“It is common to prepare tea by immersion of a porous bag filled with tea into a cup of hot water.”
That being the case, it can be said that making tea with a teabag is not always 100% annoyance free.
“[…] when the porous bag is immersed in water, it has a tendency to rise up in the cup due to captured air bubbles and the light density of the materials in the bag. When the porous bag floats to the top of the cup, the rate of steeping of the materials into the cup is reduced.
Thus, it is commonplace for users to use a spoon to keep the porous bag totally immersed in the water. This repetitive task is annoying to many users. “
Following the granting of US patent 7,744,939 , for a ‘ Weighted infusion beverage package ‘ which incorporates ballast weights in each bag (see Figs. 1A & 1B) the annoyance may be reduced, if not entirely eliminated.
“[…] the annoying and repetitive task of pushing the bag down with a spoon (or other hand-held element) is avoided […] “
Research research by Martin Gardiner