Quality & Grades
A small porous sachet of tea, invented by accident in New York in 1908.
Thomas Sullivan sent customers samples in silk pouches. They dunked the whole pouch instead of opening it — and a US$10-billion industry was born. Most tea bags use fannings or dust because they extract quickly; specialty pyramid bags use whole leaf.
From the Journal
In 2737 BCE, a few wild leaves drifted into a Chinese emperor's pot of boiling water. The world's most-consumed beverage began with an accident.
by Sameera
How a Chinese leaf became Japan's ceremony, Britain's empire, India's economy, and a half-billion daily cups across nine time zones.
by Sameera
On a December night in 1773, men dressed as Mohawk warriors threw 92,000 pounds of tea into Boston Harbor. The drink itself was almost incidental.
by Sameera
Opium wars, Indian plantations, and a 250-year monopoly. The story of how a single corporation turned tea from a Chinese curiosity into a global commodity.
by Sameera
Long before container ships, tea bricks crossed deserts on camel-back. The 1,500-year story of tea's first journey out of China.
by Sameera
Britain's appetite for Chinese tea created a catastrophic trade deficit. The 'solution' was opium — and two wars that broke a civilisation.
by Sameera
The Tea List dispatch
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