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    "id": 1070317,
    "title": "Why do tea bags split and leak leaf into the cup?",
    "slug": "why-tea-bags-split-and-leak",
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    "url": "https://teas.co.uk/wiki/why-tea-bags-split-and-leak/",
    "modified": "2026-09-18T00:45:37+01:00",
    "excerpt": "Bits in your tea usually come from fine leaf dust, a split seam or a squeezed bag. Here is how to tell which, and how to stop it happening again.",
    "content_text": "There are five usual reasons, and you can normally tell them apart by looking at the bag after you lift it out.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nWhat you find\r\nWhat happened\r\nWhat to do\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nA cloud of fine sediment, bag intact\r\nSmall tea particles through the paper\r\nNormal. Pour gently or use a strainer\r\n\r\n\r\nA clean open seam\r\nThe glue or crimp failed\r\nKeep the batch code and tell the seller\r\n\r\n\r\nA ragged tear near the middle\r\nSqueezed or pressed against the mug\r\nLift it out with a spoon instead\r\n\r\n\r\nA bag that fell apart in the water\r\nOld or damp bags, weakened paper\r\nStore dry and sealed; check the date\r\n\r\n\r\nLeaf through a mesh pyramid\r\nFine grades in a wide-mesh bag\r\nA different bag format suits it better\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nFine sediment is normal\r\nTea bag paper has to let water through quickly, so it is porous. The smaller grades used in most everyday bags \u2014 fannings and dust \u2014 include particles fine enough to pass straight through. That is why a strong builder's brew often leaves a silt at the bottom of the mug and a pale ring on the china.\r\nIt is not a fault, and it is not a sign of cheap rubbish either: fannings brew fast and strong, which is exactly what a British mug of tea needs. Our guide to fannings and dust explains the grades.\r\nIf the sediment bothers you, pour slowly and leave the last centimetre in the pot, or brew loose leaf through a strainer.\r\nSqueezing is the main cause of tears\r\nThe most common self-inflicted problem is pressing the bag against the side of the mug with a spoon and then dragging it up the wall of the cup. Wet paper is weak, the crimp is the weakest line, and it splits.\r\nA gentler routine:\r\n\r\nLet the bag drain in the spoon rather than crushing it.\r\nLift it with a spoon under the bag, not by the string.\r\nNever wind the string round the spoon and squeeze: that is the classic way to burst a bag.\r\nTake it out before you add milk, so you are not fishing in a pale mug.\r\n\r\nSqueezing hard also pushes more tannin into the cup and makes the tea harsh, so there is a flavour reason too.\r\nSeam failures and damaged boxes\r\nA clean split along a sealed edge, on an unused bag, is a manufacturing fault. So is a box where the bags arrive already leaking.\r\nIf it happens across a whole box:\r\n\r\nStop using that box.\r\nKeep the packaging, the batch or lot code and the best-before date.\r\nPhotograph an unused bag showing the fault.\r\nContact the retailer or the manufacturer with those details.\r\n\r\nOne burst bag out of eighty is bad luck. Several from one box is worth reporting.\r\nStorage matters more than people think\r\nDamp softens paper, and heat and steam near the kettle are the worst places to keep a box. Keep tea sealed, cool and dry \u2014 a cupboard away from the hob, not the shelf above the kettle. Old bags that have been open for a year go brittle as well as stale.\r\nIf it keeps happening, change the format\r\nWhole-leaf bags such as Teapigs Everyday Brew use larger pieces and a roomier bag, so there is less dust to escape. Loose leaf removes the bag from the equation altogether: Yorkshire Tea Original Loose Leaf with a basket infuser or a pot and strainer gives you a clean cup and no seams to split. See loose leaf vs tea bags for the wider comparison.\r\nCommon questions\r\nIs it safe to drink tea with leaf in it?\r\nLoose bits of tea leaf are harmless \u2014 that is what loose leaf tea is. If the cup contains anything you cannot identify as tea, do not drink it and contact the seller.\r\nDoes sediment mean the bag has split?\r\nNot on its own. Look at the bag: fine sediment with an intact bag is normal.\r\nAre pyramid bags less likely to leak?\r\nThey give the leaf more room, but the mesh is what matters. Fine grades in a wide mesh will still shed.\r\nWhy does my tea have bits when my friend's doesn't?\r\nDifferent grades, different brewing strength and different handling. A hard squeeze creates far more sediment than a gentle lift.",
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