ETS Drawstring Tea Filters pack of 100

ETS Drawstring Tea Filters, Large Funnel pack of 100 by English Tea StoreThis particular model is described as the ETS Drawstring Tea Filters - Pack of 100 (Large Funnel). The "Large Funnel" (3 1/4" at the mouth) is important as it permits the sacs to be filled easily using a teaspoon, almost all other tea sacs appear much smaller at the mouth.After reading reviews about how easily the drawstrings rip out, I was apprehensive but bought anyway. I LOVE THEM! At first, I went easy on them. They closed very snugly with a simple pull that did require a little effort, but closed tightly, and did not try to come open during brewing, and I like to bounce my tea bags up and down a little as they brew. When I began writing this review, I decided to see just how easy it was to tear the strings out when closing the bags. I was very surprised. I couldn't tear the bags. I wrapped the strings around my hand and applied so much pressure the strings hurt my fingers, opened the bag and repeated. Not only could I not rip the strings out, as previously reported, the bags opened and closed tightly repeatedly. Perhaps they have corrected some problems that they had before, or, there are numerous manufacturers and I just got the good ones.The bags I ordered were described as being 3 inches by 4 inches. The ones that I received measured just under 3 1/4" at the top, 3 1/4" tall and a little under 2 1/2" at the bottom or 75mm at the top, 75mm tall and 60mm at the base.This is perfect for brewing single cups of tea or a small pot (now my cup is 14 ounces, and for this I use 2 rounded teaspoons of tea). The bag holds a maximum of 2 lightly rounded Tablespoons (not teaspoons) and will close with no room left and no room for the leaves to expand. I like to think that these are perfect for single cups or small pots, but for larger pots, you would probably want to go to a larger bag size.I've used mesh pincer style single cup tea balls with handles, those worked very but you still had to rinse them out. The T-Sac worked well, easily disposable. T-Sac Number 2 measures a little over 4 1/4" or 110mm tall (not counting the flap) by 3" or 75mm wide and holds 2 Tablespoons and 2 teaspoons maximum (to the point you have to staple it closed, too full to fold) so I personally consider them equivalent. T-sac describes their #2 as for a 4 Cup pot.The T-Sac was a quality product as well, but folding the top never created a secure feeling to me, and the idea of having a staple in my tea never affected the flavor, I just didn't like the idea. Your mileage may vary. I should mention that T-Sac shows the sac sitting in the teapot being held in place by the flap extending outside the pot and held in place by the lid. Doesn't seem real secure to me, that's what I like about this drawstring bag, it's tight.I enjoy a variety flavored, naturally flavored and unflavored loose teas from CulinaryTeas dot com. I mention this not as a plug for them, so much as a resource for the readers. These drawstring bags make loose teas a pleasure to use. Enjoy!

These bags are much easier to use than ones (without drawstring) that I have purchased in the past. I pre-filled a lot of them, so when I am ready for tea I can just drop one in my cup and steep. I love that I no longer have to worry about bits of what I am trying to filter leaking out. These are especially helpful since I am brewing a combination of lemon juice, fresh ginger, honey, and fennel -- which normally take a lot longer to measure and prepare than regular loose leaf tea! I prepare and freeze each of the components in advance, and then combine them in these bags so they are ready to go.The only drawback is that the filter paper is a little thicker than I'd like, so I have to steep them longer than I did without a filter, to get the same strength of drink. (I was already freezing the ingredients together before the filters arrived, so it's not just the cold that is slowing it down). The original steep time was already 20 minutes, so this is a bit inconvenient -- but it is definitely worth the convenience of no longer having to remove the fennel and ginger bits after I'm done steeping the tea! For regular loose-leaf tea, I imagine it would still slow down steeping time, but since it normally only needs to steep for a couple of minutes, it wouldn't add much to the total time.I hope to find a way to solve the slowness problem (I plan to try partially steeping the ingredients before I freeze them, like parboiling rice). If I am able to make something like that work, then I definitely plan to purchase these again in the future!

I'm not sure if this review has more to do with the seller or the manufacturer of product. I'm sure the teabags would work well. My problem was the actual packaging of the item. It was not what you would expect from a professionally manufactured product. It was obvious the teabags had simply been put into a flimsy little white box and a very generic label put on the front of the box. The box wasn't sealed in any way, not even taped closed. It was mailed in a thin plastic envelope. When I opened the envelope, the box containing the teabags was open at both ends and the teabags were partially out of the box. It was all unsanitary and certainly nothing I wanted to use to prepare something I was going to drink. In all fairness to the seller, I did not contact them because I didn't want to fool around with returning an inexpensive item for a replacement of the same thing. And the seller was certainly aware of how poorly the bags were packaged. I didn't like the idea of how many hands may have handled the teabags and how sanitary or unsanitary the conditions were. Also since they were partially out of the box, they came in contact with the inside of the envelope. They simply were not packaged in a way that I would expect out of any food products OR food related products like these tea bags. Very unacceptable to me. I still gave it 2 stars simply because the bags looked like they would work ok for the purpose intended. And I am sure there are people that wouldn't mind how they were packaged, but for me.....I threw it all out into the garbage. Just not worth the hassle for a few dollars.