One of the most common statements I hear about tea bags is that they contain dust and sweepings from the floor; this is indeed true, but not in the way that you may think ! At the end of the manufacturing process, there is a jumble of different leaf particles that need to be sorted so that equal shapes and sizes are grouped together.

This is literally done using big sieving machines whereby the largest particles are syphoned off at the top and the smallest fall through the smaller mesh at the bottom (For fine quality teas this may be partially done by hand - as you see on the left).

The leaf grades of equal size/shape are then packed together and sold separately in the open market.

There is a very comprehensive grading system used within the tea trade and the smallest of these are known as ‘dusts’ - these grades literally look like dust as the particles are so small and it is typically these grades that are used in tea bags. Continue Reading »