Black Friday Tea and Teaware Picks for UK Tea Drinkers

In short: Black Friday falls on 27 November this year, with Cyber Monday on the 30th, and it is the one weekend when it makes sense to buy tea in bigger bags and teaware you have been putting off. Stock up on the teas you drink every day (breakfast blends, Earl Grey, a house green), add one "treat" tea you would not normally buy, and pick teaware that fixes a real problem: a teapot with a proper infuser, a kettle with temperature control, or a matcha set if you have been making matcha with a fork. Skip novelty gadgets and anything you cannot drink or use before spring.

This guide is for British tea drinkers: grams, millilitres, °C, and every link points to tealyra.co.uk. It covers what to shortlist, how much to buy, and which "deals" are not worth the cupboard space.

Start with the teas you already drink

The best Black Friday purchase is boring: a larger bag of the tea you reach for every morning. Loose leaf black tea keeps for 18 to 24 months in a sealed pouch away from light and heat, so a 250 g or 500 g bag bought now will still be fresh in autumn next year. At 3 g per mug, 250 g is about 80 cups; 500 g is 160, or roughly five months of a cup a day.

• Breakfast tea: a whole-leaf English Breakfast is the obvious one. It brews strong, takes milk well and does not go bitter as fast as the dust in bags. If you are not sure whether you are a breakfast, Assam or Ceylon person, our morning tea comparison settles it.
• Earl Grey: the second most-drunk loose tea in Britain. Buy a classic bergamot Earl Grey for daytime and, if you like it softer, a cream Earl Grey for the evening.
• A house green: sencha or a Chinese green such as Long Jing. Green tea is best within 12 months, so stick to 100 to 250 g unless you drink it daily.

Browse the full black tea range for the breakfast and Earl Grey options; the single-origin Assams and Ceylons sit there too.

Add one tea you would not normally buy

Black Friday is also the moment to try something a step up. These are the three we would put in a UK basket first.

Oolong is the smartest buy of the three in cost-per-cup terms: because the same leaves re-steep several times, 100 g of a high mountain oolong gives you more cups than 250 g of most black teas. The oolong tea page shows the lighter and roasted styles side by side.

Teaware worth buying in the sales

Teaware is where Black Friday pays off most, because the good pieces last a decade. Buy the thing that is currently stopping you drinking better tea.

1. A teapot with a removable infuser. If you still brew loose leaf in a mug with a sieve, a glass or porcelain teapot with a deep infuser basket is the single biggest upgrade. Glass lets you see the colour and stop the brew in time; porcelain holds heat longer. For gas hobs, a heat-resistant glass teapot and kettle in one saves a step.
2. A temperature-control kettle. Green tea at 100°C tastes like boiled spinach. A kettle that stops at 75, 80 or 90°C fixes green, white and oolong tea in one go. If a new kettle is not on the cards, a thermometer or simply leaving the boiled kettle for three minutes gets you to about 85°C.
3. A matcha set. Bowl, bamboo whisk and scoop. You cannot whisk matcha properly with a fork or a milk frother; the bamboo whisk is what makes the foam. Our matcha whisk guide explains what to look for and how to keep one from going mouldy.
4. An infuser mug for work. A double-walled mug with its own basket and lid means loose leaf at your desk without a pot. Look for a basket that sits deep in the mug so 2 g of leaf is actually covered by water.

All of these are in the teaware section, and the matcha page lists the sets alongside the powders.

How much tea to buy

A simple rule: buy what you will drink in six months for green and white tea, and in a year for black, oolong and pu-erh. The table assumes one 250 ml mug a day at 3 g of leaf.

Those are upper limits. If a tea is new to you, buy 50 to 100 g first. Keep every bag sealed, out of sunlight and away from the hob and the spice rack, as tea picks up smells.

What to skip

• Flavoured tea you have never tasted, in 500 g bags. Flavoured blends lose aroma faster than plain tea; buy small.
• "Luxury" tea bags in boxes. Per cup they usually cost more than loose leaf and the leaf inside is smaller.
• Gadgets that promise to brew everything. One good teapot, one good kettle and a timer beat most of them.
• Anything bought only because it is reduced. The question is not "how much off" but "will I drink this by Easter".

If you are shopping for other people rather than yourself, the Christmas tea gifts guide covers sets, blooming teas and matcha kits by budget, and the blooming tea page has the flowering teas that make the easiest present.

Frequently asked questions

When is Black Friday in the UK this year?

Friday 27 November, with Cyber Monday on 30 November. Many retailers run offers for the whole week before and the weekend after, so there is no need to buy on the Friday itself.

How long does loose leaf tea keep after Black Friday?

Sealed and stored cool and dark: black, oolong and pu-erh teas stay good for 18 to 24 months, green and white tea for about 12 months, and opened matcha for 2 to 3 months. Buy green teas and matcha in smaller amounts.

Is loose leaf tea actually cheaper than tea bags?

Per cup, good loose leaf usually costs about the same as a premium tea bag and less than most "specialty" bags, and whole-leaf oolongs re-steep several times, which brings the cost per cup down further. The quality difference is bigger than the price difference.

Which teaware should I buy first?

A teapot with a removable infuser basket. It fixes the two most common problems, over-brewed tea and leaves in the cup, and it works for every kind of loose leaf tea.

Can I order in time for Christmas?

Orders placed over the Black Friday weekend arrive well before the last UK posting dates, which are usually around 18 to 20 December for standard delivery. Check the delivery page on tealyra.co.uk for current times.