Gift Set for Grandparents

I prefer Adagio’s ingenuiTEA gift set. Love the book and for elderly people plastic vs glass may be a smart idea- doesn’t break as easy if dropped, can be microwaved, and less chance of hot tea splashing up when decanting. Sounds like you have amazing grandparents! They might even be game for the savory teas.:)

If my grandmother drank tea, I think she would like the Rishi set best. I think she would like the basket.

So… when is the username ’Mike’s Gran’ going to show up here? ;)

How about a matcha set?

I’m lucky in that my mother-in-law has always enjoyed tea so gift ideas come easy. She was very attached to the teabag so I got her a neat starter pack to move her in the loose tea direction. I picked this shop since it is close to my home. I have the same infuser and like it over some of my others because it is very easy to clean.

http://annateashop.com/3267.html

She likes her tea very hot so I also gave her a small “personal” cast iron pot for Mother’s Day. I was worried about her carrying it to the table because of the added weight but she handles it fine pouring out about half a cup at a time.

There are a couple schools of thought here: let the tea leaves and liquor be the art and get them a clear glass pot, or buy a colored/decorated one… If you do that, then you need to pick a material… You could always go to a pottery studio and make one. Grandparents LOVE that kinda stuff!:)

Since the sizes of those two teapots are so different (10oz vs. 42oz) you might want to think about what sized cups they’ll be using or are used to, etc. I know a lot of non-tea people go for 10 – 12 oz coffee mugs and would think that the Adagio pot is more ‘normal’ sized. At the same time, getting them the Rishi one could let you add a couple of 5oz Bodum double-walled glasses to their present for a little something extra (and ensure they can share a pot easily).

My first glass pot was one almost exactly like that Rishi one and I loved it. It was so great to see the leaves expand. So they might enjoy having that one so they can really see the teas vs. something with an infuser. At the same time, it seems like smaller pots throw a lot of non-tea people off.

Either way, I think they are both good presents and they’ll enjoy it – especially since it will let them bond a bit with you! :)

You sound like a lovely generous grandson! May I make a suggestion to add a general knowledge book about tea? A friend of mine gave me a book stuffed with general info and filled with gorgeous photos and it added a lot to my appreciation of loose teas …. Just FYI, it was the jane pettigrew & bruce richardson’s “tea classified, a tealover’s companion”, released by the UK The National Trust, but I am sure there are many comparable books out there ….

As to the teapots, sorry, I don’t own either one but there are some very insightful comments above on that so I leave that to the experts….

I guess I do have an opinion, now that I think upon it — does your grandmother have a china set or iron stoneware set that she uses on a daily bases? For example, my everyday dish set is the mikasa italian countryside so whenever I am in the mood, I use the accompanying teapot — I just add my own infuser — and that’s a nice look to dinner, you know, the same patterned dishes for dinner and afterwards, the same patterned teacups & saucers and teapot. It adds a bit of everyday elegance to the after dinner ritual …..

How about a food item (bought or homemade) w/ tea as an ingredient?

So the question now is “What did you get them?”