I typically don't make tea by the cup. Usually it's loose leaf either into the pot or in a tea-ball. For example, I utterly LOVE making a pot of gunpowder. The times I do use bagged tea, I will still usually make a whole pot and let the bags steep as long as needed. I've got bagged jasmine tea in the cupboard currently and it works fine. Mostly, I don't like a bag floating in my cup. On the rare occasions when it do use a tea-bag and a cup, once it's steeped long enough, I will put the bag onto a spoon and then loop the string around it to squeeze the last brew out into the cup. Dammit. All of this talk about tea and hearing the rain falling outside is giving me an irresistible urge to brew a pot. Gunpowder time! Thanks a lot Smi!