TEAING UP BAG FACTS
15 FUN FACTS ABOUT A SPECIAL BREW
★ ENJOY a cuppa? Yesterday we revealed that some cash-strapped Brits are hanging their teabags on their washing lines so they can use them again and again.
But how much do you know about the humble bundle that helps deliver your daily pick-me-up?
★ Here JAMES MOORE has brewed up some brilliant titbits of teabag trivia…
1 They were invented by accident in 1908. American tea importer Thomas Sullivan started sending out his samples in silk pouches. When customers began using them as a handy way to brew their tea, he marketed them that way, eventually realising that gauze infused the tea better than silk.
2 Two women, also from the US, Roberta Lawson and Mary McLaren, had patented a fabric tea holder in 1903, but it didn’t take off.
3 Paper fibre teabags were first created in 1930 by American William Hermanson. Teabags became rectangular in 1944.
4 Tea was rationed in the UK. Teabags weren’t introduced here until 1953, by Tetley.
5 Brits use an average of four a day, 1,460 a year.
6 An English Heritage poll found we rate the teabag among history’s top 10 inventions.
7 TV star Michelle Keegan always packs Yorkshire Tea’s teabags when travelling. The firm reckons you need to let your teabag brew in a mug of boiled water for 4-5 minutes, putting in the milk afterwards.
8 They also advise gently squidging the teabag against the side of the mug.
9 PG Tips have used chimps in their ads since 1956, including 1971’s Mr Shifter, a father and son removal team. Johnny Vegas and his Monkey sock puppet have also advertised the brand.
10 The average teabag contains 2,000 perforations and 3g of tea. The furthest distance to throw one into a mug is over 32ft, achieved by Aussie Oscar Lynagh in 2023.
11 You can use cooled teabags to ease the pains from insect bites or on your eyes to reduce puffiness thanks to tea’s tannins.
12 T-Bag was a 1980s ITV kids show about a witch who got magical powers from tea, while in Monty Python’s Ministry Of Silly Walks sketch, John Cleese’s civil servant was called Mr Teabag.
13 Three used teabags on a radiator formed part of a work exhibited at a London gallery in 2017.
14 US First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt quipped: “A woman is like a tea bag: You never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water.”
15 Claudia Winkleman once used teabags to get her fake tan look.