How to Make Your Own Tea Bags

Tea is a great drink, and it’s even better when you can make it yourself. While perusing pinterest one day, I came across this post and instantly knew that I wanted to try it. Not only can you save money by producing your own tea and making your own tea bags, but it also allows you to control the ingredients that go into your cup.

We like to use some of the herbs that we grow, but it’s also fun to experiment with different flavors. In this post, I’ll show you how to make your own tea bags. It’s easy, quick, and you can customize the ingredients to suit your taste. Let’s get started!

Why is making your own tea bags more sustainable?

 Making your own tea bags rather than purchasing them is more ecological for many reasons. While you are still using paper products, you are able to source your own. For example, the coffee filters I chose are both unbleached and made with natural materials. I can’t account for what other brands use, but, by making my own, I am ensuring that I am not ingesting toxic or harmful materials. Additionally, the coffee filters I use can go straight into the compost when I am finished with them.

Furthermore, while I don’t grow all my tea, I am fond of using lemon balm and roselle, both of which I grew and dried last fall. By making a few tea bags I have it available whenever I feel like a nice, warm cup.  

Reasons for making your own tea bags…

There are several benefits to making your own tea bags.

– You can use any type and color of tea you want.

– You get how much you want; not how much they decide to give you.

– It’s way cheaper than buying a whole box of store-bought bags

What you need:

Using a coffee filter, string, and loose-leaf tea, you can easily make a tea bag.

You will need:

1. A clean coffee filter

2. 3 strings approximately 8 inches in length

3. Loose leaf tea (of course)

4. Scissors

5. Paper

6. Stapler

Some helpful hints:

– Try finding unbleached coffee filters to avoid the chlorine and other chemicals used in bleaching. This will ensure your tea doesn’t have any unwanted tastes or odors from the filter itself. It is also easily compostable.

– If you do not want to use string, you can just staple the filter. If you are going to add a tag, however, you will need a string to attach it too.

– Do not use paper towels; they do not hold up well when heated and will most likely fall apart.

– If you are using loose leaf tea, do not use “dust” or the smallest particles.

– Add approximately 1 teaspoon of loose leaf per cup desired. Any more than that and it makes it difficult to fold in half. Herbs like Roselle may need to be chopped into smaller pieces to fit better into the tea bag.

Steps:

1. Using a clean coffee filter, flatten it out on a a level surface and cut approximately one inch off each side.

2. Place one teaspoon of loose-leaf tea in the center of the coffee filter.

3. Fold one side over (the long way) and, making sure each corner is lined up with no overlap.  

4. Fold the long side back towards the middle again making small folds. You will do this three different times.  

5. Put the folded seam in the middle.  

6. Fold the coffee filter in half.

7. Cut about a 1/2 an inch off the top; this makes the tea bag more squared.

8. Fold the top two edges inward to create a point.   

9. Braid your thread to make a thicker string. Staple the string to the pointed part of the tea bag which will seal the tea in.

10. To make a tab, cut a small piece of paper, label, and staple to the end of the string.

11. Enjoy!

Tea is a great drink, and it’s even better when you can make it yourself. You can save money and control the ingredients that go into your tea. Plus, it’s fun to experiment with different flavors. Not only is it easy and quick, but you can customize the ingredients to suit your taste.