How and when did the first tea bag appear

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Such a familiar item as a tea bag has long and firmly entered our lives. This is largely due to its convenience, ease of use, as well as the ability to reduce the time spent on preparing a drink. However, despite the wide popularity, such tea is considered to be low-grade and of poor quality. Is this really so, and how did the first tea bag appear, we will tell in this article.

The exact time and history of tea bags is not known for certain. There is information that their analogues existed in ancient China. In Russia, small bags made of linen were widely used to brew the drink. But since this information has not been officially confirmed, it is generally accepted that the tea bag was invented in 1904 by the American Thomas Sullivan. As a salesman, he once tried to save money on product samples to be sent to customers. Yes, instead oftypical for that time tea jars, he packaged portions in hand-sewn silk bags. Then the customers themselves began to ask Thomas to send them a drink in bags, and not in jars. The fact is that customers did not understand his original idea related to updating the packaging, and began to brew the drink directly in bags, which subsequently gained wide popularity due to the convenience and ease of use.

Soon, tea bags began to be actively used in restaurants and sold in stores. Over time, it became clear that silk is far from the cheapest material for the production of such a mass product. Began active experiments related to the search for more suitable raw materials. At one time, a tea bag was made from gauze, a little later - from Manila hemp with the addition of viscose. However, these materials have proven themselves not from the best side. And only then did special filter paper for tea bags appear. The one that is actively used to this day.

If we talk about the appearance of the bag, then it acquired its usual appearance only in 1929 - it was then that the industrial technology for its manufacture was introduced. In 1950, two-chamber tea packages began to be produced, capable of increasing the surface of contact between water and tea leaves and increasing filtration efficiency. The process of brewing the drink began to take even less time. Soon the range of bags began to expand and replenish with new forms: products appeared inthe shape of a square, circle and even a pyramid. Staples began to be actively used as fasteners, and the thermal sealing technology made it possible to increase the strength of the product.

It is also worth mentioning the tea itself, placed in a bag. Unlike leaf, it is more saturated and strong. In terms of quality, bagged tea is in no way inferior to leaf tea - no concentrates are added there. And the high speed of brewing is due to the additional crushing of the leaf, due to which the enzymes mix with water faster.

Today, the range of packaged drinks surprises with its diversity. So is his packaging. The tea bag box is available in both paper and wood and metal, and its design sometimes amazes even the most sophisticated customers. Connoisseurs of this drink will certainly be able to choose for themselves a worthy copy that can replenish their rich tea collection.