Editing Tea (section)

=== Tea bags ===

{{Main|Tea bag}}

[[File:Tea bags.jpg|thumb|Tea bags]]

In 1907, American tea merchant Thomas Sullivan began distributing samples of his tea in small bags of silk with a drawstring. Consumers noticed they could simply leave the tea in the bag and reuse it with fresh tea. However, the potential of this distribution and packaging method would not be fully realised until later. During World War II, tea was rationed in the United Kingdom. In 1953, after [[Rationing in the United Kingdom during and after World War II|rationing in the UK]] ended, [[Yorkshire]]-based tea manufacturer [[Tetley]] launched the tea bag in the UK, and it was an immediate success.

The "pyramid tea bag" (or sachet), introduced by Lipton<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lipton.com/en_en/jane-1,180.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430040636/http://www.lipton.com/en_en/jane-1%2C180.aspx |archive-date=30 April 2011 |title=Lipton Institute of Tea – Interview of Steve, Tea technology manager, Chapter: A Culture of Innovation |publisher=Lipton |year=2008 |access-date=26 June 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and PG Tips/Scottish Blend in 1996,<ref>{{cite web |title=PG Tips – About Us |url=http://www.pgtips.co.uk/aboutus/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070120162321/http://www.pgtips.co.uk/aboutus/|archive-date=20 January 2007 |access-date=17 February 2009 |work=pgtips.co.uk}}</ref> attempts to address one of the connoisseurs' arguments against paper tea bags by way of its three-dimensional [[tetrahedron]] shape, which allows more room for tea leaves to expand while steeping.<ref>{{Cite web|date=22 October 2011|title=Change brewing for reshaped tea market|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/change-brewing-for-reshaped-tea-market-1320676.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220526/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/change-brewing-for-reshaped-tea-market-1320676.html |archive-date=26 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=17 February 2021|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref> However, some types of pyramid tea bags have been criticised as being environmentally unfriendly, since their synthetic material is not as biodegradable as loose tea leaves and paper tea bags.<ref>{{cite news |title=Most UK teabags not fully {{sic|biodeg|radeable|nolink=y}}, research reveals |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jul/02/teabags-biodegradeable |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=4 May 2012 |first=Rebecca |last=Smithers |date=2 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204105012/http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jul/02/teabags-biodegradeable |archive-date=4 December 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>