Who Invented the Teabag?
Legend has it that a New York City tea importer named Thomas Sullivan became annoyed at the high cost of the tin boxes he used to send tea samples to customers. So in 1904 (or by some accounts, 1908) he switched to small cloth bags. One of the recipients brewed a pot of tea by simply pouring hot water over the bag — and the rest is history. It’s a nice story, except some tea experts point out that a U.S. patent for a “tea leaf holder made out of fabric” was granted in 1903. Regardless of who was really responsible, many tea lovers consider the teabag one of the worst inventions of the 20th century. Tea brewed with loose tea is generally much tastier than tea make from dunked teabags. Tea — a Low-Cost Drink You can brew more than 200 cups of tea from one pound of loose tea leaves. That works out to less than ten cents a cup for quality tea brewed at home, even adding in the cost of heating the hot water. Tea’s low cost is a big reason why it’s the second most popular beverage throughout
