Tea bag

A tea bag is a small, porous sealed bag containing tea leaves and used with water for brewing the beverage called tea, or herbs or spices for brewing herbal teas (also known as "tisane"). Tea bags are commonly made of filter paper, silk or food grade plastic. The bag contains the tea leaves while the tea is steeped, making it easier to dispose of the leaves, and performs the same function as a tea infuser. Some tea bags have an attached piece of string with a paper label at the top that assists in removing the bag while also displaying the brand and/or variety of tea.

In countries where the use of loose tea leaves is more prevalent, the term tea bag is commonly used to describe paper or foil packaging for loose leaves. They are usually square or rectangular envelopes with the brand name, flavour and decorative patterns printed on them.

History

In China, during the Tang Dynasty (618–907), paper was folded and sewn into square bags to preserve the flavor of tea.

The first tea bags were hand-sewn fabric bags; tea bag patents date as early as 1903. First appearing commercially around 1904, tea bags were successfully marketed by the tea and coffee shop merchant Thomas Sullivan from New York, who shipped his tea bags around the world. The loose tea was intended to be removed from the sample bags by customers, but they found it easier to brew the tea with the tea still enclosed in the porous bags. Modern tea bags are usually made of paper fibre. The heat-sealed paper fiber tea bag was invented by William Hermanson, one of the founders of Technical Papers Corporation of Boston. Hermanson sold his patent to the Salada Tea Company in 1930.

Tea

Tea is an aromatic beverage commonly prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub native to Asia. After water, it is the most widely consumed drink in the world. There are many different types of tea; some teas, like Darjeeling and Chinese greens, have a cooling, slightly bitter, and astringent flavour, while others have vastly different profiles that include sweet, nutty, floral or grassy notes.

Tea originated in southwestern China, where it was used as a medicinal drink. It was popularized as a recreational drink during the Chinese Tang dynasty, and tea drinking spread to other East Asian countries. Portuguese priests and merchants introduced it to the West during the 16th century. During the 17th century, drinking tea became fashionable among Britons, who started large-scale production and commercialization of the plant in India to bypass a Chinese monopoly at that time.

The phrase herbal tea usually refers to infusions of fruit or herbs made without the tea plant, such as steeps of rosehip, chamomile, or rooibos. These are also known as tisanes or herbal infusions to distinguish them from "tea" as it is commonly construed.

The Nutcracker

The Nutcracker (Russian: Щелкунчик, Балет-феерия / Shchelkunchik, Balet-feyeriya; French: Casse-Noisette, ballet-féerie) is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (op. 71). The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg on Sunday, December 18, 1892, on a double-bill with Tchaikovsky's opera Iolanta.

Although the original production was not a success, the 20-minute suite that Tchaikovsky extracted from the ballet was. However, the complete Nutcracker has enjoyed enormous popularity since the late 1960s, and is now performed by countless ballet companies, primarily during the Christmas season, especially in North America. Major American ballet companies generate around 40 percent of their annual ticket revenues from performances of The Nutcracker.

Tchaikovsky's score has become one of his most famous compositions, in particular the pieces featured in the suite. Among other things, the score is noted for its use of the celesta, an instrument that the composer had already employed in his much lesser known symphonic ballad The Voyevoda.

Tea, South Dakota

Tea is a city in Lincoln County, South Dakota, United States and is a suburb of Sioux Falls. The population was 3,806 at the 2010 census.

Tea was laid out in 1894.

Geography

Tea is located at 43°26′53″N 96°50′15″W / 43.44806°N 96.83750°W / 43.44806; -96.83750 (43.448055, -96.837587).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.69 square miles (4.38 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 3,806 people, 1,254 households, and 1,009 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,252.1 inhabitants per square mile (869.5/km²). There were 1,354 housing units at an average density of 801.2 per square mile (309.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.9% White, 0.7% African American, 0.1% Native American, 0.1% Asian, 0.3% from other races, and 1.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.3% of the population.

There were 1,254 households of which 59.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.2% were married couples living together, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 19.5% were non-families. 14.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 2.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.04 and the average family size was 3.35.