I find it much worse to be sent tea bags without asking. Yes, it says in my profile that I drink black tea, but I do not wish to receive any herbal tea blends from all over the world (do they want to convince me to give up black tea?). In any case, I have already disposed dozens of tea bags sent to me in the trash. I’m also a little suspicious of whether there is really only tea in the bags. Some packaging has exotic prints and the font is different from Latin letters.
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I think the way you write liking to have a cup of tea, maybe someone who doesn’t understand well enough, or reads in a hurry, thinks you like to get the tea too?
Maybe they send it to you, so that you can look/smell what tea they like, and don’t think you will drink it. But if it really annoys you, maybe add to your profile to please not send any other things than a postcard or please don’t send any tea and/or herbal drinks.
(Yes, I see you have please no envelopes, but some still prefer to send the card in an envelope, and they might think with the same postage (perhaps) they can add the tea.)
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Earlier this week, I removed from my profile the sentence about liking tea. Hopefully, I won’t receive any more tea bags, and so won’t need to throw any more away.
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I sometimes get sent tea bags as well without even mentioning tea in my profile. As a matter of fact, I don’t like tea at all so it’s a total waste sending me these - quite apart from the fact I really don’t like envelopes. I don’t understand it, but I’m sure people mean well and it never occurred to me someone might be out to poison me … 
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I like tea and have a cup for breakfast every day. I dont ask for it in my proflile but i like to receve the tea bags not to drink because i live in a country where we can find all sorts - local and foreign - but for the diferent type of bags written in diferent languages. I participanted in the tea tag several times just for the pleasure of saving them in a tea box 
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I drank the tea from tea and a chat tag and it was great!! Ice wine tea and maple syrup 
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@S_Tuulia thanks for sharing that people fold tea bag envelopes into art. I’ve never heard about this.
Have you received one?
How did you hear about it?
@geo_ I’ve never heard tea from UK can’t be sent. Although make sure you use a CN22 declaration label if sending anything that’s not a letter using Royal Mail.
Was the tea you sent to Japan, destroyed by customs or mail returned to you?
After reading this thread I’ll literally ask people if they want to receive tea (in tags). I hate wasting good food, I always have in mind production chain. I can understand that for many people it’s an safety issue and it’s a valid reason, so I think it’s the best solution.
I can only assure all forum members that I never had any bad intentions. Now I hope that at least one person really enjoyed some Swedish tea.
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@Tigermouse thanks for your curiosity about teabags being sent.
I had no idea postcrossers would take offence on receiving a teabag if not requested.
Since I enjoy drinking tea, I use to send Jasmine teabags to Postcrossers as a gift. Since sending from Hong Kong, it wasn’t an extra cost than sending just a postcard. I use to send origami too.
Now I only send a teabag if it is written in the profile. As sending from the UK is more expensive outside Europe.
I’ve had interesting teas sent to me, which I’ve listed at the bottom of my profile.
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@seaview It’s on the Royal Mail website here that you’re not to send tea to Japan. Scroll down to the ‘Can I send it to Japan?’ section and expand ‘Food & Drink’.
I didn’t send it in the end because I would have had to have written ‘tea’ on the CN22 form and then sign to say it does not contain anything prohibited/restricted by postal or customs regulatons - which is then contradictory.
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Oh yes! I never tasted Swedish tea - but I’m sure I’ll love it.
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Sorry! You wrote your last sentence in past tense and not in present tense.
@geo_ I had no idea. Thanks the insight.
I sent tea to a penpal in Japan. But it is rare to get a postcrosser from Japan to request a tea bag.
Hope your mail got to Japan swiftly
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I just looked at your profile and yeah, it seems that you really like tea.
Did you ever felt uncomfortable trying a tea you got? And did you like all the flavors?
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@itslovelyhoneymoon thanks for checking my profile of listed teabags received and tried🤭
To answer your question, I am not afriad to try the teas received. It never occured to me that it would be a risk. When I read the message and see the postcrosser has selected stamps for me and made the effort to send it in an envelope, it seems I can only react with gratitude for their efforts.
That’s how I now have a teabag Postcrosser penpal as we both like tea. Her profile name is @teamug and she is even more inti tea than me! Every mail I receive has a teabag and tea theme poem! It’s amazing.
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I have received some through swaps (also made from other paper than tea bag wrapper), but I don’t know/remember how I heard about it.
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I’m from Brazil and I receive tea bags all the time. I also have sent tea to Japan before and never had a problem.
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Yes, the items that one isn’t allowed to send differ in each country, and depends on the destination.
I can send tea to Japan too.
And from UK you can send tea to Finland. But not to Japan.
There must some reason, like UK and Japan both being big tea countries? Some foreign insect eggs might be there 
(but it would make no sense, since it could be in tea from anywhere)?
But I wouldn’t send if it’s prohibited.
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I really enjoy receiving tea from all over the world. The flavors are different and it’s a way of traveling these days without the hassle.
That said, I haven’t been able to trade with others as much as I’d like. The tea tags are not as active as some others and I haven’t found too many people who are keen to trade 1:1. If any of you are in that boat, feel free to message me!
Thanks! 