Whether for a long adda, a quiet break or a cure for tiredness, tea runs through the day in Bangladesh. For many people the day does not begin without a cup after breakfast, and tea is a fixture of afternoon gatherings. Around National Tea Day, Jagonews24 asked on 20 June 2026 how many kinds of tea are actually drunk in the country. The answer is not simple, because the choice has grown steadily: from milk tea at the corner stall to bubble tea in city cafés.
Where the country's tea comes from
Most of the leaf behind these drinks is grown at home. According to the Bangladesh Tea Board, the country's 168 tea estates and smallholdings produced a record 102.92 million kg of tea in 2023, of which 17.93 million kg came from the flatland estates and smallholdings of the northern region alone. The board said Bangladesh exported 2.45 million kg of tea to 19 countries in 2024.
The Bangladesh Tea Board is a statutory body run under the Tea Act 2016. Its main tasks are raising tea production, marketing and exports, setting up new estates and reviving abandoned ones. The Bangladesh Tea Research Institute (BTRI) works under it.
Milk tea and red tea
Jagonews24 reported that milk tea, usually made with tea leaves, milk and sugar, is the most popular tea in Bangladesh. Ask for "a cup of tea" at a stall and it is milk tea that usually arrives, its rich taste and sweet aroma winning people over easily.
Red tea, made without milk, is lighter and popular with office workers and anyone wanting a light morning drink. The US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) notes that green, black and oolong teas all come from the same plant, Camellia sinensis, and differ only in how they are prepared.
Green, white and herbal teas
Green tea has become popular with young people, the report said, and many drink it without sugar as part of weight control and health awareness. According to NCCIH, green tea leaves are steamed or pan-fried and dried but not fermented. The catechins and caffeine in green tea may have a modest effect on body weight, but firm conclusions cannot yet be reached for most of the uses claimed for it. No safety concerns have been reported for green tea drunk as a beverage by adults, though it does contain caffeine.
White tea is made from young or minimally processed leaves of Camellia sinensis: the fresh leaf is withered and dried, but not rolled or oxidised.
Herbal tea is made from ingredients such as ginger, tulsi (holy basil), lemon, cinnamon or chamomile. Many people turn to it when the weather changes, with a cold or cough, or when tired, and ginger tea is a rainy-day favourite. Strictly speaking these are infusions of herbs rather than tea from the tea plant, and most contain no natural caffeine.
New tastes in the city: flavoured, masala, bubble and tandoori tea
Flavoured teas such as lemon, ginger, mint and honey tea are gaining ground in the cities, Jagonews24 reported, and for young people they are part of café culture and social media. Masala tea is made with ginger, cardamom, cinnamon or cloves. It originated in India and is made by brewing black tea in milk and water with spices.
Bubble tea is also finding a place among the young. The drink, which originated in Taiwan in the 1980s, usually contains chewy tapioca balls, milk and flavouring. Thick, creamy malai tea has arrived too, as has tandoori tea served in clay cups. The report also noted experiments with sweet-and-sour tamarind tea, malta tea, chilli tea and various fusion flavours.
Photo: Kritzolina / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Sources: Jagonews24, Bangladesh Tea Board, US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, Wikipedia
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