The teabag celebrates its 100th birthday

London, June 13 : Teabag, the perforated paper sachet that made tea-making a five-second quickie, has turned 100 years old this year.

Teabag, like many inventions, came about by accident. Struggling to cut costs, Thomas Sullivan, a New York coffee merchant who turned to tea, sent out samples in small silk sachets rather than as loose tea.

His penny-pinching was misunderstood by his customers who failed to realise that they were supposed to cut open the sachet and empty its contents into a pot before brewing their tea - an thus the teabag was born.

Today, the invention is used for making 96 per cent of cuppas, reports the Sun.

Tetley's Sara Howe said: "It's hard to imagine what life would be like without them."

ANI