Brew Tea Co

Brew Tea Co is a Manchester tea company that does one thing very well: proper loose leaf and pyramid bag tea made only from rolled whole leaves, never dust. You can subscribe to any of its blends and have it delivered every one, two or three months for about 13% less than the shop price, or sign up to one of two six month Tasting Subscriptions that teach you the difference between Assam and Darjeeling, or between a chai and an Earl Grey. Its English Breakfast refill costs £19.95 for 500g on subscription, which makes it one of the easiest ways in the UK to upgrade your everyday cuppa without paying speciality shop prices.

Brew Tea Co at a glance

The Brew Tea Co story

Brew was started in Liverpool in 2012 by Aideen and Phil with a handful of blends and a simple idea: rolled whole leaves make a better looking and better tasting cup than the broken “dust” in most supermarket bags. The business has since moved to a Tea HQ in Manchester and says its tea is now brewed in around 70,000 kitchens. The rule has not changed: every blend with a tea leaf base uses rolled whole leaves, which open up in the pot, give a punchier flavour and, brewed properly, do not go bitter.

What can you subscribe to?

Subscribe & Save: your usual tea on repeat

This is the main subscription and the one most people need. You pick loose leaf or tea bags, choose any blend from the range (they are all available on subscription), pick how often you want it and check out. Two months is the default, because that is what most drinkers choose, but you can go monthly or every three months. Your first order goes out the same day and refills follow on your schedule.

English Breakfast is by far the most popular choice: a strong, malty blend that Brew calls its number one subscribed tea. On subscription the 500g loose leaf box drops from £23 to £19.95 and the 100 tea bag box from £24 to £20.95. Other blends get a similar discount of around 13%. You can also add one-off items, such as a teapot or a festive blend, to your next shipment.

Tasting Subscriptions: a six month course in tea

The two Tasting Subscriptions cost £17.95 a month and run over six months. Each monthly box includes a 113g pack of English Breakfast (so you always have your everyday tea), a rotating featured tea, guided tasting notes and a scoring card so you can compare everything at the end.

• The Sommelier takes you around single origin black teas, including Assam, Darjeeling, Rwanda, Kenya, Keemun and Ceylon. This is the one for people who drink their tea straight and want to understand why it tastes the way it does.
• The Modernist is the flavoured route: Brew’s “Twisted Breakfast” blends, Earl Grey and chai. More fun, less homework.

At the end of the six months you can repeat it, switch to a single blend, try the other Tasting Subscription or stop.

Gift subscriptions

You can prepay a subscription as a present. The English Breakfast gift sends a 500g box every month and costs £119.70 for six months or £239.40 for twelve, which is the same £19.95 a box as a normal subscription. The Sommelier and The Modernist are also available as six month gifts at £107.70. With the English Breakfast gift, the recipient can manage delivery dates themselves, which is handy around holidays.

How much does Brew Tea Co really cost?

Two things affect the real cost. First, delivery: Brew’s standard UK rule is free delivery on orders of £25 or more and £3.95 below that. A single 500g refill sits under £25, so check the delivery line at checkout, and consider adding a second blend or a one-off to clear the threshold. Second, the loyalty perks: every subscription delivery earns a stamp, and six stamps get you £20 of Brew Coins. You also earn one Brew Coin per £1 spent (10 coins are worth £1), and you can redeem 50 or 100 coins per subscription shipment. Over a year of monthly deliveries, that adds up to a meaningful discount.

Is it worth it? 21p a bag is more than supermarket tea, but a lot less than most premium brands, and the quality gap is obvious once you have tried whole leaves. For a household getting through a pot or two a day, the 500g loose leaf box on a two month cycle is a very fair deal.

How does it work day to day?

Everything is managed in your online account. From the subscription portal you can:

• Skip your next shipment (and unskip it if you change your mind).
• Reschedule by moving the next charge date, which also moves the delivery.
• Swap blends if you fancy a change from your usual.
• Change frequency between one, two and three months.
• Add one-offs to ride along with your next refill.
• Cancel with the Cancel Subscription button. If you get stuck, the team will do it for you by email.

One practical point: subscriptions cannot be paid with PayPal, so have a card ready.

Delivery

Orders placed before 5pm on a weekday leave the same day and usually arrive in one to two working days in the UK. Orders over £75 get free DHL next working day delivery. Brew also ships worldwide: allow two to seven working days within Europe and ten to fourteen further afield, and be aware that import duties may apply outside the UK. Every order is gift wrapped as standard, and you can add a note at checkout.

What makes Brew Tea Co different?

Plenty of tea brands sell subscriptions. What Brew does better is make good tea feel normal rather than precious. The core product is a strong breakfast blend you would happily drink with milk, not a delicate first flush you need a thermometer for, and the branding, the help pages and even the tasting notes are written for normal tea drinkers. The Tasting Subscriptions are the other standout: very few UK subscriptions teach you anything, and the six month structure with a scoring card is a genuinely good idea for a curious drinker or a gift.

The weaknesses are small. The flavoured and herbal range is narrower than at a brand like Bird & Blend, and the subscription discount is decent rather than spectacular.

Brew Tea Co alternatives

• teapigs: whole leaf “tea temples” and a choose-your-own subscription, with a broader range of green and herbal teas.
• Bird & Blend: the pick for flavoured and dessert style blends, with Subscribe & Save deliveries.
• Wild Women Tea Club: a monthly discovery club if you would rather be surprised than reorder a favourite.
• Tea Box: another option for regular loose leaf deliveries.

Our verdict on Brew Tea Co

If your tea is English Breakfast with a splash of milk, Brew Tea Co is one of the easiest upgrades you can make. The whole leaf blend is strong without being harsh, a 500g refill every couple of months costs less than you might expect, and the account lets you skip, swap or cancel without a fuss. Watch the £25 free delivery threshold so a single refill does not pick up a shipping charge. For curious drinkers, The Sommelier is one of the most interesting tea subscriptions in the UK, and it makes a thoughtful six month gift. We have not tested Brew ourselves yet, so this verdict is based on the company’s official information; we will update it after a first-hand review.