It's 2008, why are we still using staples in tea bags?

by Bob Sassone, Posted Jan 21st 2008 @ 4:29PM

tea bag One of my pet peeves, which I've ranted about before on this site, is tea bags that have staples in them.

Now, since I've switched to loose tea and infusers/filters, this isn't as much of an annoyance as it once was, but I still wonder about it. Last year I had a staple tear off of of a tea bag (one of my fears that became reality). That would have been nice to swallow. So I wonder why, in this day and age, do tea companies still use staples? Many companies, such as Tetley, don't use them, but I've noticed Red Rose, Twinings and Lipton (and many others) still have them. Why? We have the technology to create a staple-free tea bag, people!

We were once promised that we'd have our own jetpacks by now, but since that isn't going to happen anytime soon, can we at least have a tea bag without metal in it? Thank you.

Filed Under: Drink Recipes
Tags: lipton tea, loose tea, staples, tea, teabags, twinings

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

1-23-2008 @11:09AM Ras Thavas said... Probably because the machines that make these bags are still functioning. My father worked on CONSTANTA tea packing machines in the early 70's. They were still in use in the early 90's when he retired.

A quick google check shows these machines still being sold in used but functioning condition. I would guess the ones my father used to work on are probably still being used as well.

Here is a .pdf with a picture of the machines my father used to service. The article says the machines are still being used 50 years after they were introduced.

http://www.grundschule-englisch.de/children/pdf/history_of_teabags.pdf
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1-24-2008 @5:19PM Colin said... Typhoo is simply the best tea. No strings and no staples, of course.
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1-21-2008 @5:27PM Abby said... http://choiceorganicteas.com/index.htm

The regular (I think it's called "Original" on the website) teabags don't use staples. They have knots instead. It's really neat!
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1-21-2008 @7:37PM Alex said... That bugs me, too. If you are going to compost your bags you have to pull the little staples out.
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1-21-2008 @8:46PM The Postindustrialist said... Ouch...

Ummm... ok.

I've use tea bags and almost never have an issue with staples coming undone and leaves floating in my tea. Instead, the few times I had an issue with a bag leaking leaves has been when I've squeezed the bag and it burst, (I no longer do this).

Now, i prefer just loose tea in a porcelain teapot with a strainer built into the spout. I thought you might complain that the staples give the tea a slightly metallic taste, which, if you feel that an itty bitty staple did that, I would definitely steer clear of a metal tea ball.

Also if a tea comes in a bag, it's usually not the greatest tea i find. Of course I'm not a fan of breakfast teas, preferring a nice Jasmine or Earl Grey (loose, where I can see the florals).
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1-22-2008 @1:34AM Brandy Erdmann said... Boo Staples!
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1-26-2008 @9:15AM milkshake said... Have you seen the new plasctic meash "pyramids" that Lipton introduced? (Actually it is tetraheder, heat sealed material that looks like a cheap curtain stuff) It is prety weird but their tea is not much worse for it.
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1-27-2008 @10:28PM The Postindustrialist said... it's a rip-off of Tea Forte. :P

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1-22-2008 @7:42AM skim said... I just cut off the top ends of my tea bags with scissors, and then use a sewing machine and organic, enviro-friendly thread to seal off the bags. I then collect the staples and the bag stubs separately until I can recycle them. That's so much easier than buying tea bags without staples.
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1-22-2008 @9:40AM KittyMau said... Can we file this under "stuff to think about when we have tackled everything else that was actually important"?
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1-22-2008 @12:25PM wynk said... tea snob mode=ON

If you are making tea out of nasty leftover tea chaff you probably aren't too picky about what else is going in your mug.

;)

also skim, lol.

Here's an answer for people who want the convenience of bags but are staple-phobic and need to be saved from their horrible taste in tea:

http://www.mightyleaf.com/

(I usually do loose leaf in a teapot as well, but this is a perfectly acceptable and yummy alternative)
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1-22-2008 @3:02PM jennywenny said... I either use tetley british blend or TJ's irish tea which are proper british style teabags to get a proper strong cup of tea. Tea needs more than a couple of tweaks on a string to get a decent cup.
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1-22-2008 @10:02PM Berkana said... They could use the "staple-free stapler", and it would probably work just as well.
See this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0rWsCU7Wfw

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