There's nothing more enjoyable than a delicious cup of tea after a long day. Despite the fact that the tea business and culture is absolutely booming, the traditional design of the tea bag has not changed for many years and it's definitely time to take a more creative approach at the ordinary tea packaging. Here's where the Japanese company, Ocean Teabag, comes into the picture with their adorable tea bags that will definitely make you crave for a cup of tea.
More info: Ocean Teabag
The brand Ocean Teabag has teamed up with an oddity shop as well as a bookstore, Village Vanguard, to create a series of animal-themed teabags.
These original tea bags include jellyfish, octopus, isopods and even a few land animals such as tanuki.
Once added to the cup, the tea bags make it look like a creature is swimming in your tea. Now that's something definitely worth capturing for your Instagram.
Tea bags cost 1,820 yen which is around $16. In an interview with Bored Panda, creators of the company told us that the company started 3 years ago and their first design was a dolphin tea bag that later grew into more unique designs. Currently, the team consists of 10 people, but it seems with the popularity they are gaining, they might need to grow soon.
The squid-shaped tea bag is filled with black Pu'er tea that was inspired by squid ink and it also has a sweet persimmon flavor added as well. Meanwhile, the octopus tea bag is filled with Keemun tea.
Even though the octopus and squid-shaped tea is the most popular amongst buyers, there are also other adorable options such as a penguin-shaped tea bag that is filled with Chamomile tea.
The Ocean Teabags team also shared with Bored Panda that they are planning to grow by creating moving as well as glowing tea bags in the future. Now, there are more than 50 types of unique tea bags in their online shop.
When it comes to the tea tradition, the records state that tea was first served in Japan by Emperor Shomu in the year 729 during a very special Buddhist ceremony.
At first, tea was associated with Japanese nobility and was regarded as a type of medicine. However, after the tea ceremony was invented at the end of the 16th century, tea eventually became something drunk by both nobles and commoners alike. In 1859, tea finally became something to be used every single day and not only on rare occasions. (Not so) fun fact: tea leaves in Japan used to be tediously hand-rolled until the 19th century. It was boring work that seriously restricted tea production. However, things eventually changed for the better with technological improvements.
Tea in Japan is massively consumed due to its health benefits. Unfortunately, Japanese tea production is at an all-time low, meaning the next time you want to have a taste of delicious Japanese tea, you might just have to travel to the Land of the Rising Sun.