When it comes to waking up in the morning, I am simply not a sane person until I have had at least one cup of tea.
My love for a good cuppa is not just restricted to the morning either, as I could drink the hot liquid at pretty much any point of the day.
Sitting in the office? Cup of tea. Reading a book? Cup of tea. Watching a movie or film? Cup of tea. Had a bad day? Cup of tea - alright, so you get my point.
It's also a very simply drink, which is good for mornings when I can't function, as all I need to do is slap on the kettle, pop a teabag in my favourite mug, pour over the water and then splash in some milk.
My day is instantly better for it.
Tea has been such an integral part of my life that I am sure by now that I have tried all different brands and types of tea that you could possibly imagine.
But, I will admit that I am a little bit partial to the good old fashion Scottish Blend brand, as it's a full bodied tea without being too bitter.
Of course, like so many other things in the world these days, many supermarkets offer their own more affordable versions of tea.
So, I decided to go on the hunt to see if I would switch from my usual Scottish Blend to a more affordable supermarket version that offered the same full-bodied tea flavour I am looking for.
I went to M&S, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Morrisons and here is how I got on.
Th e Process
To keep things fair, I made sure that I prepared all the cups the same - which wasn't really difficult when you think about it.
Slapped a bag of tea in each mug, boiled the kettle, poured over the hot water and I did add just a splash of milk.
I did only make small cups of tea as, quite frankly, I don't think that I could handle all that much tea in one sitting, no matter how much I love the stuff.
So here are my thoughts on Scottish Blend and all the supermarkets versions...
Scottish Blend
Before I can fully compare the rest, I had to set the standards right by starting off with a cup made with my old favourite Scottish Blend.
I did grab a rather large box of 160 tea bags for £5.88 in my local Co-op because it was all they had, but regularly I would go for the 80 that is priced at about £2.99.
As I have mentioned, I think Scottish Blend is one of those brands that is key to making a good cup of tea.
It's got that full-bodied flavour and rich flavour that just warms the soul and the taste never lessens when you pop in some milk, which I do find with some other brands.
So, as you can imagine, the rest have a lot to live up to.
M&S
Stopping first at none other than the home of great quality itself, M&S caught me just a little off guard with the taste of their tea - and not in the best way.
The full box of 80 tea bags was priced at £2.10 and I really wish the money matched the flavour.
I personally am not a fan of light teas, which is why this option may not have been best suited to my personal palate.
It was definitely a smooth tea, but, unfortunately, I didn't really get a rich tea sort of flavour from M&S and the tea tasted a little bitter as though it had been left to steep for longer - which it hadn't.
Overall, not a great start to the taste but it can only go upwards from here - I hope.
Morrisons
Still not exactly where I need to be, as Morrisons Every Day Tea still looked and tasted a little 'weaker' than what I expect from a good cup of tea.
Unfortunately, Morrisons falls into the same pitfall as M&S, in the fact that their tea is not able to match the full-bodied and strong flavour of Scottish Blend.
At just £1.10 for a box of 80, I was hoping for it to be case of "great quality, low price", but that did not seem to be the case with this supermarket.
Tesco
When it comes to being the home of value itself, Tesco have got their reputation down to a fine art.
And, quite frankly, this may be the first supermarket version to fully impress me with their own-branded box of tea bags.
It was very similar to the Scottish Blend that I know and love and left me feeling quite satisfied after a hot cuppa.
The cup of tea had a smooth and well-rounded flavour that felt like taking big gulps of warmth, and, at just £1.10, you can't complain at the price and the flavour.
However, it did stumble a little at the end, as the after-taste left behind more familiar notes of cheap and weak tea that had not been immediately as noticeable with Morrisons or M&S.
All in all, not a bad cup of tea that definitely would get a recommendation from me and, while not at the top of my list, is definitely a worthy substitute.
Sainsbury's
This tea is a little more difficult to compare to the rest, but I will begin by saying that I really did enjoy this cup of tea and can't find huge faults with it.
I picked up Sainsbury's Red Label Quality Tea which is actually more of an 'English breakfast tea', while the rest were more on par with the richer 'Scottish breakfast tea.'
So, for that, I don't know of it is unfair to judge along with the rest, but this is one lighter tea that strangely worked for me.
Where M&S and Morrisons failed, Sainsbury's managed to provide me with a strong and authentic breakfast tea flavour that I had been looking for.
The tea also seemed to be of good strength and didn't need to be left steeped for a lot longer to get that full-bodied flavour, so kudos to Sainsbury's for doing what the rest couldn't.
Also, at just £1.30 for a box of 80, it was on par with the other supermarket's prices with the exception of being 20p dearer, but it looks like that 20p really makes a difference.
Overall verdict
If you're looking for a fantastic full-bodied cup of tea from a supermarket, then Sainsbury's is undeniably the right choice to go with - trust me, the 20p makes the difference.
To be fair, all the teas were within the same price range, with the exception of M&S that was closer to the Scottish Blend brand price, so the price was not the issue.
Tesco gave Sainsbury's a good run for their money with the Original Tea that does deserve some recognition as being decent.
However, both M&S and Morrisons left me a bit more disappointed with their weaker and less flavourful options.
M&S more so, considering they were almost double the price.
The real question is, would I switch to Sainsbury's from Scottish Blend?
I'll be honest by saying that I wouldn't.
That's not to say that I wouldn't happily purchase a box again at some point, because they deserve a bit of recognition and applause for managing to come close to making an almost perfect cup of tea.
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