Tea, it comes in bags. Some of them have a string attached, especially out here in the colonies. You place the bag in the cup, the string up over the side and the little paper tab hanging outside. Next, you add boiling water and the spinning-tumbling tea bag, which is of considerable mass compared to the paper tab, pull the paper tab into the cup. Then you say rude words, and fish it out. It's annoying.
Eventually, you learn to loop the string through the handle to prevent this happening. This is unacceptable. 1. Who has time. 2. Some cups don't have handles.
Solution: Put Post-It note style repositionable adhesive on the paper tab. Stick it to the side of the cup, done.-- bs0u0155, Feb 20 2015 boke http://images.thera...tv/RNH2015-boke.jpgimpressive spray pattern and enough material to fill a large box of Sicky Tea Bags [xenzag, Feb 20 2015] Bruno Gruber beat you to the patent office http://worldwide.es...001500A1&KC=A1&FT=D [the porpoise, Feb 20 2015] The Steeper Keeper http://www.infmetry...-your-bag-in-place/The mug manages the string & tag. [Canuck, Feb 20 2015] My Favourite Alternative http://necktie.onli...id/8765/language/enA ceramic lid with cute string holder built in. [Canuck, Feb 20 2015] 'Who has time?'? It takes 3-5 minutes to steep anyway, how do you NOT have time to secure the string?
Actually, my only concern is how well such adhesive would adhere to a hot, smooth ceramic mug. I'm going to get some Post-Its and test this.-- 21 Quest, Feb 20 2015 //To Stop Paper-in-Cup issues// you are aware that teabags are usually made of paper? There is a simpler solution, involving the lack of bag...-- pocmloc, Feb 20 2015 I think this would be great, if 21's Post-it note experiment proves it to be doable. What's the verdict Sir 21?-- blissmiss, Feb 20 2015 It would be clever to use an adhesive that was not sticky at room temperature but which was 'melted' and made sticky by the heat of your beverage.-- hippo, Feb 20 2015 ... so that when you put the teabag into the cup, the tab will not stick; you pour in water, and the tag flies into the water, at which point the glue melts, and dissolves into your tea...-- pocmloc, Feb 20 2015 I accept that my proposal may have some minor flaws.-- hippo, Feb 20 2015 I keep reading this a Sicky Tea Bag Tab, implying a tablet to be taken after consuming an infusion made by using a small tea bag containing a mixture of dried boke.-- xenzag, Feb 20 2015 //Deluxe version could move the hand up and down for a few minutes// - I wonder what other uses imaginative people might find for such technology-- hippo, Feb 20 2015 Neat idea, but some German dude already tried to get a patent on it [link].-- the porpoise, Feb 20 2015 Said German is very clever. However, as a German, he can't know whats going on with the borderline industrial volumes of tea consumed by the average British scientist.-- bs0u0155, Feb 20 2015 There are many designs of mug that incorporate some means of preventing the tag from flying into the brew (see link for just one). I searched for *mug with teabag string holder*.
A cheap alternative (assuming you are having your tea at your desk) would be to temporarily employ a binder clip to grab the tag.
At the coffee shop? Take one of those ridiculously-long wooden stir sticks and tie the string to one end of it. Great way to learn how to tie new knots, and you can still use the long end to stir you tea.
EDIT: I added another alternative idea, and I didn't choose it just because it is sort of a Canadian icon. Well, yeah, that's why I chose it, but let's avoid that overused image of all Canadians living in igloos surrounded by polar bears, OK?-- Canuck, Feb 20 2015 I read that as "dried bloke"-- Voice, Feb 20 2015 Boke is a very particular word largely unknown except for the darker recesses of rough places, were rough talk is matched by rough behaviour delivered freely by ruffians.-- xenzag, Feb 20 2015 [+]
//adhesive// gecko feet.-- FlyingToaster, Feb 20 2015 Is it etymologically related to boak?-- pocmloc, Feb 20 2015 //a very particular word largely unknown except for the darker recesses of rough places, were rough talk is matched by rough behaviour delivered freely by ruffians//
It's a Scotch word so, yes.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Feb 20 2015 Actually no.... Scotland is full of haggis munching Minnie's wearing frilly skirts, and they don't own the word Boke.-- xenzag, Feb 20 2015 The first and last time I heard the word 'boak' was over 20 years ago.
The expression was 'boakworthy': used in the context of poor software development. Odd that it hasn't become more well known.-- DenholmRicshaw, Feb 20 2015 I always thought the tab should me made of dried milk flakes or a sugar cube this way you may want it to fall in and it would then also have sufficient density to remain outside the cup even as a wicked stir whirlpool attempts to drag it in.
Or maybe it should just be an actual acid tab instead of just looking like one.-- vfrackis, Feb 20 2015 Frankly, the string and tab are a waste of time. I got by fine for 27 years using a spoon to retrieve it, but here in the colonies, teaspoons are rare.-- bs0u0155, Feb 21 2015 Slice a small notch in the cup next to the handle.-- AusCan531, Feb 21 2015 If the string was just a wee bit longer, the cup could stand on the tab. This is obviously too expensive.-- Ling, Feb 21 2015 What is a teabag doing in a cup in the first place?-- MaxwellBuchanan, Feb 21 2015 //What is a teabag doing in a cup in the first place//
it's a horrible compromise forced by the coal-face realities in the trenches environment of science in the colonies . I assume one day, things may improve. Possibly after my death.-- bs0u0155, Feb 22 2015 I find that if you wet the tag (perhaps by dipping it in the tea), it will easily stick to the side of the cup.-- Spacecoyote, Mar 24 2015 //I find that if you wet the tag (perhaps by dipping it in the tea)//
Logically, this can't happen. The tea only exists after the water is in the cup, by that time, the water has created the problem that I highlighted. You could, of course, simply hold the tab in your other hand. But that's busy. Sometimes it has to be in my pocket, other times, it's holding a biscuit, or gesticulating wildly about poor quality science.-- bs0u0155, Mar 24 2015 Ok, I'm finally getting around to testing this right now. I've taken a Post-It note and torn off all but half an inch of paper below the adhesive strip, and left only 1.5 inches of adhesive strip. So I've got a mini Post-It note 1.5x1 inch in dimension, and stuck it over the strings of the tea bags in my mug to secure the strings to the outside surface of said mug. I have poured freshly boiled water and stirred the tea, and none of this commotion dislodged the sticky tab or the strings held in place by it.
This is a viable idea, guys. [+]-- 21 Quest, Mar 24 2015 Solid experimental effort there.
I've decided that the tabs should be stuck on top of one another in the tea bag box, just like a post it note. This should help with in-box stability in a tactical environment. They could also be hung up to dry, if things get really desperate. I think I'll let the Army chaps with their in-tank BV have them at a discount. After that, you have mini Post it notes, for labeling ammunition or whichever button fires the big gun.-- bs0u0155, Mar 24 2015 //all terrain tea trolley idea//
Would that be the Challenger 2? It is VERY all terrain. I'd be happy using that to distribute tea almost anywhere.-- bs0u0155, Mar 24 2015 You may like to know that the Challenger II has twelve cup-holders.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 24 2015 I'd imagine fighting a long tank battle is thirsty work.
I also like the look of the Challenger for the rewarding activity that is watching someone else do mechanical work while you drink tea. Lots of convenient flat spots for the cup, it's a convenient height to lean against... I imagine it'd be a very rewarding vehicle to lean against and say... "ooh, yeah, those bolts can round... try not to drip too much blood.. more tea?"-- bs0u0155, Mar 27 2015 random, halfbakery