Sir, It was a pity that teabags did not come with instructions in 1990 (report, June 13). While visiting a colleague, my host found the tea-making equipment, but looked in vain for instructions on the teabag. He resorted to holding the corner of the bag between forefinger and thumb and pouring the boiling water over it. Fingers scalded, he dropped the bag into the pot and continued with our meeting.

Alan Dronsfield
Swanwick, Derbyshire

Sir, In 1968 I joined a large office in an engineering company and one of the “perks” was paid overtime for stocktaking, along with a free cup of tea and a small packet of biscuits.

It was custom that the youngest in the office made the tea and dispensed it. I was then even less domesticated than now and I had never seen a teabag. Undaunted, I found the office scissors, opened every teabag, made the tea, poured it and dispensed it to the expectant masses. I was never again asked to make the tea.

Keith Bryan
Wolverhampton

Sir, Your article reminded me of a visit to Malawi in 1974, when I was taken round a tea planation. I was shown the tea going through all the stages, from the arrival of the freshly picked green leaves, through the drying and grading process until finally being packed into tea chests.

I was fascinated to see that the floor of the drying room was regularly swept and all the fallen tea fragments and fine tea dust carefully gathered. I was impressed by the cleanliness, until I was told that the graded tea in the chests went for packaged tea while all the sweepings were collected and used for teabags. I’ve never felt the same about teabags since.

Malcolm Wilkins
Gravesend

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