A lot of people find tea leaves quite annoying, but there's still not much choice available when it comes to the tea bag.
I propose the tea bag roll. You go in to your loose-leaf tea shop, choose your mix, then the assistant puts the mix into the tea bag roll (sausage style) and heat seals the individual pockets to make tea bags.
All the fun of choosing your own tea, with the practicality of the bag.-- neilp, Jan 14 2007 Tea bagging machine http://www.telesoniconline.com/teabag.htmIt's industrial strength. We need the home-use version. [Canuck, Jan 14 2007] DIY tea bags http://www.jollygoo...etTSacs_Filters.htm [jutta, Jan 15 2007] leaves shoots & drinks.-- po, Jan 14 2007 FTGFOP bags.-- wagster, Jan 14 2007 I've awarded this idea a croissant, pre-bagged for your convenience, of course, not just for the simple elegance of creating one's own personal blend of custom tea in a bag, but for a specific side benefit - custom-sized bags for greater or lesser yields. Now I can have a small amount for a single cup, or a larger bag for a full pot.
And when the Bag-O-Tea machines become commonplace nearly every household will have one, kind of like the home espresso machine boom that started in the 90s. <soon to be overheard at a restaurant: Oh, yes, the wedding's just a month away now. We're registered at Murchie's. There's a lovely British-made stainless steel Bag-O-Tea we'd just love to get...>
I just hope the machine gets a lot smaller than the one in the link!-- Canuck, Jan 14 2007 And as we have found out, a bun from [Canuck] is worth ten from me!-- wagster, Jan 14 2007 Yes! Now if only I could find a loose-leaf tea shop...-- flynn, Jan 14 2007 [flynn], I saw that too and wondered if they would also sell 3-ring binders to keep your different teas organized.
[wags], I'm not worthy. What it comes down to is I'm just too damn lazy to vote most of the time.-- Canuck, Jan 14 2007 This is like how you used to be able to (perhaps you still can - I don't know) have a proper tobacconist mix up your special blend and make it up into cigarettes - e.g. James Bond smoked specially made cigarettes from Morlands of Grovenor Street - a Macedonian blend with three gold rings around one end. In this example, I particularly like the three gold rings and I hope the bespoke teabag service will allow similarly classy identifying features on your own special teabag blend.-- hippo, Jan 14 2007 Why, I've just this moment sent off an application for Letters Patent to the College of Arms as well as the Canadian Heraldic Authority for my own personal Family Tea Bag Crest, which I will then have cast into a pure silver embossing die for that very purpose.-- Canuck, Jan 15 2007 "Ah, yes. Sir, I see you come from a long line of teabaggers." [cue porn soundtrack]
Great idea, and would go well with the current trend of posh little tea stores. But somehow I don't think the tea bag roll is dignified enough - I want them cut and placed next to each other in a little cardboard box. Doing that at the point of sale would definitely catch on. Maybe something involving lock-stiching?-- jutta, Jan 15 2007 My mom's serger cuts the excess fabric just before it overlocks the edge. The bands of the welding caps she used to make would be sewn and cut at the same time from a long tube of fabric.-- nomocrow, Jan 15 2007 random, halfbakery