manderky said

Best tea for tea thermos where leaves stay in?

Hi all –
I have an assortment of travel mugs/thermoses b/c of my coffee. I’m fairly new to tea, but am jumping all the way in the pool (or pot). I have a few plastic tumblers with the sipper lid that I like when I’m at home & want to keep the tea warmer while I’m drinking. I also have a travel press like this one: http://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/b/o/bodumtravelpress-all_colors.jpg – it is stainless and keeps tea hot for hours. I’ve tried using it, but don’t like it as well for tea as I do coffee. I also have a 16 oz Starbucks stainless double wall, which I pour my brewed tea into at home so I can take it with me.

Currently, I’m looking for a setup that I can have more that just that single cup when I’m at work. I work in a pharmacy, but the only way I have to heat water is a microwave. I’m considering getting a hot pot or something similar that isn’t too expensive and keep it at work. I can work up a travel kit with my smaller tea tins, sugar & cream that I can stash in the fridge at work.

I’ve seen several glass tea thermoses that I like. The ones I’m interested in are the ones where you leave your leaves in the bottom all day & add more hot water as you drink. Can someone give me recommendations on what teas would be good for this extended steeping?

Thanks!

6 Replies

I recently got Mandala Tea’s glass tea thermos http://shopmandalatea.com/featured/tea-ssentials/double-walled-tea-thermos.html
I quite like mine – I haven’t had time to put a review up on my blog, but here’s some action shots http://oolongowl.com/princess-cruise-afternoon-tea-oolong-owl/

I like the Mandala one more than a similar model I previously had as the strainer is nicer quality and the mandala one is a nice size at around 11 or 12oz. It also pours nicely if you want to use it as a impromptu tea pot.
Only a few issues came up – it’s not leakproof and the strainer isn’t fine enough for rooibos type teas. Nice, big leaf teas work best in these type of strainers.
Edit: one other model I had was the Libre, which isn’t supposed to leak but leaks. I find all the extra lids on it was more of a pain to clean. I personally didn’t like the double screw on lid design.

If you want something bigger, Tea Gallerie has a 16oz one, though I haven’t personally tried this one https://www.teagallerie.com/tea-gallerie-mug

For teas – Mandala Tea suggested quite a few good ones that work well in the glass tea thermos when you browse their teas. I find oolongs work the best and some whites do well. Pu’er and chinese black teas do well too – you might need to test out what doesn’t go bitter with extended brewing, but oolong and pu’er will give you more resteep runs. If you are able to use the glass tea thermos as a tea pot, pretty much any teas work as long as they aren’t too fine for the strainer.

(on another note, I’d smuggle in an electric kettle into work over a hot pot. You can get cheap electric kettles that just boil water for around $10 at walmart)

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What a shame that the Easy Steep, The To-Go Tumbler Kickstarter brewer didn’t get funded. That was the best design I’ve ever seen. I hope he’s able to produce it some other way. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/joeylandford/easy-steep-the-to-go-tumbler

But failing that, I’d also recommend one with an infuser on the top rather than one where the leaves are pressed to the bottom. When you push the leaves to the bottom there is always some water left at the bottom which will add a bitter tannic quality to later brews. Plus the leaves sitting in it getting depleted. With an infuser on top you can possibly remove it when the tea has been brewed to your liking, and even if you can’t, by drinking it down a few sips, the rest of the tea doesn’t continue to brew.

I have an excellent one that I use sometimes, which doesn’t leak, but don’t remember the name, I’ll try to remember to check it out when I get home from work later.

I just thought I’d follow up on the travel mug I have and was recommending. It’s the Liquid Solution Tea-zer, found here: http://www.liquid-solutions.com/brewingsystems.html

Double walled, doesn’t leak, brews well, basket removable – or not.

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mewakeling said

I take a tea traveller to work with me every day and just let the leaves steep away. I have been learning by trial and error what works for me. I start by underleafing, just a little, to account for the longer steep time. Then I have had excellent luck with herbals and rooibos blends (which don’t easily oversteep).

When I need more of a caffeine hit, I have found that some black teas do really well. I have had great luck with David’s Teas Mint Julep, Santa’s Secret and Coffee Cake, none of them have gotten bitter on me.

However, while I do just let the leaves steep away, I don’t tend to add more water as the day goes on.

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yyz said

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ifjuly said

It’s probably not what you’re looking for as it’s no caf, but I learned a tip (from Sil!) recently that generally 52teas’ honeybush blends should be steeped a LONG time. Like. 10 minutes long.

It’s also probably more complicated than you want to make it, but maybe do it Russian style? Where you steep tea forever—seriously like 15 minutes and a lot of leaf—to make it hyperconcentrated, then pour that into a mug/cup half way and fill the other half with plain boiling water, add sweetener/dairy to taste. Might be feasible if workplace has neverending constant supply of hot water as many do.

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