I bought this from Teavivre and got an extra one for a friend for Christmas. I was torn about what size to buy, as different websites show the larger pot having different shapes. There were two reasons I bought the middle size instead of the large. First of all, the large one at Teavivre has a long spout instead of the cute little pouring lip, and I didn’t want to risk that since it was glass. Also, hubby pointed out that the infuser cup part appeared to be the same size no matter what size your pitcher is, so I might as well buy this since I will need the same number of steeps. Mandala sells these as well, so perhaps if Garrett sees this note he can clear that up for us. Other sites show the large pot having the small lip, but I don’t know if the photo is accurate. One site indicated that the infuser is larger for the larger pots, and the number of ounces they list isn’t the same even when the pictures appear to match. This made it harder to choose where to order from and what size!

I used it for my puerh sample tonight and it was wonderful. I made one steep and immediately refilled the infuser section. The second steep comes to the bottom of the infuser, so if you don’t start pouring right away your tea could oversteep and become bitter. As it was, we were pouring pretty quickly and made a total of two liters of tea with our sample and had no trouble. Two steeps at a time were being mixed together.

Why did I want this with all the pots I already own? I don’t like the morning multi-tasking and delays. I make the dog an omelette and then start my omelette, toast, and tea. When the food is ready, I am still in the kitchen waiting for the timer to go off and I don’t want to carry the pot to the dining table and have to take a bowl or dish to put the infuser basket in while listening for the time, which I will have to get up to turn off anyway. Call me OCD but I don’t want a messy bowl of leaves on the table if I can help it. I wanted a pot I could carry with me before the leaves are done steeping and then have it mess free. See? Lazy!

The most I can see making easily with this size pot is about 14 ounces. Otherwise your leaves are in the water. Of course, you could remove the infuser, but my whole point was that I wanted to be able to make and drink tea with moving the leaves and making a drippy mess and I didn’t want to have to get up from the table. This is my lazy pot! But it will also save money because it is going to be super easy to make tea for one by resteeping a single teaspoon of leaf. One could also easily make a tea concentrate with this and add water to dilute if you wanted larger amounts at a time.

The bottom line is that it is going to do exactly what I wanted it to do. It was easy to use, it is really cool to watch, and my son’s girlfriend immediately wanted to know where I got it because she wants one. There was no mess from dripping or leaves.

A few reviews here and there said that in time the infuser cup gets dirty and stained. One person remarked in the comments that they use a denture cleaning tablet to clean the infuser portion. I will give that a try if I have a problem with unsightly staining in the future.

I am pretty excited about using this. I think it has solved my morning breakfast conundrum.

gmathis

I’ve used denture tablets before, with some improvement afterward, but usually, I let my baskets get so scaly before I tend to them, they’re pretty hopeless to begin with. (Creative minds are rarely tidy. I read that quote on the Internet so it must be true :)

ashmanra

Were you cleaning a plastic basket like this one or a stainless steel one? I wonder if that tea stain remover Mandala sells could be used on this. So far I have no staying or gunk and we have made three liters of puerh and a few batches of oolong. The stains wouldn’t freak me out, though. It’s only tea!

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gmathis

I’ve used denture tablets before, with some improvement afterward, but usually, I let my baskets get so scaly before I tend to them, they’re pretty hopeless to begin with. (Creative minds are rarely tidy. I read that quote on the Internet so it must be true :)

ashmanra

Were you cleaning a plastic basket like this one or a stainless steel one? I wonder if that tea stain remover Mandala sells could be used on this. So far I have no staying or gunk and we have made three liters of puerh and a few batches of oolong. The stains wouldn’t freak me out, though. It’s only tea!

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I am a music teacher, tutor, and former homeschool mom (25 years!) who started drinking loose leaf tea about fourteen years ago! My daughters and I have tea every day, and we are frequently joined by my students or friends for “tea time.” Now my hubby joins us, too. His tastes have evolved from Tetley with milk and sugar to mostly unadorned greens and oolongs.

We have learned so much history, geography, and culture in this journey.

My avatar is a mole in a teacup! Long story…

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