Maybe the pharaohs had it right after all. Pyramids are a superior shape.

That’s if you’re talking about tea bags, mind you. And if you take Unilever’s word for it. For the fmcg giant has performed tests that show its pyramid-shaped tea bag (invented in 1996) has “significantly greater brewing efficiency” than a round tea bag over the course of two minutes and 40 seconds – which is the length of the average brew (rather than the office tea-round standard of 30 seconds and a few stabs with a spoon to get the colour out).

Unilever also “measured the volume of space available for tea to move around in a round teabag and in a pyramid teabag”. It said that, “in terms of volume, the pyramid teabag had 77% more room to move”. Mathematical modelling put the figure even higher, at 99%.

Why all this fuss over round tea bags versus pyramid? Well, Unilever was defending one of its PG Tips adverts starring Johnny Vegas, which had made claims about the efficacy of the pointed shape over the circular. This was challenged by Tata Global Beverages, owner of Tetley, in a complaint to the ASA. This morning, the ASA took Unilever’s side and rejected the complaint.

“We’re thrilled that the ASA have agreed with what PG Tips fans have known for years: pyramid bags really do make the best cup of tea,” declared a PG Tips spokeswoman.

Tata also claimed the offending ad denigrated Tetley because round tea bags were associated with that brand and the advert could be seen as portraying it in a negative light – even though no Tetley branding was visible. Unilever flatly denied this charge and the ASA agreed: “We understood that several brands of teabags on the market were round in shape. While a large portion of round teabags were owned by Tetley, we considered that consumers would not immediately identify a round teabag as being a Tetley teabag.”

Responding to the outcome this afternoon, a Tetley spokeswoman said the ASA’s decision related to just one facet of the process of making a cuppa: the speed of infusion – which was not “a key factor in determining the quality of a cup of tea”.

“Tetley’s extensive research shows that round tea bags, combined with high-quality tea, are just as effective as other-shaped tea bags. Ultimately, the shape of the tea bag is not as important as the quality and taste of the tea,” she added.

A fair point, but one can’t help thinking Tetley was stretching the point with its suggestion that round bags are associated solely with its brand. In the PR war, I’d say it’s one point to Unilever, which can now bask in the glow of headlines such as the Mail’s, this morning: “Pyramid tea bags DO taste better than round ones!”

Otherwise, I’m tempted to say it’s all a storm in a… well, you get the idea.

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