What’s In Your Tea Bag?

In today’s bustling society of two income-earners with everyone on the go, the tea bag is an essential convenience for drinking tea, the most popular beverage in the world. Thomas Lipton of Lipton Tea, who patented the Flo-Thru Tea Bag in 1952, knew this and made a fortune from his idea.

But, what’s inside those little paper bags holding your tea?

A bag with enough space for the tea to infuse properly is a sound alternative to loose-leaf tea that requires brewing in a tea pot or tea cup. Tea Bags are efficient, convenient and easy to dispose of.

However, tea bags are constrictive and prohibit the leaves from opening, unfolding and releasing their delightful flavor. They often contain tea of inferior quality that tends to release tannin, making it taste bitter or harsh.

Tea is manufactured using either the conventional Orthodox Method of hand-picking and processing the leaves or by the Crushing, Tearing, Curling Method, a mechanized technique for bulk processing the leaves.

The tea in most tea bags is made using the CTC Method in which machines rip and shred the leaves using a roller with thorn-like pins. The tea, including pulverized stems and twigs, is ground into fannings and tea dust. It is broken leaf pieces, fannings and tea dust that is used in most commercial tea bags. It is a harsh process, causing degradation of the tea and loss in flavor.

The Orthodox Method is a complex process done mostly by hand. It involves the careful selection of the tea leaves to be plucked, normally from the top of the bush, and their grading according to rigid standards prior to further processing. Most knowledgeable tea drinkers prefer this method and have little interest in CTC tea, since it does not allow for the careful, high-quality treatment they feel tea leaves deserve.

The CTC Method does have an important, legitimate role in the tea industry. It allows for the rapid processing of large volumes of leaves. For certain varieties of leaf, it is the preferred and least expensive processing method.

For the true tea-lover, the taste of loose-leaf tea is far superior to that in tea bags. Plus, loose-leaf teas are brewed right in a tea pot or tea cup, giving the leaves room to open and unfold, releasing their full taste for the tea-lover’s pleasure and enjoyment.

A happy compromise is the inexpensive, fully-portable T-Sac Tea Filters made from quality, filter paper. Each filter is large enough for loose-leaf teas to unfold and open naturally, releasing their full flavor. Tea drinkers can take them anywhere, along with a pinch or two of their favorite tea, and enjoy all the convenience offered by conventional tea bags.



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