Last week, we discovered that the joy of dunking your biscuit in tea has been backed up by science.

The tests – by inventive chef Heston Blumenthal, for his programme Fantastical Food – found that the moisture it adds boosts the flavour of the biscuits.

Inspired by this discovery, our tea buyers decided to run an experiment of their own and test out the qualities of some of their favourite dunkers.

Though it didn’t quite match the scientific rigour of Heston, it did prove one thing: the rich, malty taste of Yorkshire Tea undoubtedly makes your biscuit better.

Here are the findings of our dunk test in full.

Rich tea biscuits
“Rich teas really perk up after a dunk. After 1 second, there’s still some bite. At 2, there’s barely any. By 3 it’s fully soggy, so if you do pass the 3 second barrier, we suggest maximising the tea flavour by extending the dunk to 7 seconds. Much longer and you risk the tragedy of a biscuit collapse.”

Custard creams
“Not a classic dunker. We found they retained some bite after a 3 second dunk, but more than that and they go mushy (though the cream holds up well). After 10 seconds, the biscuit was only held together by the cream, and it disintegrated in the mouth.”

Hobnobs
“The HobNob cries out for a dunk - it 'drinks the tea'. We found a 3-5 second dunk gave a good balance of texture and tea-ness, but anything longer and the sog kicks in. Longer dunks run a risk of collapse, and a clump of mushy bits at the bottom of your cup.”

Chocolate digestives
“Chef Heston Blumenthal says he likes what tea does to chocolate when dunking, melting it to a luxurious velvety texture. We agreed that it makes the biscuit more tasty, but it's quite messy and risks melting into your tea a bit. If chocolate digestives are your dunker of choice, we recommend 3-5 seconds.”

Ginger nuts
“Ginger nuts won our award for Most Improved Biscuit. Without tea, they are dry and hard, but with tea, they become beautifully chewy. The flavour means they’re not universally liked, but they are excellent value for the keen dunker, due to being solid enough to be dipped, bitten and dipped again. We thought they were at their best with a dunk between 2 and 5 seconds.”

Chocolate chip cookies
“These small, thick cookies are perhaps best suited to eating alongside tea than they are to dunking. We found they were at their best after a 3-4 second dunk, but they’re so sweet that we wouldn’t want to eat more than two. They do have good survivability, though, as their thick shape makes them less prone to collapse.”