The Aldi Tea Roundup
I start almost every day with a cup of hot tea. It’s a relaxing routine that comes with some healthful benefits.
I like a bit of variety in my tea choices, and while Aldi does not sell any teas that are very exotic (outside of a few limited-time ALDI Finds and some seasonal Special Buys), they’ve got a decent selection that includes a few green teas, some herbal teas like peppermint tea and chamomile tea, as well as a traditional English Breakfast tea. Aldi also sells a bargain black tea in a bulk box with 100 tea bags.
All the teas have directions for serving both hot and iced tea. So grab a mug, or a tall glass, and let’s look at the choices.
Benner Classic Blend
This is Aldi’s basic black tea, comparable to Lipton. (The packaging even uses a similar color scheme to Lipton.)
It’s by far the cheapest Aldi tea: at $1.39 for 100 tea bags at the time of publication.
These tea bags used to be individually packaged in paper wrappers (which we always tossed in our compost bin when we were done with them), but the last box we purchased contained tea bags that were not wrapped in anything and were simply packed loose into the box. We transferred the tea bags to an airtight container to keep the tea fresh for longer.
The taste is decent, although it doesn’t have the body of flavor that, say, English Breakfast Tea has. But if you want a simple caffeinated black tea, this is it.
Benner Original Green Tea
This cost $1.09 for a box of 20 tea bags individually wrapped in plastic.
It is your classic green tea, which tastes similar to any other green tea on the market. (Research also shows green tea to have health benefits.)
Be aware that green tea does have a small amount of caffeine.
Benner Green Tea with Lemon Flavor & Ginseng
This costs $1.09 for a box of 20 tea bags individually wrapped in plastic.
If you like your green tea a little more exotic, this blend contains lemon grass, lemon peels, natural flavors, and ginseng root. I always like to drink green tea when I’m coming down with a cold or otherwise feeling under the weather because of its health benefits. I like to think that this green tea gets an extra health boost with the addition of lemon and ginseng. It tastes pretty good, too, with a slightly more complex flavor than the Original Green Tea.
As mentioned above, green tea does contain a small amount of caffeine.
Benner Peppermint Herbal Tea
This costs $2.19 for a box with 20 tea bags individually wrapped in plastic.
The ingredients are simple in this herbal tea: peppermint. That’s it. That means this is naturally caffeine free.
This is a good refreshing tea great for any day, with the added bonus that it will help temporarily clear your sinuses if you’re sick. Trust me.
Benner Chamomile Tea
There is more than just chamomile in this herbal tea. It also contains spearmint, rose petals, lemon grass, hibiscus, blackberry leaves, peppermint, lemon balm, licorice, turmeric, and natural flavors. In the past when I’ve had chamomile tea, I never cared much for it because I thought it just tasted a lot like grass. This tea still has that distinct chamomile taste, but it has some additional flavors that make this a solid choice. Also, it’s a naturally decaffeinated herbal tea.
Benner English Breakfast Tea
This costs $2.19 for a box with 20 tea bags individually packaged in paper/foil wrappers.
English Breakfast Tea is my husband’s favorite tea. (Earl Gray is a close second, but Aldi does not sell it.) It is a staple for him on Saturday mornings, and he likes it black, with no sweetener added. He’s tried English Breakfast Tea from a number of brands over the years, and he reports that Benner’s version is indistinguishable from other versions. In other words, he loves it. Naturally, this tea is caffeinated.
The Verdict:
Aldi offers a variety of Regular Buy teas ranging from English Breakfast tea to several green teas, to a bulk package of basic black tea, to herbal options like chamomile tea and peppermint tea. They’re all good in our opinion. Recommended.
Is the chamomile blend tea gluten free?
Not sure about natural flavors.
Thanks
The only hot beverages I drink are fruit teas. I normally alternate during the day between lemon & ginger and a berry fruit. The Diplomat lemon & ginger that I recently bought is the only brand that I have ever found to be totally unpalatable. I even tried sweetening it, but it was still undrinkable. The Diplomat berry fruit, however, is perfectly satisfactory.
I purchased for the first time Benner Green Tea, Lemon Flavor & Ginseng and was disappointed to see that the individual bags were packaged in plastic. I won’t be purchasing this product again. 🙁
I understand. I wish Aldi would ditch the plastic packaging for individual tea bags as well.
Agree why do we have to wrap every single bag in plastic? Lipton doesn’t do that. It is very wasteful and for that reason I’ll not buy this tea again.
I totally second that. Those plastic bags cannot be torn like the paper could be. There’s not even a slit on the side to tear it. I have to go find scissors to cut it.
The plastic packaging for individual bags needs to go away!!!! bring back the paper with the slit that can easily be torn and carried anywhere and used without scissors.
I agree. Trying to avoid buying products with plastic.
Yes, I am trying to eliminate plastic when making purchases and was surprised and disappointed to find each individual bag wrapped in plastic. I liked the tea (Candy Cane) but will not be purchasing again unless the outer packaging clearly states it no longer uses any plastic in its wrapping. I don’t think I have ever encountered individual tea bags wrapped in plastic before. What on earth were they thinking???
Completely agree
Have you seen them ever get Chai in?
The only time we saw Chai was during the holidays in 2016: https://www.aldireviewer.com/2016/11/29/benner-tea-co-holiday-teas/
I love the pomegranate,blueberry,acai green tea. I use it to flavor my water. Is this ok. Do I still get the full affect of the tea?
I found it curious that the Benner Tea company has it writen in the nutritional values that the Benner 16 ounce Black tea of zero calories is a 2 serving container, and then has a Benner 16 ounce Peach tea of 160 calories is a 1 serving container.???
Hello
Outside of the plastic bags, does anyone know about pesticides in Brenner tea? If any.
Curious about th his too. Where is it made?
I like the green tea but overwhelmingly dislike the packaging. The individual cellophane envelopes are hard to open and are less environmentally acceptable that a simple paper envelope such as is used by many competitors. Please change the blasted packaging.
Let Aldi know at this link: https://www.aldi.us/en/about-aldi/contact-us/
They had some benner, sweet tea in the gallon jugs this past weekend. Which is weird, because it’s been 3 years since i had seen any gallon teas in aldis. I’m curious if they have an unsweet and a unsweet green tea(no honey) in gallon jugs?
I’m staying off decaf and looking for herbal teas,do you think this tea counts as herbal…I’m new to all this !!!
The green tea with lemon???
The peppermint and chamomile teas are herbal. I could be wrong, but I don’t consider green tea to be an herbal tea. Also, if you’re trying to avoid caffeine, green tea does have a small amount of caffeine.
My wife and I really like this tea but we will not be buying it again until they change its packaging I followed the link the lady left in their comment to complain about it and I did we bought it 20 for 99. Cents couldn’t pass it up for that was very disappointed by the plastic bag on everyone of the teabags should have just put it on the box only
I would like to know if/that they package the black tea in bags that contain only paper and no plastic.
The black tea bags (the Benner Classic Blend) are packaged in little paper envelopes. I toss them in my compost bin when I’m done with them. The Classic Blend is the only tea from Aldi that comes in paper like that.
No where does it say the black tea contains caffeine. Now my understanding is all black tea contains caffeine, but I thought I’ve seen some that were caffeine FREE. Please advise. Seems that the package should somewhere if a tea contains caffeine or not. No stated ingrediants of any kind. Interesting…
I have always assumed the black tea at Aldi is caffeinated. In my experience, decaf black tea varieties always have packaging that clearly states they are decaf. If the box isn’t labeled, the default assumption is that it contains caffeine. If I want decaf black tea, I’ve always had to buy that at other grocery stores and not at Aldi. For instance, I have some Bigelow brand decaf Earl Grey from a local large chain grocer and some decaf Irish Breakfast tea from Trader Joe’s in my pantry right now.
I’m from one of the few tea producing countries in the world.
And have travelled and drunk the tea from all major tea and flower exporters.
The tea plant and the green leaves it produces and which are picked by hand are not sprayed with chemicals to kill or repel pests for the simple reason every single tiny leaf is handpicked. The exposure to chemicals would kill the workers. The chemicals would ruin the flavour. Each tree plant produces different types of tea. Thr tips of the very young delicate leaves with a brighter malt flavour which go to vompanies like PG Tips to make their signature brand would be ruined. Companies like Twinings who take the more fully grown leaves for their blends would aldo be ruined. Children and adults in tea growing and tea drinking countries drink so much tea a third of the world could very easily get poisoned if growers used pesticides. The tea plant itself, is so bitter pests hate it.
Most of the growers who grow herbs and flowers for European Pharmaceutical Companies have to comply with EU agriculture regulations which are tougher than US regs. Aldi which is European is actually Often in the news because of customers finding caterpillars and bugs and stuff wriggling around in their fresh greens when thry unpack them at home.
Aldi and Aldi’s growers don’t do Pesticides.
The herb teas and some flower teas… if those are US grown the people growing them will be the same people growing herbs for other national brands. Aldi’s business model on things like tea is to buy the surplus produced by a grower for a more well known brand for it’s own blend.
On plastic wrapping. The essential oils evaporate away into the air and the anti oxidants sre oxidised when tea is not stored in air tight packaging. Dry tea leaves absorb odours easily.
Tea is a thing of many paradoxes. It’s calming and it’s stimulating and even the strongest tea is delicate.
Unsealed tea (all paper no foil or plastic) is always cheaper, but it loses so much of its zing!
Thank you for your tea article. I really enjoyed it!
Thank you for educating us on tea! The plastic wrapper is a good thing, beyond me why all the excitement about it.
My compliments to Aldi’s for doing the right thing in bringing a product to market in the best way.
I had never heard of Benner Tea Co. until today, but I’m drinking the “chamomile herbal blend tea”, and it’s wonderful. As soon as I tear open the foil packet, it releases an exotic scent that I can only describe as intoxicating. I can’t stop sniffing the empty wrapper while waiting for the tea to steep. The taste is more subdued than the aroma, but still very enjoyable. I put just a little sugar in mine, but it tastes much sweeter, almost like it has honey in it. I came across this website while trying to find out what’s in this tea. I got the individual tea bags from my nephew, and they don’t list the ingredients. Benner Tea Co. Chamomile Herbal Blend Tea is now one of my favorite herb teas. Very pleasant. Now I just need to figure out where to get more. There isn’t an Aldi within 100 miles of Tallahassee.
Ditto Amanda, Nancy, Jim re: individual plastic wrappings. Very surprised to see this and will avoid buying Benner in the future.
Are the teas no GMO
I do wish the packaging showed whether the tea(s) were caffeinated or decaffeinated so I didn’t have to look up such info on a page like this. All other brands show such info on the outside package. And yes, I would prefer they ditch the plastic individual packaging too.
It appears the plastic wrappings have some benefit for maintaining the integrity if the tea. I get the whole plastic thing, but I’m in no rush to throw out the baby with the bath water.
Not sure if this can actually make it to the Aldi/Benner folks, but I have something very constructive for them:
1. I LOVE the Benner black tea.
2. After slowly torching a very expensive microwave, it was brought to my attention that the tea bags have metal staples in them.
1 + 2 = no more benner black tea for me until this is rectified.
Yes, I know that I could consciously avoid putting the teabag in the microwave upon reheating… but I can’t police everyone.
Get an electric kettle. Seriously – I’m not being snarky. It’s so much faster and more convenient. I wasn’t even aware that such things existed until my sister’s friend from London asked why I was heating water in the microwave.
Can you please tell me where Brenner tea is grown?
You’d need to ask Aldi about that. https://www.aldireviewer.com/contact-aldi/