Teabag

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LeoFox
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Wed Jan 06, 2021 3:00 pm

@mbanu
mbanu wrote:
Wed Jan 06, 2021 2:08 pm
The teabags themselves are treated like some random cost-saving fad rather than a century-old practice. There is not much discussion online about the bags themselves, or even what a bag is -- a teabag is treated as a type of tea rather than a tea tool like a tea basket or a fairness pitcher. So I hope to encourage discussion on these subjects. 
In light of mbanu's message quoted above, I thought we could start a teabag thread under teaware!

I recently was gifted 2 of these strange (and surprisingly expensive) teabags from a Taiwanese company called charm villa.



http://www.charmvilla.com

Company description:
Goldfish Tea Bags are made entirely by hand via a 16-step process requiring exquisite handcrafted skills by Taiwanese artists. Among 300 applicants, 28 were chosen for their immense skill. When the tea bag is brewed in hot water and begins to swell, the shape of a goldfish begins to form. The mouth of the tea bag is designed with a special cotton thread, Pulling the thread enables the tea bag to move in water. A life-like goldfish appears to be swimming in your tea cup. When the beauty of tea culture is delivered through the elegant shape of a goldfish, Tea drinkers can not only enjoy the taste, but also enjoy the fun and beauty of brewing tea with this highly loved, award-winning tea bag.
Haven't used it yet, but looks cute.
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mbanu
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Wed Jan 06, 2021 3:36 pm

That looks like the perfect bag for a habitual teabag dunker. :D Pretty interesting as well because while teabags started their life as disposable tea-balls, I don't often see ones that try to copy the decorative tea-balls that are shaped like particular things.

One big appeal of teabags is that they are collapsible; a folded up tea-sock takes up much less space than a rigid tea-basket. :) At least in American tea, re-useable teabags are around but seem to be associated with the herbalism type of teashop for some reason. They are a throwback to the original tea-bags in that they are often literally small drawstring bags, rather than having a more defined teabag shape. The only maker I can think of that still uses the shape in disposable bags is the G.H. Ford company. Here is one of their disposable tea-balls sitting on top of some of their Russian Caravan tea:
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LeoFox
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Wed Jan 06, 2021 5:04 pm

I will post a video of the goldfish if I ever use it. I'm afraid my teabag skills are not good enough to do the goldfish justice. :( :( :(

When "bagging" - I tend to use finum disposable bags:



https://www.finum.com/portfolio/size-l-100-filters/

I use these because they are the cheapest I can find that are made of chlorine-free, biodegradable paper. They are made in Germany.

The problem I have with these bags, and most such paper type bags, is that they can be very muting - probably because they are filtering out a lot of the smaller flavorful particles, and because the paper itself likely absorbs some flavors. Therefore, I only use them for more robust black teas or chai mixes.

The use of reusable bags makes me wonder if they can be seasoned for specific types of tea. Depending on the material of the reusable bags, and the cleaning procedures I can see how some may end up designating a bag for black tea and a different one for green tea, etc.

Going a step further, I can see how bag material can be engineered to have oxidation versus reduction based properties that could affect the tea :D
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LeoFox
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Wed Jan 06, 2021 10:48 pm

Seems o-cha.com has quite the lineup of tea bagged products!
https://www.o-cha.com/green-tea-bags/

Including this gyokuro bag:

Image

https://www.o-cha.com/green-tea-bags/gy ... -bags.html
This tea bag comes in a triangular, biodegradable (not plastic or nylon) mesh infusion bag, and will not affect the taste as traditional paper teabags are known to do. A wonderful grassy aroma awaits you when you open the re-sealable package.
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mbanu
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Wed Jan 06, 2021 11:08 pm

Pyramid bags are interesting; Unilever (through Brooke Bond) claims to have invented them in 1996 for their PG Tips brand, mostly as a way to draw away customers from Tetley:
Chicago Tribune wrote:Brooke Bond says its pyramid design is the result of four years of scientific research costing "hundreds of thousands of pounds." ... So confident is Brooke Bond of the pyramid's ultimate success that it is discontinuing square tea bags. In areas where the new bag was tested over the past year, the company says market share jumped 20 percent. ... The British tea wars began in the 1950s, when Tetley introduced tea bags and its rivals followed suit. In 1989, Tetley brought out the round tea bag, a move that boosted sales and pushed the company to market leadership by 1991. ... "The shape probably doesn't make the tea taste better," Jones said. "But if consumers think it's fun, it could increase volume."
(https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct- ... story.html)

However, I've never seen any information on the rationale behind it, whether it was basically for novelty purposes like the fish-bag, or if a pyramid shape was more useful in some way than bags in general.

The mention of square teabags is also a good cultural distinction, as British-style square bags often seem to be literal squares, looking a bit like a sandwich with the crust cut off. A few makers sell them in sheets where you tear off however many bags you plan to use. Many Americans when they think square teabag are thinking of a Lipton-style saddlebag design where there is a long rectangular bag folded in half into two bags and joined at the top, as illustrated in this breathless 1952 Lipton ad. :) (Unless Lipton bags used to expand more back then, the bag also looks a little too small for that cup.) Supposedly the square was the popular shape in the 1940s, which I guess was when teabags first started showing up in earnest in the UK.
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LeoFox
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Thu Jan 07, 2021 9:10 am

mbanu wrote:
Wed Jan 06, 2021 11:08 pm
Pyramid bags are interesting; Unilever (through Brooke Bond) claims to have invented them in 1996 for their PG Tips brand, mostly as a way to draw away customers from Tetley:
Chicago Tribune wrote:Brooke Bond says its pyramid design is the result of four years of scientific research costing "hundreds of thousands of pounds." ... So confident is Brooke Bond of the pyramid's ultimate success that it is discontinuing square tea bags. In areas where the new bag was tested over the past year, the company says market share jumped 20 percent. ... The British tea wars began in the 1950s, when Tetley introduced tea bags and its rivals followed suit. In 1989, Tetley brought out the round tea bag, a move that boosted sales and pushed the company to market leadership by 1991. ... "The shape probably doesn't make the tea taste better," Jones said. "But if consumers think it's fun, it could increase volume."
(https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct- ... story.html)

However, I've never seen any information on the rationale behind it, whether it was basically for novelty purposes like the fish-bag, or if a pyramid shape was more useful in some way than bags in general.

The mention of square teabags is also a good cultural distinction, as British-style square bags often seem to be literal squares, looking a bit like a sandwich with the crust cut off. A few makers sell them in sheets where you tear off however many bags you plan to use. Many Americans when they think square teabag are thinking of a Lipton-style saddlebag design where there is a long rectangular bag folded in half into two bags and joined at the top, as illustrated in this breathless 1952 Lipton ad. :) (Unless Lipton bags used to expand more back then, the bag also looks a little too small for that cup.) Supposedly the square was the popular shape in the 1940s, which I guess was when teabags first started showing up in earnest in the UK.
Image
Have you ever done a head to head comparison of lipton in the bag vs out of the bag or with other bags? Lipton is undrinkable for me so i won't be able to do this.
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mbanu
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Thu Jan 07, 2021 1:48 pm

LeoFox wrote:
Thu Jan 07, 2021 9:10 am
Have you ever done a head to head comparison of lipton in the bag vs out of the bag or with other bags? Lipton is undrinkable for me so i won't be able to do this.
I have not, mostly because I don't know how I would define Lipton anymore. Lipton is a strange one in that its tea blends have no consistency. A box of Lipton Yellow Label contains a completely different blend depending on what country it is produced for.

In the U.S. I think that it is mostly Argentinian tea designed for making iced tea, so I guess I would have to do an iced tea comparison for that type... In other countries it is designed for different brewing methods.

I would have to decide on whether I was buying loose-leaf American Lipton and placing it in a teabag, or tearing open a teabag and brewing it loose, as the blend they use in teabags vs. loose is also different under the same blend-label.
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LeoFox
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Thu Jan 07, 2021 2:47 pm

mbanu wrote:
Thu Jan 07, 2021 1:48 pm
LeoFox wrote:
Thu Jan 07, 2021 9:10 am
Have you ever done a head to head comparison of lipton in the bag vs out of the bag or with other bags? Lipton is undrinkable for me so i won't be able to do this.
I have not, mostly because I don't know how I would define Lipton anymore. Lipton is a strange one in that its tea blends have no consistency. A box of Lipton Yellow Label contains a completely different blend depending on what country it is produced for.

In the U.S. I think that it is mostly Argentinian tea designed for making iced tea, so I guess I would have to do an iced tea comparison for that type... In other countries it is designed for different brewing methods.

I would have to decide on whether I was buying loose-leaf American Lipton and placing it in a teabag, or tearing open a teabag and brewing it loose, as the blend they use in teabags vs. loose is also different under the same blend-label.
Maybe begin with american bags.
Ethan Kurland
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Thu Jan 07, 2021 4:35 pm

Leofox is correct that some huge companies selling inexpensive tea (let's call it commercial tea) sell various blends for different countries. (I know someone who goes through the trouble & expense of having Tetley teabags sent to him from New Zealand.)

Long ago I compared a couple of such companies' loose teas to their teabags, buying both simultaneously. The loose tea was the same as tea in the teabags but made stronger brew outside of the bag. Emptying a teabag to steep as loose tea was the same as using tea that had never been in a teabag.

Not so long ago I bought Dilmah brand (from Sri Lanka) loose & in a bag. It was the same except I could see that tea in the bags had gotten crushed more. Removing that very crushed tea to steep as loose tea got the same results as steeping the tea that had been bought loose & looked better.

I bought a kilogram of loose Dilmah once because of a low price. So, self-blending commercial-grade teas was interesting for a while. The 100% Sri Lankan tea was smooth & pleasant but too bland. A mix of 2/3 Sri Lankan with 1/3 Kenyan (which was much too harsh on its own) suited me as a blend on its own or for blending 1:1 with overly strong Earl Grey from Safeway (in England) or Lapsang Souchong from Fortnum & Mason. (All drunk with milk before my palate "developed" its current elevated state.) :roll:
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LeoFox
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Thu Jan 07, 2021 4:55 pm

Ethan Kurland wrote:
Thu Jan 07, 2021 4:35 pm
Not so long ago I bought Dilmah brand (from Sri Lanka) loose & in a bag. It was the same except I could see that tea in the bags had gotten crushed more. Removing that very crushed tea to steep as loose tea got the same results as steeping the tea that had been bought loose & looked better.
So in this case

dilmah loose = dilmah bag?

Dilmah loose less bitter than debagged dilmah bag?

Dilmah loose = debagged dilmah bag -dust?
Ethan Kurland
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Thu Jan 07, 2021 9:00 pm

LeoFox wrote:
Thu Jan 07, 2021 4:55 pm
So in this case

dilmah loose = dilmah bag?

Dilmah loose less bitter than debagged dilmah bag?

Dilmah loose = debagged dilmah bag -dust?
Loose & bag were almost exactly the same in what they do to water.

No difference in bitterness between them. Loose tea makes a stronger brew (as we have guessed is due to either having more water flowing on it or because the material of the bag grabs some of the flavor). Sometimes greater strength of a brew comes along with bitterness in general, but I never noticed this relationship when making the loose/teabag comparisons.

The tea inside the teabags seems smaller, but just slightly. I like to use the word fine for how small all of tea is once one is dealing with commercial teabag quality. I never see what I would call dustwhile looking at tea. This includes when I buy tea dust which is what much of the tea sold for Thai street tea vendors is called. (When I think of dust, I envision a colored puff going into the air as I empty tea from a box or even a teabag.
Last edited by Victoria on Sat Jan 09, 2021 6:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Mod edit: corrected quoted
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mbanu
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Fri Jan 08, 2021 10:55 pm

LeoFox wrote:
Thu Jan 07, 2021 2:47 pm
Maybe begin with american bags.
I don't actually make iced tea very often, maybe this will be a fun experiment when the weather warms up. :)
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LeoFox
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Tue Mar 23, 2021 9:54 pm

I wonder If anyone has experience with these

https://www.davidstea.com/us_en/teaware ... t=25&sz=24
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mbanu
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Thu Apr 22, 2021 12:43 pm

Wasn't sure if this needed it's own thread, but apparently collecting the tags and wrappers on teabags is a popular hobby in parts of Europe. There is a digital magazine (maybe now discontinued) and an online database.

The magazine did occasionally mention unique teabag designs, such as teabags wrapped to imitate the look of a Japanese tea-whisk, a project of the designer Jeeyun Michaella Chung.
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debunix
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Thu Apr 22, 2021 9:22 pm

Wow. I should not be surprised; a friend collected milk cartons from different dairies around the US.
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