Who Invented theTeabag?

Legend has it that Thomas Sullivan, a tea importer from New York City was angry at the high cost of tin boxes that he used to send samples to his customers. Around 1904 Thomas Sullivan switched to small cloth bags. It was intended for the recipient to remove the loose tea for brewing. One recipient that received the cloth bag, brewed a pot of tea by simply pouring hot water over the bag — and the rest is history.

The first tea bags were made of hand-sewn muslin. Modern tea bags are typically a paper fiber that is heat sealed. Heat sealing teabags was invented by William Hermanson. In its early years, teabags resembled small sacks. In 1944 the rectangular tea bag was invented.

Many tea lovers consider the tea bag one of the worst inventions of the 20th century since tea that is brewed loose, is generally much tastier than tea make from dunking teabags.

Many of today's tea bags contain fannings, the leftovers, after whole tea leaves have been sorted and selected for loose tea packaging. There are a few premium companies today, such as Teaporia, who use whole tea leaves in their tea bags providing a optimal flavor.