The tea bag was invented in 1908 by New York tea importer Thomas Sullivan, who developed the practice to sending small sample of tea in silk bags rather than in the customary tins to retailers.
The purpose is to cut marketing cost rather than sending full sized tins for his customers to sample.
Some of the customers discovered that they could brew the tea right in the bag, and Sullivan was swamped with order for tea bags.
He wasted no time in complying and soon the first tea bag machine was invented.
It was a major step towards making tea an even more popular beverage in the Western world because it could now be consumed in a time saving and comfortable way – just pouring hot water over the tea bag.
It was not until 1944 that the flat rectangular tea bag, made of porous paper filter was invented. Quickly, a tea company sprang into action and patented the tea bag.
Thomas J. Lipton was responsible for designing a four-sided tea he dubbed the 'flo-thru' tea bag, which allowed tea to steep more quickly in the cup than the customary two-sided bag.
Invention of tea bags
