If a person prepared tea with a teabag on Shabbat (following the relevant Halachic guidelines), is he then allowed to remove the teabag from the cup? At first glance, it appears that removing the teabag would violate the prohibition of Borer – separating – as one is removing Pesolet – an undesirable substance – from Ochel – the food he desires.
The Halachic authorities discuss this question and rule that one may, in fact, remove the teabag from the cup, on the basis of a ruling of the Maharitatz known as "En Berera Be’lah," which means that the laws of Borer do not apply to removing a solid from a liquid. Just like one may, according to this position, remove an insect from a beverage on Shabbat, similarly, one may remove a teabag from a teacup.
An additional question arises concerning the drops of liquid that fall from the bag into the cup during the process of removing the bag. At the moment when the teabag is hovering over the cup, drops of tea drip from the bag into the cup, which seemingly pose a problem of Borer. Even though by holding the bag over the cup one separates the Ochel (the drops of tea) from the Pesolet (the teabag), which is permissible, we should perhaps regard the bag as a Keli – a utensil. One of the conditions for allowing Borer on Shabbat is that the separation is done by hand, and not with a utensil. In this situation, however, one separates with a teabag, as the drops of water fall through the small perforations in the bag into the cup, seemingly in violation of the prohibition of Borer.
Rabbi Moshe Halevi (Israel, 1961-2001) writes that one may remove the teabag from the cup even if drops of tea will then fall from the bag into the cup. He explains that even if we indeed regard a teabag as a Keli, it is certainly not a utensil made specifically for the purpose of separating, like a sifter or sieve. As such, the prohibition of Borer potentially applies in this case only on the level of Mi’de’rabbanan (Rabbinic enactment), since the Biblical prohibition applies only when using a utensil especially made for the purpose of separating. And when one removes a teabag from a cup, he certainly does not intend to have drops of tea fall from the bag into the cup, and thus this situation is one of "Pesik Resheh De’lo Niha Leh" – where one performs an action that will inevitably result in an action forbidden on Shabbat, but one has no interest in that forbidden action. "Pesik Resheh" is permitted on Shabbat when the prohibition involved was enacted by the Sages and is not forbidden on the level of Torah law. Therefore, since separating with a teabag is forbidden only by force of Rabbinic enactment, it is permissible to remove it from a cup even if drops will invariably fall from it.
However, this line of reasoning suffices to permit removing the teabag only if one indeed has no interest in those drops of tea that fall from the bag. Some people, however, specifically want those drops in their cup of tea, as those drops have absorbed the flavor of the tea. This then changes the situation to one of "Pesik Resheh De’niha Leh," where one is interested in the resulting forbidden action, regarding which we cannot apply the leniency mentioned above.
Therefore, the Shemirat Shabbat Ke’hilchatah (Rav Yehoshua Neubert, contemporary) rules that one should remove the teabag from the cup with a spoon, so that any drops that drip from the teabag will fall into the spoon and be discarded along with the teabag, such that no separation is done. This is also the ruling of Rav Yitzhak Zafrani in his Vayizra Yitzhak. Although those who are lenient in this regard and remove the teabag by hand have authorities on whom to rely, it is preferable to follow the stringent view and remove it with a spoon.
Certainly, according to all opinions, it would be forbidden to intentionally hold the spoon over the cup of tea in order for drops to fall into the tea.
Summary: After preparing tea on Shabbat, it is preferable to remove the teabag with a spoon, and not by hand. Some authorities permit removing it by hand, as long as one does not intentionally hold the bag over the teacup to allow drops to fall from the bag into the cup.
