After studying how various types of biscuits perform when dunked in tea, scientists have come to the conclusion that rich tea biscuits lead the way.
In a study led by Dr Stuart Farrimond for biscuit giant McVities, scientists found that rich teas were still holding together after 20 seconds of submersion in tea, more than twice the length of time managed by the other biscuits tested.
Chocolate Digestives came in second place, surviving for 11 seconds, with the chocolate coating adding six seconds to the time for a standard digestive.
Hobnobs and gingernuts, often considered good dunking options, only lasted four seconds, a fifth of the time managed by rich teas.
With his tongue firmly in his cheek, Farrimond proposed a traffic light warning system for the dunkability of biscuits, saying in Guru Magazine:
“Given the danger of a hot biscuit falling onto a clean shirt, I feel that urgent action is required to protect unsuspecting dunkers. In the UK and parts of Europe, food packets often display a ‘traffic light’ labelling system (‘healthy foods’ having a green label). I propose a similar ‘dunk-o-meter’ traffic light advisory system for all packets of cookies and biscuits: a red circle would indicate short dunk of under five seconds; amber would advise a five to ten second dip; and green for longer”
