Teabag - Neutral packaging
Tea tastes sticky, musty or of glue. Attempts to package tea in small bags ready for brewing in the early 20th century were a real affront to the taste buds of true tea connoisseurs. The unpleasant flavour of the tea was a result of the materials used to make the tea bags – small gauze sachets and glued paper bags. Adolf Rambold, a young engineer, was keen to eliminate the nasty aftertaste. During the course of his experiments, he came across two raw materials which satisfied his requirements – Manila hemp and thermoplastic fibres which allowed the bags to be sealed. He used strips of material 15 cm in length to make tubes which he cleverly folded to form bags which could be sealed using a clip. The new dual-chamber system was able to convince even the most sensitive tea drinkers: the full flavour of the tea is released and there is no unpleasant aftertaste to spoil the enjoyment.
Significance: the convenient dual-chamber bag caused a sensation, and today 220 billion bags are used worldwide every year.
Invented by: Adolf Rambold
In: 1929
