Tea for Two (cents)

I was attempting to get a week's worth of groceries, including paper products and cleaners, for $75 tonight. I am very well stocked up at the moment, so I have to use some of the things I have already bought. So, it will take some time to work out how much it actually costs to feed us all.

All that to say:

Now I really *need* to experiment with store brands. I usually buy store brand "everything" but I almost always buy Lipton tea. If you have been reading this blog for long, or if you know me IRL, you know I have a love affair with tea. I'm not too picky, I like most tea; but of all the teas I've tasted in my life (and there have been a LOT,) Lipton suits me best.

However.

Lipton costs around $4.50 a box, which is 8oz, or 100 tea bags. (It is about $4/lb for loose tea which you would put in a teapot, but that's not always time efficient.) We go through about a box per week. Yes, that would be 100 tea bags every week, so for Lipton, it costs about $230/year.

The store brand tea at Aldi is $1.69 / box, and the Value brand at Kroger is $1.49 / box (8oz, 100 tea bags.)

I was buying Aldi brand, because most of their products are, IMO, good value for the cost, in terms of quality and flavor.

Their tea, though...well, it's sort of gamey. It tastes like it has a good bit of Darjeeling in it, with its pungent, green-ish flavor. It doesn't really taste at all like Lipton.

So tonight, I bought a little ol' box of Value brand from Kroger, the cheapest on the rack. No tags. Gotta dig the soggy little teabags out of the cup with a spoon. That's fine though -- less waste, less cost. Both good things.

The flavor was surprisingly good! None of that Darjeeling gamey flavor -- it's not the quality of Lipton, but it was quite good. Really.

So...my first post of "Better Than" goes to Kroger Value tea bags, for being better than Aldi in flavor and cost. And it is definitely a good enough flavor to keep me happy while saving more than $150 per year. :-)

I can get a lot of yarn for that much money.