One of my favorite beverages is tea. There are many ways to brew tea, and I have no idea which is the best, but tea bags are what's convenient.

The only annoyance is that the bags float, which keeps the tea from steeping properly. My current solution is to remove the tag and wrap the bag string around a spoon, but that's too sensible (and it doesn't work with tagless bags). What would really be nice is a weighted tea bag.

What could be used as a weight, though? Metals and plastics can be poisonous and sand is nasty. Glass, however, is nontoxic and heavy, and marbles are cool.

These marbles would be unique and be the mark of a premium tea. They'd make great collectibles. Once you're done with the tea bag, you could simply retrieve the marble as you throw the bag away.

The only problem I see is the possibility of a choking hazard, which isn't that high if the users are warned, the marbles are bright, and the bag is good quality.
-- Spacecoyote, Jun 12 2008

Tea Bag Sinkers Tea_20Bag_20Sinkers
Same idea, with indeterminate weighted balls. [Amos Kito, Jun 12 2008, last modified Jun 13 2008]

Tea Socks http://www.hrhiggin...ories/tea/tea_socks
Like this, [8th of 7]? [squeak, Jun 13 2008]

if they don't float - you forget to take them out and that is awfuk.
-- po, Jun 12 2008


I generally look at my food and drink as I eat/drink it. I won't eat in a dark room (unless it's a movie theater). The bag would be easily noticed, due to the bright marble inside.

If it's really that big a deal, oversized marbles could be used so it isn't possible to choke on them.
-- Spacecoyote, Jun 12 2008


This bothers me too. I like how light teabags are (you can carry hundreds of them easily!) but I'm tired of repeatedly having to submerge them with my spoon - and what if I don't have a spoon? Use my finger? +

(If teabags came with a stirrer attached, that would solve the problem)
-- phundug, Jun 12 2008


Playing a game of Ringer with tea bags instead of marbles would be kinda difficult.
-- skinflaps, Jun 12 2008


//you forget to take them out and that is awfuk//

That bad?
-- imaginality, Jun 12 2008


The problem is trapped air, which makes the bag buoyant.

What is needed is a mechanism which allows air our but keeps tea leaves in.

Self-venting valves are not uncommon in both domestic and industrial contexts.

An alternative might be a disposable "tea pouch" which would consist of an open-topped tube, sealed at the base, with a rigid stick which spans the rim of the vessel in which it is immersed; something like a tiny paper sock full of tea leaves, but without the toenail and skin fragments inside, the sweat absorbed into the weave of the material, and the carpet fluff on the outside. Hopefully.

The large aperture at the top would allow air to escape and the tea would infuse quickly and efficently.

An further alternative would be a two-string system with a special mug. The mug has a small open hook fixed to the centre of its base, inside. The special tea bag has two strings; prior to tea-making, one of the strings is looped under the hook and then pulled tight and attached to the handle (provided with a tiny jamming cleat for that exact purpose). Water is added and the tea brews, but the bag is held firmly at the bottom. When sufficent colour is achieved, the cleat is released and the second string is used to pull the tea bag from the tea.
-- 8th of 7, Jun 12 2008


this is silly - most of the teabag will be under water due to the weight of the saturated tea as anyone who uses their fingers to pick them out of the hot water will know.
-- po, Jun 13 2008


Some bags just won't sink.
-- Spacecoyote, Jun 13 2008


Where's that "I thought this was going to be about" guy... to say something about artificially intelligent tea bags?
-- n81641, Jun 13 2008


A teaspoon with a little clip on it would work. Maybe even a tiny little cleat for the boating community.
-- nomocrow, Jun 13 2008


is there such a thing as "freeze-dried tea" analgous to "instant coffee" ?
-- FlyingToaster, Jun 13 2008


Yes. It's horrible.
-- 8th of 7, Jun 13 2008


In the words of Douglas Adams, it tastes almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea.
-- nomocrow, Jun 13 2008


The problem with making the marble bigger would be water displacement, meaning your cup of tea would no longer be a *cup* of tea.

Of course, this dilemma could be solved by preparing *2* cups of tea, but I'm afraid that might infringe upon some prior art...
-- Canuck, Jun 13 2008


In which case, what is needed is a pellet of dense metal (depleted uranium would be good) encased in glass. Then the "marble" could be very much smaller while retaining its sinking effect.
-- 8th of 7, Jun 13 2008



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