I am a veteran Philadelphia high school English teacher and debate coach who has been a tea drinker for most of my life. This past summer, after being annoyed by having nowhere to put my used teabag while driving in the car, I came up with a unique idea called the "teatrap". It is a disposable receptacle that attaches right to the outside of a cup where one can save their teabag for reuse or simply later disposal. In the matter of 3-4 months, I opened up an LLC (The Catcher in the Tea), filed for a patent pending, and ordered the supplies for my first 20,000 teatraps and put them together (with the help of friends and family), set up a website, and attended a Coffee and Tea Festival and local flea market where I sold a bunch!

Now I need to enter the second phase of the "TEATRAP"s! I really want to push the product and get it out. There are a few next steps I would like to take and that is where you come in!

1) My plan is to make a silicone non-disposable product (one that could be attached to a non-disposable cup for daily use). A lot of people also gave feedback that they would be interested in this product. 

2) I want to finish the patent, because "patent pending" is only temporary (provisional) and lasts one year from, filing (which runs out in September 2018).  Having a patent opens up many doors for me when it comes to my product and its distribution, and ultimately, it protects my ideas!

So, here's where you come in! I have hustled the last few months getting this product off the ground, and have been successful so far! The response of tea-drinkers has been amazing, and I am hoping that come the spring, I have my silicone non-disposable teatraps manufactured, and have my patent moving along towards completion.  Once all that is done, I plan on going for it and actually applying to "Shark Tank" AND pitching the teatrap as a more environmentally-friendly way to serve take-out tea.


I am psyched for this next phase of my invention, and hope you are, too! It's been an exciting ride so far, and I hope to take this venture much, much further!

As always, 10% of profits go towards ASAP, bringing after-school programs to students in Philadelphia!

Also, anyone who donates will receive teatraps as a gift!