Our Pick: Stash
Check price →Stash vs Bigelow: Which Is Better? (2026)
Portland's variety machine against Connecticut's foil-wrapped family institution: two American supermarket staples, brewed head to head.
By Justin Park · ~8 min read · Updated 2026-08-07
★ Our Top Pick
Best bulk Earl Grey
A hundred bags of assertive, citrus-forward Earl Grey: the strongest supermarket bergamot this side of specialty tins.
Not sure yet? Compare all 5 picks below ↓
Short version: Buy Stash if you want bolder flavors and the best 100-count value boxes: its Earl Grey and Chai Spice run around 20 cents a cup and taste stronger than Bigelow's equivalents. Buy Bigelow if freshness and consistency rule: every bag is individually foil-wrapped, the family-owned quality control is legendary, and Constant Comment remains one of the great American blends.
These are the two American tea houses most likely to share your grocery shelf. Bigelow has been family-run in Connecticut since 1945 and built its name on foil-wrapped freshness and the spiced-orange icon Constant Comment. Stash, founded in Portland in 1972, grew from herbalist roots into the more adventurous blender, with bigger flavor swings and generous 100-count boxes. Below: flavor, freshness, value, and the flagship cups, plus which brand belongs in which kitchen.
The short version
- <strong>Flavor intensity:</strong> Stash brews bolder across the catalog; Bigelow blends for smooth and safe.
- <strong>Freshness format:</strong> Bigelow wins with individually foil-wrapped bags; Stash's big boxes fade faster once open.
- <strong>Value:</strong> Stash's 100-count boxes land around 20 cents a cup and are the better bulk buy.
- <strong>Signature blends:</strong> Bigelow's Constant Comment and Stash's Double Bergamot Earl Grey are both category originals.
- <strong>Iced and volume brewing:</strong> Stash's 100-counts are the natural pitcher stock; Bigelow's wrapping is wasted in a pitcher.
| Tea | Best for | Character | Value per cup |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stash Earl Grey (100 ct) | Best bulk Earl Grey | Bold bergamot, brisk base | About 20 cents |
| Bigelow Constant Comment (6 x 20 ct) | The American classic | Orange rind and sweet spice | About 12 cents |
| Stash Chai Spice (100 ct) | Best everyday chai bag | Cinnamon-ginger black tea | About 20 cents |
| Bigelow English Teatime (6 x 20 ct) | Bigelow's best black | Smooth, medium-bold | About 18 cents |
| Stash Premium Green (100 ct) | Bulk green tea | Clean, light, forgiving | About 19 cents |
Stash vs Bigelow at a glance
01 · Best bulk Earl Grey
Winner: StashStash Earl Grey Black Tea, 100 Count
A hundred bags of assertive, citrus-forward Earl Grey: the strongest supermarket bergamot this side of specialty tins.
Origin & grade: Portland blender since 1972; non-GMO project verified line; bergamot-oil flavored black base.
Most supermarket Earl Greys whisper; Stash's speaks up. The citrus is bright and genuinely aromatic, the base tea brisk enough to carry it, and the cup holds together with milk or lemon. This is the Earl Grey for people who keep doubling up bags of gentler brands.
Committed bergamot chasers should note Stash Double Bergamot, the same idea with the citrus doubled. Our Stash review ranks the whole line. See the 100-count.
- Type
- Flavored black tea
- Count
- 100 bags
- Caffeine
- Caffeinated (~40 mg/cup)
- Best
- Black, lemon, or light milk
- Format
- Unwrapped bags, bulk box
What we like
- Boldest mainstream Earl Grey
- About 20 cents a cup
- Holds up to milk
Worth noting
- Bulk box needs a tin
- Too assertive for subtle-tea fans
Who should buy it: Daily Earl Grey drinkers who want real bergamot presence and bulk-box economics.
What we don't like: Unwrapped bags in a big box fade over months; decant to a tin. Purists will note flavoring over pressed oil intensity.
Bottom line: Stash's Earl Grey is the boldest mainstream version we brew: the bergamot actually asserts itself, the black base keeps its briskness, and the 100-count box prices it around 20 cents a cup. It out-flavors Bigelow's Earl Grey comfortably, and if even this is not enough citrus, Stash's own Double Bergamot goes further.
02 · The American classic
Winner: Bigelow
Bigelow Constant Comment, 20 Count (6-Pack)
The 1945 original that built the company: black tea with orange rind and sweet spice, still without a true imitator.
Origin & grade: Family-owned since 1945; the founding recipe, blended in the US; individually foil-wrapped.
Ruth Bigelow's 1945 blend of black tea, orange rind, and sweet spice created a flavor lane the brand has owned for eighty years. The cup is cozy and distinctive, citrus-warm rather than citrus-bright, and it converts coffee drinkers and tea skeptics alike.
Our Bigelow review covers the family lineup in full. See the 6-pack.
- Type
- Flavored black tea
- Count
- 120 bags (6 x 20)
- Caffeine
- Caffeinated
- Signature
- Orange rind and sweet spice since 1945
- Format
- Individually foil-wrapped
What we like
- A genuine American original
- Foil-wrapped freshness
- About 12 cents a cup
Worth noting
- Polarizing spiced-orange profile
- Modest base tea
Who should buy it: Anyone who has never tried the American original, and households that value wrapped-bag freshness in slow rotation.
What we don't like: The spiced-orange profile is take-it-or-leave-it, and the base tea underneath is modest.
Bottom line: Constant Comment is Bigelow's founding recipe and still its trump card: orange rind and sweet spice folded into black tea in a way no competitor, Stash included, has convincingly copied. Foil-wrapped and around 12 cents a cup in the 6-pack, it is the best reason to buy Bigelow at all.
03 · Best everyday chai bag
Stash Highlight
Stash Chai Spice Black Tea, 100 Count
Real cinnamon-ginger-clove punch in a bag, at bulk math that makes daily chai lattes almost free.
Origin & grade: Stash's spice-forward chai formula on a black tea base; 100-count bulk format.
Chai Spice leads with cinnamon and ginger, backed by clove and allspice, on a base brisk enough to survive steamed milk. Brewed double-strength with milk and honey it makes a legitimate homemade latte for a fraction of cafe cost.
Serious chai drinkers should eventually graduate to loose masala blends, our best chai guide maps the road, but as the everyday bag, this is the pick. See the 100-count.
- Type
- Spiced black tea
- Count
- 100 bags
- Caffeine
- Caffeinated
- Best with
- Milk and honey
- Steep
- 5-6 min for lattes
What we like
- Real spice presence
- Latte-ready strength
- Bulk-box value
Worth noting
- Loose masala chai still beats it
- Needs airtight storage
Who should buy it: Homemade chai latte drinkers and spice-forward palates on a budget.
What we don't like: Still a bag chai: real masala loose blends brew deeper. Bulk box fades without a tin.
Bottom line: Stash's chai is the best mainstream chai bag we brew: the spices are actual presences rather than perfume, the black base stands up to milk, and 20 cents a cup makes the daily homemade chai latte an economic no-brainer. Bigelow's Vanilla Chai is softer and sweeter; this is the one with spine.
04 · Bigelow's best plain black
Bigelow Highlight
Bigelow English Teatime, 20 Count (6-Pack)
The unflavored proof of Bigelow's blending: a smooth, medium-bold black that outdrinks its supermarket peers.
Origin & grade: Bigelow's flagship plain black blend; individually foil-wrapped.
English Teatime brews a clean, balanced black cup, smoother than Lipton, less muscular than the British imports, and its foil wrapping keeps the consistency Bigelow trades on. It is the brand's answer to the everyday-mug question, and a good one.
Our Bigelow vs Twinings comparison continues that thread. See the 6-pack.
- Type
- Black tea blend
- Count
- 120 bags (6 x 20)
- Caffeine
- Caffeinated
- Best
- Black or light milk
- Format
- Individually foil-wrapped
What we like
- Smooth, consistent plain black
- Foil-wrapped freshness
- Gentler than British blends
Worth noting
- Light for strong-tea drinkers
- Pricier per cup than Stash bulk
Who should buy it: Bigelow households wanting a dependable plain black, and drinkers who find British blends too aggressive.
What we don't like: Milk-and-two-sugars drinkers will want more backbone; per-cup cost trails Stash's bulk boxes.
Bottom line: English Teatime is what Bigelow can do without a flavor hook: a genuinely smooth, medium-bold black cup that beats most grocery-tier plain blacks and takes milk politely. It is the box for Bigelow loyalists who want a daily driver rather than a signature flavor.
05 · Bulk green tea
Also Great
Stash Premium Green Tea, 100 Count
A clean, forgiving green at volume: the daily-green and iced-pitcher workhorse of the pairing.
Origin & grade: Stash's standard green line; 100-count bulk format.
The virtue of this box is that nothing goes wrong: the cup is light, clean, faintly sweet, and it stays drinkable even when you forget the thermometer rules that punish fancier greens. That forgiveness is worth real money at daily volume.
For a serious step up, our best green tea guide starts where bag-grade green ends. See the 100-count.
- Type
- Green tea
- Count
- 100 bags
- Caffeine
- Caffeinated (~25-35 mg/cup)
- Steep
- 1-3 min, 175°F
- Best
- Hot or iced
What we like
- Forgiving to brew
- Bulk value
- Clean plain-green profile
Worth noting
- Limited depth
- Unwrapped bulk bags fade
Who should buy it: Daily green drinkers, offices, and iced-tea brewers who want volume and forgiveness over nuance.
What we don't like: Bag-grade depth; sencha drinkers will find it plain.
Bottom line: Stash's Premium Green is the better bulk green of these two houses: clean, light, and unusually forgiving of water a little too hot. At about 19 cents a cup it stocks a desk or an iced-tea pitcher without guilt, and it beats Bigelow's flavored-green-heavy lineup for drinkers who just want green tea that tastes like green tea.
Flavor: Stash swings harder
Line up the catalogs and the pattern is unmistakable: Stash blends louder. Its Earl Grey has more citrus, its chai more spice, its herbals more punch; the brand trusts drinkers to want flavor at full volume. Bigelow blends safer: smooth, rounded, engineered so no family member objects, with Constant Comment as the one gloriously weird exception that proves the rule.
Neither approach is wrong, but they map to different drinkers. If your complaint about grocery tea is blandness, Stash fixes it. If your complaint is inconsistency, Bigelow does.
Verdict: Stash for intensity, Bigelow for polish.
Freshness and formats: the foil question
Bigelow's individual foil wrapping is a genuine engineering advantage: flavored teas hold their aromatics for months longer, and a slow-moving cupboard of six varieties stays fresh to the last bag. Stash counters with 100-count bulk boxes of unwrapped bags: cheaper per cup and perfect for high-velocity drinking, but the top notes fade noticeably once a box has been open a couple of months.
The practical rule we landed on: buy Bigelow for variety shelves and slow rotation, buy Stash for your daily-driver blend and pitcher brewing, and decant any open Stash box into an airtight tin (our storage guide has options).
Verdict: Bigelow on freshness, Stash on volume economics.
Which should you buy?
Pick Stash if you drink one or two blends fast and loud: the Earl Grey and Chai Spice 100-counts are the best cups here for bold palates, at around 20 cents each.
Pick Bigelow if your cupboard is a variety shelf, you value wrapped freshness, or Constant Comment's spiced orange has ever charmed you, nothing else tastes like it.
The honest answer for most kitchens: a Stash 100-count of your daily blend plus a Bigelow 6-pack of Constant Comment for evenings and guests. The two brands' strengths barely overlap, which makes them better roommates than rivals.
Questions, answered
Is Stash or Bigelow tea better?
Stash blends bolder, its Earl Grey and Chai Spice have noticeably more flavor than Bigelow's equivalents, and its 100-count boxes are the better value at around 20 cents a cup. Bigelow wins on freshness with individually foil-wrapped bags and on classics, led by Constant Comment. Bold-flavor drinkers should pick Stash; variety-shelf and freshness-first households should pick Bigelow.
What is special about Bigelow Constant Comment?
It is the 1945 recipe that founded the company: black tea blended with orange rind and sweet spice. The flavor lane is still essentially uncopied, and every bag is individually foil-wrapped. It remains the single most distinctive blend either brand sells and the best reason to keep Bigelow in the cupboard.
Which brand has the better Earl Grey?
Stash, and it is not close. Stash's standard Earl Grey brews with more bergamot presence than Bigelow's, and its Double Bergamot version goes further still for citrus chasers. Bigelow's caffeinated Earl Grey is smooth but restrained by comparison.
Are Stash and Bigelow teas good value?
Both are solid grocery-tier value, but the formats differ: Stash's 100-count boxes land around 19 to 20 cents a cup, while Bigelow's foil-wrapped 6-packs of 20-count boxes run about 12 to 18 cents depending on blend. Bigelow's Constant Comment 6-pack, around 12 cents a cup, is the single best value cup across both brands.
Which is better for iced tea, Stash or Bigelow?
Stash. Its unwrapped 100-count boxes are built for pitcher volume, its green and black bases brew clean over ice, and the per-cup math suits gallon batches. Bigelow's foil wrapping adds cost and unwrapping labor that iced brewing wastes; save it for hot cups. Our iced tea guide covers ratios and the cloudiness fix.