Pyramid teabag is one of those things that we’ve been seeing more and more these few years. Many companies now make them, including I think Lipton, according to an article from, I think, the New York Times a while back. The theory behind them is that pyramid bags, by virtue of their shape, allows for more room for the leaves to be in. They also allow for the tea manufacturer to put whole leaves in them, rather than the fannings that you usually see in regular bags. This, supposedly, will yield a better cup and, of course, be more expensive.
But is it?
I had one today, made by Tea Forte. It was an English breakfast tea, which tasted like your typical Ceylon blend. By the end of the tea…. the bag was filled with the expanded leaves. I am not sure if it really achieved the goal of allowing for more room for the tea to move around.
Also, the amount of tea initially that was available was really tiny…. maybe 2g of tea? It’s quite expensive for what it is….
It might not be much more than a gimmick 🙁
3 responses so far ↓
sjschen // April 2, 2007 at 6:18 am |
Well, if you wish to market to mindless yuppies, style over substance is always a good bet.
eanglin // April 4, 2007 at 1:12 pm |
I have some Jasmine Pearls in Pyramid teabags packed by Harney and sons.
When stteped in the bag, it’s a nice enough tea, but the pears open up to fill the bag completely with little room for the leaves to unfurl.
On impulse, I ripped open the bag and dumped the leaves into my cup for a second infusion. The leaves are lovely little pairs of leaves and tightly furled buds- top quality. They *Bloomed* when I poured on the water, and the second infusion was far far better than the first.
I think the pyramids are an improvement, but they don’t allow the leaves nearly enough room. Putting those Jasmine pearls into that pyramid did them no favors.
MarshalN // April 4, 2007 at 6:13 pm |
Yeah, I think that’s a real problem — the size of the pyramids are usually too small for the amount of tea in there, and so all you really get is the same problem. In some ways, I wonder if it’s even worse, because now they put some teas that really expand, like those jasmine pearls, into these bags and give them no room to move at all.