Keeping tea in a stainless steel thermos, is it OK and how long?

42 Replies
wawalt said

I am very happy to have found this discussion.
My “tea in the thermos”-problem is making me crazy!!!
I have a new stainless steel thermos with a plastic and rubber cap. After 2 or 3 weeks my tea (green) tasted like coffee….
I washed with soap, vinegar, lemon juice,…. to no use!!

I really would like to find a way to keep my tea hot for 5-6 hours.

TOMMMMMM said

You aren’t drinking out of the cap are you?

wawalt said

No, I drink the tea out of a glass.
Anyway, my problem is solved (see my recent post)

Login or sign up to post a message.

VeryPisces said

I used to put tea in a thermos but didn’t want to have to worry about properly cleaning it out (including the mechanism for the vacuum lid). I forgot to clean out the flask one weekend and got a nightmarish greeting from the contents when I opened the thermos a few days later. Now I prefer to use thermoses for the hot water only. I never pre-make the tea. As a former college student, though, I know that drinking pre-made tea is the easiest way to go. The next best might be teaballs. I have made teaballs ahead of time and just put them in a ziplock bag between steepings.

Login or sign up to post a message.

I am another who has been disappointed in teas in thermoses. You make mint tea once, and every tea thereafter will taste like mint. It takes days and days of soaking that plastic ring to get rid of most of the flavor. and the moment you put in another tea, you have to spend a few more days getting rid of that new flavor. I just don’t feel like it’s worth it anymore. I used to spend a good deal of time working where there was no access to hot water, but no longer! I have a desk and water cooler that dispenses hot water now. I can last the one hour commute without hot tea. Once I get to work, I open my drawer, select something from my work stash and brew myself a cup.

My present boss is highly amused by my looseleaf antics. I’ve been using paper filters, but I just ordered a mug + filter so I’ll be less wasteful. :) Plus, I won’t feel rushed to drink up my tea before it becomes over brewed because I’ll actually be able to take the leaves out of the water. I feel so lucky. :)

Login or sign up to post a message.

VeryPisces said

I’m in a similar position, mercuryhime. I put boiling hot water in a thermos and drink tea until lunch time, then I use the hot water line from the coffeemaker to refill the thermos and use that for teas the rest of the day. I use either teaballs or teabags to transport my looseleaf teas to work.

Login or sign up to post a message.

wawalt said

I found a reasonablel solution to my problem.
When I fill the thermos with “hot but not boiling” water, the tea doesn’t change its taste anymore!!! I just let the boiling water cool down in the waterheater for 5 minutes, before putting it in the thermos. My tea still stays hot for a few hours and doesn’t taste like coffee anymore.
The colour of the tea still gets a little bit darker after a while, but the taste is OK.
Of course, every 2-3 days I wash the thermos with some vinegar or lemon juice to keep the interior spotless.

Login or sign up to post a message.

Is there any kind of thermos that I can keep hot brewed tea in without a bitter or weird taste. I don’t want to just keep hot water in the thermos. Would prefer to be able to pour the tea (with sugar) during the morning as I need it. ???

Login or sign up to post a message.

To take tea to work, I’ve been using a glass tea tumbler (tea jar). The tea jar is insulated, so it keeps the water hot for the morning. Then I can top off with the water from my stainless steel thermos.

The thing with a thermos is this, it is almost 20 years old, and can still leave a bad taste to my palette, too. I use two pieces of well-boiled charcoal (like the kind you use for tea water) to filter the flavor of the water. It helps to keep only good water in the thermos, not tea. And I pre-heat to keep it hot for almost 8 hours. Good luck with your mobile tea adventures!

Login or sign up to post a message.

teatiemz … Klean Kanteen sounds great, will check it out on google. Thank you.

Everyday…Teaist … where do you get a glass tea jar? Are you in the US or in the US? Sounds good too.

I’m so glad to have found this great site. A friend’s gift of a Bubba thermos bottle just made me wish for one that had no smelly rubber.

FYI: Even if they say no BPAs … they can still use rubber or plastic that is WORSE than BPAs. Ain’t that a kick in the head!!

I want no part of plastic. Thanks everyone again.

Login or sign up to post a message.

There are a lot of them at tea retailers in the US. I got my double-walled glass one at Bird Pick Tea, and one with a poly carbonate outside layer at TeaBook. I don’t work with any companies, though, and lots have them in their tea tumbler or mobile tea collections.

I put rubber bands on them so I don’t drop them as easily. And you may want to “season” it, because even these have plastic lids.

Good luck.

Hi Everyday…Teaist … Thanks for the info! Definitely will check these companies/sites out. I don’t think tea responds well to metal. Glass should be fine. NO PLASTIC for me, thanks.

On Klean Kanteen, they have an all metal thermos with metal top, but glass is so much better. Lucky coffee lovers. XXX

So right, Denise. Hope you find something you like.

Login or sign up to post a message.

Zennenn said

What about an old school air pot? Too big? Those don’t affect taste that I’ve noticed.

What is an old school air pot? Never heard of this. Willing to trying anything that keeps the taste unaffected. Where do you get these? Thanks.

Best way I can summarize these is – think of coffee at PTA meetings in the 1980’s. It definitely keeps things hot, but the core of plastic materials does impart a certain plastic flavor. Might be ok if you use charcoal….haven’t tried that.

Zennenn said

Mine is glass on the inside, with a metal tube to draw up the liquid. So mostly in contact with glass. Let me find a link for you…

Nice! Thanks. That’s very helpful.

Zennenn said

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00006WNRZ/ref=psdcmw_914434_t1_B00E1KF6C2

There is some plastic, a small ring constantly in contact and then the spot when liquid is dispensed is plastic. It’s for a larger amount of fluid, for sure. But I saw different brands and sizes when I googled.

Login or sign up to post a message.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.