Something occured to me a moment ago, right in the middle of my fourth cup of tea of the day (and it's not even 1pm yet - it's not the caffeine I should worry about it's all that sugar): how did I get to buy the tea that I currently use? That tea, by the way, is Tetley.
When I was a kid, we had nothing but Lipton tea in the house. It was the major supermarket brand back then, and it was the only teabag that my mother ever bought. When I got older, I discovered Red Rose, and drank that for 15 years or so. It's a nice, hearty, tasty tea that I'd still be drinking if it wasn't for...
...the Great Staple Paranoia of 1999! I suddenly got this fear of having the staple in the Red Rose bag come off in the cup and I wouldn't notice. Plus, you're not supposed to microwave staples (not sure about the science there - is it OK to nuke metal as long as it's not touching the sides or just not in general? I've heard both). So, I went looking for a new teabag, one that tasted great and didn't have a staple. Did such a tea exist?
Yup! Tetley has no staple, just a string and a tag. In fact, their British Blend doesn't even have a string. It's just a round teabag. I buy their both their regular tea and their British tea. They're both quite excellent.
But now the question is: why do tea bags still have staples in them?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-12-2005 @ 4:59PM
chrisash said...
From wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwaving) Metals do not absorb microwaves effectively. Instead, metals reflect microwaves, thereby preventing the latter from reaching the food. If the microwaves are not absorbed inside the oven, the oven can be damaged by electrical arcs and overheating of the microwave source. Thin metal layers, such as metal foil and mugs with metal trim, can melt or burn due to the strong electrical currents that are generated in metal objects. However, small solid metal objects, such as spoons, in combination with a large amount of absorbing food or liquid, normally do not lead to problems.
So, I'm guessing you're safe with staples.
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10-12-2005 @ 5:10PM
Louise said...
You're not...please tell me you aren't...putting water and teabag into a cup and then microwaving them?
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10-12-2005 @ 6:49PM
jah said...
The very (apparent) fact that you're making tea in a microwave pretty much obviates any need for discussion here, but that combined with the fact that you can consider America's version of Tetley to be a decent tea.... *shudder* I don't know why teabags still need staples, or the annoying paper around so many of them (eg Lipton) for that matter, but before you can discuss quality teas you need to ditch the microwave.
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10-12-2005 @ 6:50PM
Carl said...
The Red Rose we buy doesn't have staples in it either; it's just square bags with no string attached. This is for the big boxes that have 72+ tea bags in them...
As for making the "perfect" cup of tea, don't forget George Orwell's take on the subject:
http://www.netcharles.com/orwell/essays/nicecupoftea.htm
Yes, *that* George Orwell!
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10-12-2005 @ 6:52PM
Bob Sassone said...
Maybe I should clarify: my paranoia was much less about nuking the staple (I boil my water on the stove) and more about the whole weird "will the staple come off and fall into my cup" fear.
I haven't found the Red Rose without staples. And as for Tetley not being a good cup o' tea...I beg to differ.
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10-12-2005 @ 8:57PM
Paula Helm Murray said...
My daily iced tea is three (3) Lipton tea bags heated with water in a large mug, then poured over a 32-oz go-cup that is full of ice, and my lemon juice and Sweet 'n Low. I have had the strings and tags do all sorts of bizarre things, AND at least twice had a teabag exlode in the water for some unknown reason, but I've NEVER had a staple come loose. And I've beem making iced tea this way since around 1985,
And it's for the caffeine. When I want a tasty tea for sipping hot, I've got a whole Tupperware "file" of assorted high quality tea bags in individual foil packets, as well as tins of other special loose teas.. And the Microwave does 'not' get involved with them.
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10-13-2005 @ 12:24AM
Dulce said...
I like good tea. I just can't stand the soggy wretched mess that has to be scooped out of the infusing device (name your type). For that reason, I tend to stick to a teabag and, yes, I'm sorry to say, I put the teabag in the cup of water and then microwave it. I've never had a problem either with a) the staple in the microwave or b) the staple coming off and I've been bagging and 'waving for a loooooong time.
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10-13-2005 @ 12:35AM
kitchenmage said...
Phew! Glad to hear you're not making "tea" in the microwave. I know someone who makes tea by getting water from the "insta-hot" tap (which is somewhere south of boiling) and then drops in a bag and nukes it. Oh no, wait, that was when she seldom drank it. Now she drinks it and the water gets properly heated on the stove. :-)
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10-13-2005 @ 2:05AM
Jeshii said...
Loose leaf tea anyone? Then you don't even have to worry about the bag!
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10-13-2005 @ 5:01AM
Ming said...
They mentioned this on mythbusters, metal in a microwave only is really problematic when there's a compacted surface area of it. In their experiment a crumpled piece of foil caught on fire. But other metal objects didn't really cause a problem.
BTW Coffee drinkers might be rather particular about the brands they drink and what not, but never nearly as particular as a tea drinker :) I'm more of a coffee person and I drink what I like. I see more elitism in tea drinking, as can be seen by some of the responses you got :(
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10-13-2005 @ 12:07PM
Kaz said...
We drink Tetley because it does not have staples, but for a reason different than you mentioned.. we don't want to put the staples in our compost bin, and rather than cutting the staple out, it is easier to just throw the whole Tetley bag in the compost bucket.
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