These are made by German design company Donkey Products. They come in three sets, each with five bags: RoyalTea, DemocraTea, and StripTea.

Yes, I know my dear tea purists. Having had an English wife for a long time, I know that you don't put the tea bag in the cup full of hot water, but you pour the boiling water over the bag in the empty cup. However, I'm counting that these have cords like every normal bags, and that you just hang the Queen there when the time is right (and while I'm against monarchy, I mean that in the nicest way possible. You know I still love you, Liz. Don't stop inviting me to Windsor for this. Come on. Yes? No teabagging involved, promised). [Direct Daily]

Taste Test is our weeklong tribute to the leaps that occur when technology meets cuisine, spanning everything from the historic breakthroughs that made food tastier and safer to the Earl-Grey-friendly replicators we impatiently await in the future.

For the design, the kettle won the World Kitchen Tea Off 2009 back in March, which I sadly had no idea existed until the moments before I typed "World Kitchen Tea Off 2009" for the first time. [Vesselideation via Gamer Grrlz via Technabob]

Much like normal cups of tea, you dip the teabag in to start the reaction. You then "draw a light" by pulling up the teabag and letting the fluorescent molecules slip into the chemical concoction. Draw it multiple times to make the concoction darker and thus the light brighter.

While it's bound to make your party prettier, it seems like something you should warn your guests of beforehand. Something tells me this tea isn't drinkable. [Toxel]

Just a concept for the time being, "Sharky" is already lighting up the imaginations of Hollywood. It's reported that Spielberg will be returning to his Jaws roots, but this time bringing along the creative visionary of Titanic James Cameron and—agreements willing—LL Cool J reprising his role as a lovable ship chef from Deep Blue Sea. Needless to say, it's a good time to invest in both tea companies, coastal real estate and LL Cool J's Sears clothing line. [Design Boom via bbGadgets]

Researchers from Durham University (queried, we believe) 200 non-smoking participants, taking into account their intake of tea, coffee, energy drinks, caffeine pills or coffee consumed on an average day as well as their propensity to see things that were not there, hear voices, and/or sense the presence of the dead.

It was found that 315 milligrams of caffeine (about what you'll find in three standard cups off coffee) increased hallucinations by three times, though it's unclear as to whether or not this data could be correlational with crazy people simply drinking more caffeine to begin with. [LiveScience and image]

It clips neatly inside a mug so it doesn't fall in, and when you whip it out at the end of brewing it catches its own drips so you don't dribble tea everywhere. Its even got minimal parts for simple cleaning. No wonder Paul's just won a merit award from the Industrial Design Society of America.

"Never trust a man who, when left alone in a room with a tea cozy, doesn't try it on." says Billy Connolly. Wonder what he'd say about this gizmo? [Yanko design]

Price: $179.

The Verdict: Using it, I've got a few gripes that people who plan to use this every day might complain about if they want practicality over pure design porn. First, the tea kettle is to be filled by the spout, which leads to spilling. This is presumably because on it's side, cylinder in the vertical space, the glass feels pretty unstable. (See my awkwardness in the video. BTW do not expect to be entertained.) Secondly the pour is kind of inconsistently slow then very fast, because there's no way for air to initially make up for the vacuum left by the water until you pour at a certain angle. Closing the kettle involves tightening a hand screw, which is not all that convenient

Having just complained about the pot, there is no doubt that it is the best looking tea steeping device I've seen in some time, and will be for some time to come. That's worth a lot, and I'm sure the inconveniences above could be overcome by someone in lust with it. [Sorapot]

The cup, called Ceramic For Mix, has a protruding base that bulges out—imagine a boa constrictor after an all-you-can-eat sheep buffet—and a ceramic ball that goes in the bottom. Pour in the PG Tips, add the milk, spoon in the sugar (if that is how you take your tea) and then swill the cup. Gravity ensures the ceramic ball doesn't bop you on the nose when you drink, apparently.

One of the designers, Florian Dussopt is expecting to sell his invention to cafes and bars, eliminating the need for a spoon (unless your sugar comes in a bowl, in which case you'll have to use your hands to shovel the sugar into your cup.) Should this be seen as spoonicide? "The aim is not to kill the spoon but to suggest an alternative for a special occasion," he says. So that's alright, then. [Daily Mail]

Note: Toatser teapot does not actually make toast.