It's time to settle one of the longest-standing questions mankind has struggled with (no, not which is better out of dogs versus cats) since the invention of delicious, processed sugary products: what's the best biscuit for dunking?

Naturally, for such an important question, we weren't going to mess around so set Sarah Barnes from The Institute of Physics up with a robolink D robot arm by igus to test ten biscuits for 'dunkability'.

The robot arm ensured no external forces skewed the results and we timed how long it took for each biscuit to lose physical integrity while dunked halfway into a mug of tea. Digital scales were used to measure how much liquid each biscuit could absorb after a 15-second dunk. Each test was conducted three times, and an average time was calculated.

Science can finally settle this debate, once and for all. The winner? Surprisingly, it was the humble Rich Tea. The results of our tests, in order of dunkability are shown below.

MCVITIE’S RICH TEAThe test winner held its form with ease, sailing through a ten-minute-plus dunk. It did well in the absorption test, too. “The Rich Tea impressed us all,” says Barnes. “Its compact structure means it can hold its shape a bit easier than the looser, oatier biscuits.” 9/10Price £1 Wired Strong and absorbent Tired Plain

MCVITIE’S DIGESTIVESWith 70 per cent wheat and wholemeal, this biscuit held its structure well – for an impressive four minutes. “Weighing 14.8g, the digestive soaked up 12g of tea in our absorption test – almost its entire weight in liquid. This makes for a great dunk,” says Barnes. 8/10Price £1.50 Wired Satisfying all-rounder Tired Too wide for dainty tea cups

FOX’S PARTY RINGSWith its dense structure and sugary coating, this retro biscuit is built to last – even after ten minutes of being dunked, it remained intact. “Biscuits with a coating have extra support, so it’s not a surprise,” says Barnes. 7/10Price 50p Wired Strong and crunchy Tired Low liquid absorption

MCVITIE’S MILK CHOCOLATE DIGESTIVESBarnes was surprised by this biscuit’s results: “You’d think its chocolate would give it extra strength, but it melted away quickly in our dunk test,” she says. This biscuit didn’t do as well as the plain digestive in Wired’s absorbtion test, but it did give the tea extra sweetness. 6/10Price £1.50 Wired Chocolate! Tired Messy

MCVITIE’S HOBNOBSWIRED’s tester, physicist Sarah Barnes, noted that biscuits with an oaty consistency, such as the Hobnob, do less well at holding their shape when wet. “The structure is less dense, so it crumbles,” she says. “The redeeming factor here is that this biscuit’s taste improves when dunked.” 6/10Price £1 Wired So moreish Tired Too crumbly

BOURBON CREAMSThis rectangular biscuit held it together longer than the single-layer biscuits, such as the round Hobnob and Ginger Snap. “It’s quite dense, and its shape seems to help its performance,” says Barnes. “The chocolate filling gives it enhanced dunkability.” 5/10Price £1 Wired Sturdy composition Tired Filling quickly turns mushy when wet

FORTNUM & MASON PISTACHIO AND CLOTTED CREAMThe chunks of pistachio within this buttery treat means this biscuit is fragile and crumbly when dry. “Yet it did surprisingly well in our tests,” says Barnes. “It held its shape, despite seeming initially rather unstable.” 4/10Price £11 Wired Deliciously indulgent Tired Quick to crumble pre-dunk

OREOLike the Bourbon, the creamy white filling in this iconic American biscuit seems to help it last longer than its single-layered rivals. But its high sugar content didn’t do it any favours in our dunk test. “When it disintegrates, it does so rapidly,” says Barnes. 3/10Price £1 Wired Flavour enhances with dunking Tired Tastes very sweet to non-American palates

SAINSBURY’S GINGER SNAPS“The higher a biscuit’s sugar and fat content, the quicker it seems to dissolve,” says tester Barnes. "Liquid absorption was minimal too, so this biscuit doesn’t make for a very satisfying dunk." With its 3.4g of sugar, the biscuit soon fell apart once wet – but it did sweeten up our tea nicely. 2/10Price 40p Wired Crunchy Tired Falls apart very quickly

MARYLAND CHOC CHIP COOKIESThe chocolate chips in this cookie seemed to hinder its dunking performance, as it faired the worst in our robot arm dunk test. “Its chunky, crunchy structure means it couldn’t hold its shape when dunked, but it did absorb a surprising amount of liquid,” notes Barnes. 2/10Price £1 Wired Interesting texture Tired Feeble dunk

This article features in the upcoming September 2016 issue of WIRED magazine. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.

This article was originally published by WIRED UK