Equal Exchange Tea Review (2026): Is It Worth It? Best & Worst Blends

If you buy one Equal Exchange tea, make it this one. The Organic English Breakfast is a blend of black teas from Sri Lanka and India, and it brews exactly the cup the name promises: deep amber, malty, brisk without being harsh, with enough backbone to stand up to milk and a little sweetener. Steeped four to five minutes it pulls a full, rounded body; pulled early it stays bright and clean.

What sets it apart from cheaper grocery tea is the cleanness: no papery or dusty off-note, no flat bitterness at the back of the cup. It is not a complex single-origin Assam and it does not try to be — this is a dependable, well-made daily black tea with fair-trade, organic sourcing behind it. For the price, that is a genuinely strong combination. A decaf version is available if you want the same profile without the caffeine.

The Organic Earl Grey bursts with the fragrant citrus notes of bergamot, and the thing it gets right is restraint. Cheap Earl Grey often goes soapy or perfumey; this one keeps the bergamot bright and lifted while letting the black-tea base carry the body underneath. The result is a cup that is aromatic on the nose but still tastes like tea, not air freshener.

It takes milk if you like a London Fog style cup, but we preferred it black with a thin slice of lemon. If you want it stronger, there is an Extreme Earl Grey in the lineup with a heavier bergamot hit, and a decaf Earl Grey too. For most drinkers, though, this standard version is the sweet spot — and like everything in the range, it is organic and fair-trade.

The Organic Rooibos is a botanical infusion of the rooibos plant from South Africa, and it has the body and warmth of tea while being naturally caffeine free. That makes it the obvious pick from this lineup for an evening cup or for anyone cutting back on caffeine. It pours a deep red-brown and tastes smooth and softly honeyed, with a faint woody-nutty edge that is characteristic of good rooibos.

Rooibos is traditionally marketed as a calming, before-bed alternative to black tea, and this one fits that role well. We found it a touch milder and less assertive than a couple of dedicated rooibos brands, so if you like a bold, almost smoky red bush you may want it doubled up. For an everyday caffeine-free cup, though, it is smooth, clean and easy to drink, and Equal Exchange also offers a Vanilla Rooibos and a Rooibos Chai if you want more going on.

The Organic Green Tea is the brand's straightforward daily green, with light grassy and toasted-rice notes and a clean finish. Bagged green tea is notoriously easy to ruin — too-hot water turns it bitter and astringent fast — and the good news here is that this blend is fairly forgiving. Brew it with water that is just off the boil (around 175°F) for two to three minutes and you get a smooth, mellow cup.

It is not going to dethrone a carefully sourced loose-leaf sencha or dragonwell — the leaf is broken and bagged — but as an everyday green for people who want something cleaner than supermarket bags, it does the job. If you like a little warmth, the Green Tea with Ginger in the lineup adds a gentle kick, and there is a Jasmine Green if you prefer a floral lift.

The Organic Chamomile is a naturally caffeine-free herbal infusion with a soft, apple-floral aroma and a clean, gently sweet flavor. The chamomile is fair-trade sourced from Egypt, and the cup is delicate and honest — no bitterness, no muddy off-notes, just a light floral infusion. Chamomile is traditionally used for winding down before sleep, and this is a perfectly good way to do it.

If anything, it errs toward gentle — chamomile fans who like a deep, almost custardy cup may want to steep two bags or extend the time (and because there is no caffeine, a long steep will not make it bitter). As a soothing, organic, fair-trade evening option it is an easy keep. We make no medical claims for it; treat it as a pleasant ritual rather than a remedy.

Of the herbals, the Organic Ginger has the most presence. It is a caffeine-free infusion with a clean, peppery ginger heat that actually warms the back of the throat — a welcome change from the many limp ginger teas that taste mostly of water. The ginger is fair-trade and grown by the Marginalized Organic Producers' Association, and the cup reflects decent-quality root.

It is bright and a little spicy, good with a squeeze of lemon and honey, and pleasant either iced or hot. If you want it rounder, Equal Exchange also makes a Turmeric Ginger and a Lemongrass Ginger. As with the rest of the herbal line, we make no health claims — but as a warming, caffeine-free cup with real character, this is the herbal we would buy again.

We will be honest: the Organic Peppermint is the blend that gave us the least to say. It is a clean, caffeine-free peppermint infusion — cool, minty, inoffensive — and nothing is wrong with it. But peppermint is one of the easiest herbals to do adequately, and this one does not bring the cleanness-for-the-price advantage that lifts the black teas above their rivals.

Peppermint is traditionally used to soothe after meals, and this will do that job as well as any. But if you are building an Equal Exchange order, we would spend the slot on the Ginger or the Earl Grey instead and buy peppermint wherever is cheapest. It earns three stars: competent, unremarkable, and the one box we would not reorder first.