What do you brew your tea in?

I was using a Bodum press until an accident last night, and am now in the market for a replacement or alternative. I thought it also might be interesting to have a ‘show & tell’ of sorts, as I know some folks are quite attached to their teapots.

58 Replies
Angrboda said

For just me, or if Husband and I aren’t having the same tea, I use my Roy Kirkham fine bone china tea for one pots. I have one with small garden birds and one with butterflies. I used to use one with farm animals, the CUTEST pot ever, but alas it developed a large crack over time and is now merely kept for affectionate value. I bought the two others to replace this one. I knew I definitely wanted more RK china, because they pour so well with hardly a dribble.
Here is a picture of all three https://picasaweb.google.com/idhiding/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCPzio9Tr19LV_wE#5789505526623973714

For a larger pot for the both of us, I have a white ceramic tea pot that was given to me by my cousin and his wife for my 30th birthday, along with the explanation that it was glazed with the same glaze as was used on the Sydney Opera House. (Cousin and his wife are both architects, or was that obvious? :p) This too pours quite well. Dribbles a bit more than the RK’s but nothing that you would really notice. I don’t seem to have a picture of this one lying around, though.

I’m very attached to these pots, because finding a good teapot that pours well can be surprisingly difficult.

The farm animals are too cute, I can see why you have kept it for sentimental reasons. Very cool about the Opera House glaze, it must be quite a rare find indeed.

Angrboda said

Hm. Further research seems to point towards the glaze on my pot not necessarily being the same, but that the ceramics for the opera house was merely produced by the same factory, so it’s possible I may have misunderstood what he meant when he told me. I can’t seem to find anything that verifies that it really is an identical glaze. Even so, though. :)

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mrmopar said

Have you used this? I saw it on Teavivre’s website earlier and shortlisted it as an option.

mrmopar said

It is very easy to use. Put the tea in the top part add water steep to your desired time and push a button and you are done. These are a good item to have around just check the sizes and convert to ounces.

I think in metric, so no need for me to convert :) Have you found that it clogs at all? How easy is it to clean? Thanks!

mrmopar said

Easy easy to use. I have had no clogging problems with it and a good rinse and you are ready to go again. I have a lot of yixing to brew in but this really got me into brewing loose tea at home.

Kaylee said

I actually got this as a gift and very rarely use it. It’s easy to use, but hard to take apart and therefore hard to clean. Maybe mine is defective?

mrmopar said

I actually use cleaner from Mandala tea to clean but it is only used for one type of tea so I don’t worry too much about cleaning it for another type of tea.

@Kaylee, there really is nothing to take apart with the Kamjove. In fact, you shouldn’t. Just lift out the brewing basket, dump the leaves, rinse (also rinse the glass cup!) and you’re ready to go. After a while if you brew dark teas, the area underneath the mesh in the brew basket will turn brownish, but it doesn’t effect the taste at all.

I have used these for years and like them very much for a utilitarina tea brewer in the office. One thing the OP should be aware of is that the basket holds only 6 oz of tea, which might be too little for her. It works well for Oolongs where one contemplates several small brewings, but it’s not well suited to black or darjeelings where one might well want one larger mug of tea or two cups for two people.

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Breville! I will never go back!

The one touch tea maker, I take it? At almost $500, it’s out of my budget but I certainly here a lot of great things!

That’s the one! I haven’t seen it for that much, the highest I’ve seen it is $249. It was still a huge splurge for me. Amazon sells refurbished ones for $179 sometimes. ;-)

Miss Starfish – You can also get them relatively cheap on ebay. I’ve seen them go for under $200, sometimes lower if you catch it at the right time.

Lynxiebrat said

I’ve seen them on ebay for like $150, which at the moment is still alittle to pricy for me, plus kind of wary to buy certain things off of ebay, especially that $$. I’ve bought cheap jewelry (like $2-5 dollars.) on there, if I don’t get it…no big deal. The Breville 1 touch….umm yeah that getting lost or broken….big problem.

MissStarfish, you wouldn’t happen to have a Bed, Bath and Beyond nearby would you? The reason why I ask is because they often send out coupons for like 10-30 % off (Can only use 1 for an item…pity.) But when I am ready to buy one, that’s what I am going to do.

I live in New Zealand – so with the freight, duty, other import taxes, being a small country at the end of the world, etc, stuff tends to cost a lot here. Hobbits don’t work cheap after all. ;) No bed, bath and beyonds either Lynxie. Thanks for the suggestions though guys, appreciate it.

Breville all the way. I have 2, one for home and one for work. Gravity steeper for those I only make one cup of. They’re everywhere so you can probably find them locally. I also helped fund a kickstarter campaign for this cute little tea steeper so I’ll get a couple of those to go. One for me and I don’t know what I’m going to do with the second one, but they shouldn’t arrive until July.

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Anyanka said

I have a brown four cup Chatsford teapot and I’m very happy with it. When I want less tea or to resteep a few times, I use a ForLife infuser in a mug. I always brew everything English style, even if I’m not supposed to.

Here’s the pot: http://www.uptontea.com/shopcart/item.asp?from=catalog.asp&itemID=AP24&begin=0&parent=Accessories%3ETeaware%3ETeapots&category=Chatsford&sortMethod=0&categoryID=0

Thanks kindly Anyanka! Do you find the ForLife infuser fits quite well? Any tiny leaves make it through?

Anyanka said

I reviewed it here along with a few other folks http://steepster.com/teas/teaware/31893-forlife

But the short answer is yes, small particles do make it through. The mesh on the infuser in the teapot, by comparison, lets nothing through.

Thanks for the link, and great to know about the Chatsford.

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For blends, I usually make 2 cups of tea at a time.
I use a gravity steeper most of the time, right now the Adagio one IngenuiTEA http://oolongowl.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/blushing-geisha-from-steep-city-teas-oolong-owl-tea-review-9.jpg
Though I prefer my DavidsTea one, but after 1 year of constant use, the filter gets plugged all the time and has to be soaked every other steeping.
From there, I drain the gravity steeper into a small 2 cup tea pot or mug. http://oolongowl.wordpress.com/2013/04/05/daiso-haul-2-more-tea-ware/

For a serious tea session, I switch to my Bubble pot from DavidsTea
http://oolongowl.wordpress.com/2013/01/29/oolong-owls-bubble-teapot-davidstea/ the infuser in that pot (Davids Tea perfect steeper) is really good!

unflavored teas I’ve been using my new gaiwan https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=555862557777387&set=a.517063994990577.124981.516160198414290&type=1&theater I think I got the hang of using it now.

Thanks hun, I actually stumbled across your reviews of the Ingenuitea and Steeper earlier – they were very helpful, thank you! Is your Ingenuitea newer than your David’s Steeper? Do you foresee it having the same filter plugging issue? I was leaning toward the Steeper of the two due to being able to use wider rimmed cups with it.

Your bubble teapot is gorgeous and looks amazing! I would definitely put it high on my list if I weren’t afraid of the shipping cost to New Zealand.

yeah, I prefer the wider bottom of the Steeper, my ingenuiTea is too narrow for all my cups! The ingenuiTea was a gift.
It would most likely have the same filter issue as the filters look the same. Though, what plugged mine was using an orzo tea in it, so I wouldn’t put any teas finer than a rooibos in it!

david said

You know how it goes. gravity steeper all the way as the easiest.
http://www.steepcityteas.com/products/gravity-infuser

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Rachel J said

I have gotten really into brewing my tea in a mason jar with the lid on. I have all kinds of pots and infusers, but my new mason jar routine is by far my favorite way. I’ve got it down to a very smooth efficient process, and I just love watching the loose leaves steep in the glass jar.

When it’s done steeping, I pour it off through a fine strainer into my Contigo travel mug. From there I pour 3 or 4 ounces at a time into my David’s double walled clear glass.

Seriously my tea has never tasted better. And often, I’ll refill the jar with room temp water, cover it and put in the fridge. Next day, I strain it off and it’s a great iced tea.

Anyanka said

I always resteep into a mason jar, chill it overnight, and take it to work the next day. It looks like I’m sipping moonshine at my desk.

teapot1 said

Ha! You drink out of your mason jar at work, that’s awesome:)

I love to watch the ‘agony of the leaves’ as well :)

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Chizakura said

I use an infuser in a mug. I like the one from Davids. The mug itself is a good size (12oz, with a couple 16oz options) and the infuser itself is really good. It’s metal, but it’s very fine so it doesn’t drop any leaves.

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Uniquity said

At work I use my Perfect Tea Mug from Davids (much love). At home, the beau and I use the Bubble Teapot (also from Davids). The strainers are quite large but don’t let leaves through, which is great.

I also have a loose strainer from a travel mug that I take with me when travelling so I can use regular teapots. I know if would be easier to brew loose but not everyone has a fine mesh strainer, but most people have a teapot.

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Courtky said

I use my perfect tea mug at work aswell and the steeper from davids at home or with friends! :)

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Lynxiebrat said

Most of the time I use a ceramic steeper cup of some sort. I got 1 from Teavana’s for Christmas. I wish I could take pictures of my teaware, but I have no idea where my camera or computer cord is.
The one I just mentioned is white background with birds on it. It has (I think) Chinese lettering on it. The lid and infuser that comes with it are ceramic as well. I got 2 complaints about it: 1 the infuser’s holes are a bit big so a fair amount of tea escapes. The other complaint is that the cup is a bit small, and I have trouble remembering that when I am making tea and usually put what one would use with an 8 ounce cup. But it works out usually, though if I am blending 2 teas together, kind of difficult to keep the portions the same. Though I have used it for most types of teas, I love using it for my white teas.

I have a few other cups with infusers that I still use from time to time.

I also have a round white teapot that I think would serve 4-5. I has a leave blocker though some inevitably escapes. I got from my mom for Christmas. I like it well enough but rarely use it because of the size and no removable infuser. Made the mistake of using it for a white tea a while back….well it could been worse I guess.

I also got a smaller teapot for Christmas from my Aunt. It holds almost 2 cups. like about 1 full cup and the rest to top it off a few times. It is a lovely teal and I love the infuser basket. I would like to get some more teaware from David’s tea.
I am planning on my next teaware purchase to be a gaiwan, though not sure if I’ll actually use it. Would need to watch a few Youtube videos on using ones, as other directions I’ve seen on webpages doesn’t quite process. I found a few very reasonably priced at a favorite Asian grocery store, so if I never use it, it wouldn’t be a big deal. Also plan on buying this adorable white ‘lucky cat’ cup. Oh and matcha bowls, probably 2.

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