Flagship lines	Typhoo One (original), Typhoo Decaf, Typhoo Loose Leaf, Typhoo Green
Cup character	Brisk, full-bodied, strong with milk, classic UK builder's brew profile
Quality tier	Value mainstream; positioned alongside PG Tips Original and Tetley Original
UK availability	Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons, Iceland, B&M, Home Bargains
UK price	Approximately £2.00 to £3.50 per 80-bag box (roughly 3-5p per cup)

Why Typhoo works

Typhoo holds the classic value-tier British black tea position: a brisk, strong, milk-accepting blend that suits hard water and busy mornings. The bags are CTC (cut-tear-curl) grade, which brews quickly and gives strong colour in 1-2 minutes. The brand has been on UK shelves continuously since 1903, making it one of the oldest tea brands still in mainstream supply. The 2024 acquisition by Supreme Imports (after Apeejay Surrendra divested the brand) has stabilised the supply chain after some years of uncertainty, with the range now focused on a smaller core of dependable value picks.

Typhoo in the value tier

The UK value tea market is dominated by four names: PG Tips, Tetley, Typhoo, and supermarket own-label CTC blends. All sit at roughly the same 3-5p per cup, use similar Kenyan and Assam blends, and target the same daily-drinking household, so differentiation is thin and brand loyalty unusually durable, drinkers tend to settle on one and stick. Typhoo's distinctive thread is its Birmingham roots and a long history of UK sport sponsorship, particularly cricket. It has passed through several owners (Cadbury Schweppes, Premier Foods, Apeejay Surrendra, and now Supreme Imports), each shifting positioning slightly without changing the core blend.

Sustainability

Typhoo has historically been part of the Ethical Tea Partnership. Rainforest Alliance or Fairtrade certification on its packs has been intermittent across ownership changes, so current packs are worth checking individually; new reporting from Supreme Imports is likely to emerge across 2026-2027. For drinkers who want organic and certified-Fairtrade across the whole range, Clipper and Pukka are stronger picks.

Curator's note: Typhoo Tea is the Birmingham heritage British tea brand. Value pricing; reliable; widely available. Worth keeping for variety alongside Big Three brands. Lee, Teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.

Reference noted

EFSA Scientific Opinion on the Safety of Caffeine (2015)

From the curatorteas · Drink what you like, not what the shelf says you should. Curiosity is the only reliable guide.

Tea reading

For category context see the black tea fundamentals and the builder's brew tradition. For competitors see the PG Tips, Tetley, and Yorkshire Tea pages.

The bottom line on Typhoo

A dependable value-tier British black tea brand, well-suited to drinkers who want a strong milky brew without paying for premium positioning. Worth buying as a household everyday; not worth seeking out if you are developing a palate for single-origin or specialty teas. The 2024 ownership change has stabilised the brand; expect continued value-tier positioning.