Reviewing "In Utero" for "Rolling Stone", Fricke wrote, "In the sepulchral folk intro of 'Penny Royal Tea,' Cobain almost sounds like Michael Stipe at the beginning of R.E.M.'s Drive'—before the heaving, fuzz-burnt chorus comes lashing down with a vengeance." In his review of the album for the "NME", John Mulvey wrote that "Pennyroyal Tea" was "a terrific song – straightforward, insidious, oddly moving," but that "the guitars don’t scream enough, the chorus doesn’t tower like it should, and overall it’s the one real ‘Call Butch Vig’ moment."