Are you curious about how popular tea bags are? Tea can be sold in many ways–in bags, loose leaf, powdered, in ready-to-drink form, etc. How much is prepared in tea bags, particularly compared to loose leaf? And, I wonder if you will share my shock at two statistics that I discovered!
Popularity of Tea Bags in the USA
Here’s some tea bag statistics for the United States:
- 51% of tea drinkers said they used only tea bags. 20% said they used mainly tea bags, according to a 2019 survey by Statista.
- Over “65% of tea of all tea consumed in the United States in 2012” was from tea bags, as reported by the Tea Association of the USA in this Washington Post article.
- Lipton was the top brand of bagged and loose leaf tea, and Bigelow ranked second, from about early 2019 to early 2020, according to this study by Statista.
Tea Bag Statistics that Might Surprise You
Americans, logically, associate Britain and China with tea. So, you might be surprised to know this information about the popularity and production of tea bags in these countries!
- The British consume more of their tea through tea bags than Americans! A whopping 96% of their tea is prepared using tea bags, according to the UK Tea & Infusions Association.
- Although China produces the most tea in the world, because Chinese tea drinkers gravitate toward loose leaf, India sells more “retail packaged tea” (AKA tea in tea bags) than China. India leads the market in that category according to an article published in World Tea News in 2018.
Do You Use Tea Bags but Are Curious About Loose Leaf?
I am not evangelical about loose leaf tea. It’s what I drink at home almost always. I do, very occasionally, reach for the tea bags that I grew up drinking. But, that’s only when I am feeling particularly nostalgic and really missing my mom and sister. (They live far away. Sigh.)
Whether you use tea bags or loose leaf: I am a firm believer that the tea you love, prepared how you love it, is great!
I am mindful of how popular tea bags are. Sill, I am interested in helping tea drinkers who are curious about loose leaf tea. Why limit your options, after all?
More Fun and Connections!
If you have made it this far, you might be interested in my fun, completely non-scientific quiz, “What Kind of Tea Drinker Are You?“