Now, Tetley (or somesuch) makes a teabag which is, in theory, self-wringing. The two strings come out from opposite sides of a bag, and when you are done brewing, you grasp each thread and pull. If you do so appropriately, you will remove approximately 30% of the tea liquor, that wonderfully strong nectar of the tea gods, leaving plenty to drip and burn your fingers and whatnot. (However, this is significantly less than an unsqueezed bag.) The invention goes in the right direction but does not acheive teabag wringing perfection
The idea: a metal contraption that looks much like a spoon with a funny head. However, there is a square device on the end (not spoon shaped) and has small holes in it. It hinges at the bottom, and two identical square hole-filled plates are there connected. You put your tea bag into this hinged dealie, which when open rests at 45 to 90 degrees. You gently squeeze it, down to an angle of 15 or so, which causes two sets of prongs at the upper end of the square to come in contact with each other and click, thus keeping the contraption open enough for sufficient tea brewing but closed enough that you do not lose your teabag. When done, you remove the entirety of the device from your teacup, holding it vertically with the handle up and box down, and squeeze the prongs even more, letting the liquor drain out the bottom. Thus, you have thoroughly wrung your teabag, have not lost it to the depths of the cup, and do not have burnt fingers.
Because the metal (at least for the prongs) both strong and does not retain heat well (I am thinking of something with the properties of tin foil in this respect, though far more durable), the prongs will not remain the temp of the tea for more than a few seconds and your fingers will be safe. And because the device is metal and durable, you can throw it in your backpack or whatnot and not worry about breaking it -- thus it is reuseable and earthfriendly. Because of the shape of the head, you can use square or round teabags, with or without strings. You could even use a reuseable teabag with loose tea -- BETTER than a teaball, because you can't usually extract the liquor sufficiently with a teaball.
Especially with herbal/fruit teas, I think this contraption could be quite marvelous, if you like the strong aspect of your tea liquor. If not, feel free to continue dripping away... NOTE: this is only for those of us who really do like tea liquor in our teas; whether we are thereby tea heathens or not is beyond the scope of this instrument!-- djanaba, Aug 02 2001 (?) Loverly! http://www.britishi...&item=strainer2.htmSecond item down [key-aero, Aug 02 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004] f-ing brilliant. simple concept but appealing to the millions of tea drinkers worldwide.-- IndoCanuck, Aug 03 2001 I thought it was a great idea when I got one, but I find I never use it. Perhaps burning fingers have become part of the tea ritual.-- key-aero, Aug 03 2001 random, halfbakery