tea travel accourtrement

I’m traveling right now! I brought loose tea and tsacs. I also brought some dens tea bags.

I don’t make tea on a plane since ir induces bathroom use and a useless caffeine high. Way inconvenient. Before I learned my lesson I made tea from tea bags on a plane. Just ask for hot water.
Many hotel rooms come with coffee makers which I use to make tea. Usually with tsacs.

Does anyone know the typical temperature a coffee maker warms the water to? I would think Black Teas would be off the table for travel tea if one wanted to brew properly?

I travel a lot, and I’ve made tea on a bus, on a plane, in restaurants, all over the place. I often end up drinking lots of mediocre to bad tea bags along the way because sometimes it’s just easier to order a cup of tea and drink the tea bag that comes with it. I have ordered tea and then not drank the lipton (or equivalent) tea bag that came with the hot water, and used my own tea instead, which is sometimes easier than trying to get just hot water (particularly if you don’t speak the language, which happens to me often in foreign countries).

I usually travel with sachets, partly because I love the ease of having everything pre-portioned, and partly because I can taste the paper from t-sacs so I dislike using them. I did just learn about some self-fillable sacs that are made out of a find nylon like sachets use, so I’d love to get my hands on those. Also convenient are tea sachets that are individually wrapped because then I can just throw one in my purse and go. Otherwise I keep a small tin (actually a tin that Harney sells 5 sachets in) of sachets in my purse.

I just got a new travel mug with a little steeping basket in it, so I may try that one for future travels with loose leaf when I can get hot water. I use the timer on my iPhone for my tea timer, and otherwise I don’t feel like I need anything else. I guess a pocket water thermometer would be nice, but I usually only travel with black tea so that I don’t have to deal with water temp.

Also if you’re traveling in the US and staying at a hotel with continental breakfast, usually they will have hot water dispensers there for tea, and you can just use your own tea instead. I’ve never used a coffee maker for tea because they usually flavor the water with essence of coffee no matter what.

I didn’t used to take tea with me when I traveled, until I was in a hotel where everything was lovely – except for their tea choice. I normally wouldn’t take notice of a hotel’s tea, but this particular hotel had a service tray in the room with their teas and coffees and I was really in need of a caffeine fix … and the tea was horrible. UGH! The next day, we went out shopping and I picked up some decent tea in a local tea shop.

Now, when I travel, I bring teas with me. I fill a tea wallet (from the OP’s company – those wallets rock!) with pre-filled T-sacs so that I can easily make tea for myself instead of relying on someone else’s idea of tea. :)

I usually take tsacs with me when I travel. Sometimes I make up the tsacs before I head out. If we’re going on vacation I usually bring a couple of different tins with me along with my measuring spoon, app on my phone, and all the other bells and whistles.

I haven’t really brought my own tea to restaurants, but when I travel and stay in hotels I bring my own tea. I prefer ones that are individually wrapped like H&S and Mighty Leaf, it just makes it that much easier.

Oddly enough, I have never brought my own tea along with me to restaurants. Guess I never thought to try it….but I will now. And I will be carrying my Adagio pyramid teabags or the Runa teabags I just bought. And I might even use my Adagio paper filters & just fill them up with whatever tea I have in my stash.

As for what accourtrements I have with me…..I love this travel mug I just picked up at the Coffee & Tea Festival from Tavalon —> http://tavalon.com/p-293-travel-infuser.aspx.
It’s been a great find! I’ve been using it all week at work & I love it! So far I’ve used it on Puerh, black, green, & white teas. I love it! Every cup has brewed really well. I was thinking about taking it with me on a road trip to Philly, but I don’t want to have to carry more things….so I might just drop a teabag or two into my bag instead.