Who Makes Costco's Kirkland Signature Green Tea?
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
When tea bags come in a bulk container with an affordable price tag, it's understandable if your first assumption is that they might be low quality. Costco manages to defy this misconception with its Kirkland Signature Green Tea Bags. The 100-count box for $13.99 is a product of Japan, one of the world's top producers of high-quality tea.
It can be tricky to figure out the name-brand producers behind Kirkland Signature's many products, but this one is hiding in plain sight. At the top corner of the front of the packaging, the brand Ito En is listed. Ito En is the largest green tea distributor in Japan. In addition to tea bags, Ito En produces canned and bottled tea drinks and bags of matcha powder. It's also the parent company of several brands, including Oi Ocha, Teas' Tea, and Matcha Love, which are available in the United States. You may have seen these brands' ready-to-drink iced teas and small cans of prepared matcha at brick-and-mortar marketplaces or on Amazon.
Being the largest tea distributor in Japan comes with a lot of responsibility. Ito En has a mission to provide stability for the tea farmers it works with and uphold standards for protecting the environment, stating on its website, "At the root of our philosophy to preserve tea culture is our utmost respect for the earth."
Why Costco's Ito En green tea is such a highly rated product
What makes the green tea at Costco stand out is that it uses a blend of Ito En's sencha tea leaves and matcha powder in every tea bag. Sencha is the most popular green tea in Japan. This variety is prepared by steaming, then rolling the tea leaves before they dry. This method preserves the leaves' fresh, slight sweetness, and it's where green tea's flavor comes from. The addition of matcha powder brings a signature earthy flavor and an extra caffeine kick. The final result is a cup with a vivid yellow-green hue and a strong, full-bodied flavor.
On the product page of Costco's website, Kirkland Signature Green Tea has a 4.7-star rating out of over 1,880 reviews. One five-star review sums up how the majority of customers feel: "I've been drinking this tea for a long time now ... I have tried many brands and can honestly say these are by far the best – quality, taste, and cost!" If that's not enough to convince you, know that this is one of Kristen Bell's favorite products at Costco.
The main complaint about this product is the plastic mesh tea bags. Customers have left lower-ranked reviews because of this, citing concerns over microplastics being released when hot water is poured over the bag. Hopefully, Costco and Ito En will listen to these concerns and consider switching to paper tea bags in the future.