What Goes into the Perfect Drinking Straw?

What goes into the perfect drinking straw? The answer is paper. That is not the answer anyone would have given ten years ago. Even recently, you may have used a paper drinking straw and thought, “Gee, this straw is terrible, but at least I’m not hurting the environment.” Unfortunately, the market is full of cheap paper straws.

Cheap straws become soggy and sloppy and taste like paper pulp. The creators of BOSS straw love paper, and they also happen to enjoy beverages with straws. Guided by their passion and knowledge of paper, they sought to defend paper’s reputation, create a great straw, and help the planet.

Making straws from paper takes more than rolling paper into a tube. Paper is porous, and there are various fiber qualities, binding, and many other factors to consider. The BOSS straw creators were confident they could solve these challenges and create a quality drinking straw.

Here were their conditions for research and development:

  1. Clean, food-grade manufacturing
  2. Strength to last 24 hours in soda
  3. Resists spilling with carbonated beverages
  4. Taste-free in water, tea, or any beverage
  5. Eco-friendly, biodegradable, and 100% recyclable

Clean, Food Grade Manufacturing

BOSS straws are made in the USA in the Enviro Sip Straw plant in Illinois, supervised by the BOSS in a clean environment. Paper is porous, so they needed a fully automated production line from forming and coating to cutting and wrapping.  The BOSS also added a couple of proprietary steps in the process that would make all the difference. Of course, all binding, coating, and materials had to be food-grade and eco-friendly.

Strength to Last 24 Hours in Soda

Surviving in soda was critical. Every soda contains carbonic acid created by the combination of water, carbon dioxide, and pressure. But that’s not all. Fruity sodas can contain citric acid, and many sodas contain phosphoric acid for a sharper taste and as a preservative. These acids wreak havoc on paper. The BOSS straw needed to endure 24 hours of battle.

Resists Spilling Over with Carbonated Drinks

Carbonated drinks also climb up regular paper straws. The upward bubbling, combined with viscosity and porous paper, causes carbonated liquids to climb up cheap paper straws. Plastic straws easily resist this problem because they are too slick. The BOSS straw needed to keep this mess from happening.

Taste-Free in Water, Tea, or Any Drink

There is nothing worse than drinking a delicate iced tea and mainly tasting paper. Okay, a bug live or dead in your drink would be worse. But you didn’t want a paper-pulp-infused iced tea. You ordered a pomegranate-infused black tea that cost you five dollars, and you didn’t want it to taste like a college-ruled notebook. The BOSS straw needed to be tasteless in a refined way.

Eco-Friendly, Biodegradable, and 100% Recyclable

Paper has been given a bad rap for a long time. However, you will not find a giant floating island of paper in the middle of an ocean. It isn’t collecting in a river delta or caught in an animal’s throat. Paper goes away, and when BOSS straws go away, they leave nothing unwanted behind. The paper pulp is sourced sustainably, and all binding and materials are food-grade, safe for consumption, soil, and waterways.

The Best Straw

The resulting straw wasn’t just the best paper straw, but the best straw. The straw was named BOSS straw because it is the boss. It features all the benefits of plastic straws while being safe for the environment and economical to produce.

Contact us for samples or to place your first order.