The best coffee bags you can buy in the UK – 7 options for people who want a delicious coffee without any mess
We love coffee, and we have to admit that the often fiddly process of using a cafetière is part of the enjoyment for us. Anything to get away from the computer for 5 minutes.
However, there are times when you want great coffee quickly, and although some instant coffee can be great, it can never quite match the taste of coffee made using freshly ground coffee beans.
That's where coffee bags come in - they allow you to enjoy the taste of freshly brewed coffee, but without all the hassle of using a cafetière.
Coffee snobs might stick their noses up at the idea of coffee bags, but we really think this is the type of product which doesn't make sense until you try it. To try and convince you of their brilliance, we've rounded up the best coffee bags you can buy in the UK. Let's get into it:
Taylors coffee bags
Coffee connoisseurs will probably already be familiar with the ground coffee and beans from Taylors, but you might not have realised that this brand also makes coffee bags and that they were actually one of the first brands to really push this type of product. As fans of the standard coffee from Taylors, we have to say that we're really impressed by the coffee bags from this brand. The Hot Lava Java variety is our favourite from Taylors, and we find that the flavour translates really well to the coffee bags and tastes almost exactly the same as it does when we make it using the Hot Lava Java ground coffee. We bought a box of these bags for about £3.20 which worked out to about 32p per cup of coffee, learn more and buy it here - tesco.com
Whittard
The range of coffee bags from Whittard, a brand best-known for tea, is limited but actually very good. The Monsoon Malabar coffee bags (pictured on the far left) is the strongest of the collection and definitely our favourite, but we're told that the other 2 varieties - the House Blend and San Agustin Colombia - are also very good. These coffee bags were definitely on the pricier end at £5 for 10 bags, but the quality is undeniable. Learn more and buy them here - whittard.co.uk
M&S Italian Style Coffee Bags
We feel that so much of the M&S food range is excellent, and the coffee is no exception - we're big fans of the standard ground Italian coffee from this supermarket brand, and we buy it often. So when we saw that we could get that same great coffee in the form of a coffee bag, we had to try it. You get 10 bags in each packet and we paid £3.20 for a box, so it works out to about 32p per cup of coffee which is very reasonable. It definitely tasted as good as when we make a cup using the M&S Italian Style ground coffee, which is all we could ask for. Learn more and buy it here - ocado.com
Waitrose Italian Style Coffee Bags
We knew that we wouldn't be able to find coffee bags at every supermarket we visited, but we just had a feeling that we'd find some in Waitrose - it's that kind of place. The Italian Style coffee from Waitrose is the strongest own-brand ground coffee that the supermarket currently offers, and one of 2 types of coffee bags that you can currently buy there. We love the taste of this coffee and the experience of using a coffee bag to make a cup of it was great. It tasted virtually the same as the ground coffee version. We paid £3.85 for a packet with 15 bags, which works out to about 26p per coffee bag. This surprisingly makes Waitrose one of the cheapest options in our list. Learn more and buy it here - waitrose.com
Lyons Go-Joe
Firstly, we love the name of these coffee bags because they describe exactly why we buy them - you can enjoy a great cup of joe on the go. Lyons is a brand which, unlike most of the other brands in this list, specialises in coffee bags. This means they do them really well, and we love a number of things about the range from this brand. The fact that it includes a decaf version is awesome, as is the fact that the coffee bags are compostable. In terms of the taste, we find that the No.3 variety (pictured) suits our tastes the best. It's rich and full-bodied and a great everyday coffee. On top of all of this, when you purchase a box of coffee bags from Lyons, the brand makes a donation to Project Waterfall. That's awesome! Learn more and buy it here - sainsburys.co.uk
Morrisons Italian Style
We were actually really surprised to see that Morrisons had a range of own-brand coffee bags, and we were even more surprised to find that they tasted great. It's rich in taste and it only took a few minutes for the bag to fully release the flavour, making it very convenient. What we really loved about these coffee bags was the price - we paid £2.15 for 10 bags, making these the cheapest coffee bags we found at any supermarket. Learn more and buy them here - groceries.morrisons.com
Fairtrade Coffee Bags by Sainsbury's
We've left these coffee bags until last because although we still enjoyed them, we didn't quite enjoy them as much as the other options we included in this list. We noticed that for some reason, these bags needed about 10 minutes to steep for the flavour to be fully released. But once the coffee was ready, it was rich and had notes of chocolate. Another huge positive of these coffee bags is the price, at just £2.20 per pack. Learn more and buy them here - sainsburys.co.uk
Hopefully, this guide helps you to find great-tasting coffee bags to buy. Let us know if you've tried any of these or if you have any other recommendations!
Finn H
Finn is the editor of You Well and has been writing about travel, health, and more for over 10 years.