Reddit Can't Decide Whether This Tea Bag Is Oddly Satisfying Or Terrifying

Tea has been around forever. According to Your Best Digs, people have been drinking what Ted Lasso refers to as "hot brown water" since 2700 BC. And even though American colonists dumped a bunch of this brew into the Boston Harbor in 1773 in protest, someone in the United States must really like the stuff because the blog also notes that in 2018, Americans guzzled 3.8 billion gallons of tea. In fact, Statista revealed that tea is not just a popular drink; it is, perhaps, the most popular drink in the world after water. And with so many varieties – over 3,000 per Stash Tea Company – you are bound to find one that pleases your palate, be it oolong, black or green tea, herbal, or even white tea.

But tea bags are not quite as old as the tea inside them. Tea bags are actually an American invention that made their debut in 1908, but more out of happenstance. The U.K. Tea & Infusions Association explains that an American named Thomas Sullivan had sent samples of his teas in little bags to potential clients. Some recipients thought that you were supposed to steep the bag filled with tea in a pot of hot water. At first glance, tea bags appear to be a pretty cool invention – that is, until you take a closer look at them, and we mean that literally. Unfortunately for members of Reddit, it's hard to unsee what emerges.

Someone on Reddit decided to get up close and personal with tea bags, and it is strangely hypnotic. Yet, at the same time, tea drinkers should beware because you might not be able to look away once you start the video which is just 28 seconds long and has received around 9,000 reactions. As the camera zooms in, frame after frame, the viewer sees the spiderweb-like structure of the tea bag itself before getting a microscopic view of the tea itself. 

The images are both stunning and a little repulsive. One Redditor noted, "Yep until the threads in the bag, I was like, hey this is cool. And then you enter a dark hole and someone turns on the light ???" Others likened the close-up images of the tea leaves to "salted bacon" and "imitation crab meat." It caused one participant to write, "I love tea but i may never drink it again after this oddly quiet and disturbing experience." Still others on the Reddit board revealed that they were certain this video was going to end in a Rickroll. Strangely, we were getting those vibes too!