Gift Recommendation
Hi friends, I know nothing about tea and would appreciate your recommendation for a “starter kit” for a very dear and deserving friend. My budget is around $300. He knows nothing about tea and based on past experience I suspect he will become a serious tea enthusiast. Your help would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.
I know there are a lot of mixed views on Teavana but honestly, that is what got me started on loose leaf tea. I have always loved tea but aside from green, black & oolong, that’s really all I knew. Places like Teavana opened up a whole new world to tea. Now my favorite is DavidsTea.
Are you looking to buy your friend a tea set (teapot, cups, etc) or perhaps a tea sampler? I would actually start out by looking at a variable temperature tea kettle. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t just simply boil water to make a cup of tea :) Different types of teas require different temperatures.
- Cuisinart PerfecTemp 1.7L Kettle: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003KYSLNQ/ref=s9_simh_gw_p79_d0_i3?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=desktop-1&pf_rd_r=1PAQ8QRG0X285SV5EEQE&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=2079475242&pf_rd_i=desktop
I personally have this kettle and I love it. I’ve had it for at least 3 years now and it still works like it’s brand new. The Bonavita 1L kettle also seems to be great: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005YR0F40/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00
I bought my mom a Breville Glass Variable Temp Kettle for Christmas: https://www.teavana.com/us/en/teaware/breville-tea-makers/breville-glass-variable-temp-kettle-011044029.html?navid=tea-kettles&start=5
Based on the reviews I have read online, it seems to be pretty stellar. There are a ton of options out there. I bought this one instead of my beloved Cuisinart because I figured glass would be easier to clean.
As for tea samplers, there are many places out there that offer that. DavidsTea has a lot of tea samplers, some that include a perfect tea spoon and filters. Adagio Teas also has some samplers and they’re pretty decent without being too expensive. You can always take your friend to a tea place or perhaps have them pick out what they like before you buy.
Finally, get a tea strainer. Teavana sells mugs that come with a metal strainer (which are awesome, btw!) along with DavidsTea. If you like near a World Market, they also have a variety of tea strainers. I’ve also seen them at other specialty stores like William Sonoma and Sur La Table.
WOW! I don’t think anyone could ask for a more detailed response that that. Thank you! I am more interested in giving a kettle like you described, some samples of tea and the necessities like a tea strainer. The tea set can come latter. I know the first objective will be mastering the subject and learning the basics. Any book recommendations? Thanks again for that detailed response!
There are definitely a lot of mixed reviews on Teavana. They sell in my opinion a mixture of good tea and not so good tea. You never know which it is until you buy it. I think the problem with Teavana is they have to buy such large quantities that quality suffers. They need enough of any given teas for over 100 stores and the website so it is hard to maintain quality.
I think The Story of Tea by Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J. Heiss would make a nice gift. It’s a very nicely presented book, sort of like a coffee-table book but in a more compact size. Lots of nice photographs and a fairly comprehensive overview of tea history and culture, production, and preparation. I own a number of tea books, and this one seems to me to have the right mix of information and aesthetics to be a good gift choice.
How about this guide on tea ware? http://oolongowl.com/essential-loose-leaf-tea-ware/
Though would help to know where you are located for shop suggestions and such.
You can also try Harney and Sons (harney.com) or adagio.com. Adagio’s samples start at $2 and they also have kettles and tea ware (as does Harney).
Edit: I really liked Harney’s tea book The Harney and Sons Guide to Tea.
I started with Adagio and really liked them. The black dragon pearls are an easy answer for me.
Maybe you could try a tea subscription service as well? That way, your gift recipient would get a set of 4 new samples each month to try. Tea Sparrow (and Adagio) offers a variety of very good quality teas, I’ve been happy with almost every tea they’ve sent so far. It’s a great way to try a lot of different types of tea that you might not have known to pick out yourself.
Tea really came into my life in a major way with a gravity steeper, I went with this set: https://www.adagio.com/gifts/holiday_ingenuiTEA.html
I’ve been giving them out as presents ever since. It comes with some teas and a small paperback about tea. (At least mine did, even though it doesn’t say that on the description). The steeper is also easy to use as a impromptu french press if your friend decides he likes coffee more. If you’re a first time customer, I’d be happy to share a $5 voucher with you.
Thermoses are great if your friend tends to be on the go alot. My recommendations are Zojurushi for heat retention and durability. Starbucks also makes great thermoses that hold tea warm 3-4 hours and those come in a variety of styles and are easy to go browse if you’re near one.
The Bonavita variable temp kettle is a great kettle. I have the larger capacity model: http://www.amazon.com/Bonavita-1-7-Liter-Variable-Temperature-Electric/dp/B008YE3RNG/. It’s nice if you tend to brew alot of tea to take togo at once like I do. The 1L model is nice for pour over coffee and gong fu style brewing when you need a more precise pour.
To start, where do you live? And do you think you’ll want to go to an actual store, or order online? Do you know what your friend’s tastes are like when it comes to other food/beverage items? Are they sensitive to caffeine?
He lives in a very rural area of NC so most future purchases will be on line. His taste in food and beverages are refined and very open. No sensitivity to caffeine or food allergies. After I make the gift I am going to recommend this group as a way for his taste and knowledge to expand. I am sure he will learn all he can about the subject. As I have pursued this subject to try and give a better gift I think I will likely do the same. You have been so helpful and informative in your help. Many thanks!
Well if you want any suggestions on teas to get for him, this is the right place – im sure everyone is itching to recommend a good variety of leaf
I definitely think he will be amazed at the range of difference between white/green/red or gold, roasted oolong, jade oolong, raw or ripe puerh, aged puerh etc. I certainly was!
Rasseru, I would appreciate recommendations. Should I ask for those in a new post? I think his taste would not be in the area of such flavors as “Birthday Cake” or such titles as that. Some of those flavors I believe I could steer clear of. But you have to try them all to know what you like I would guess.
Yeah it might be cleaner in a new post – I’m in the UK, you are in the US, right? Fellow Americans might be able to help better, some good US vendors that supply sample sizes is what you want
I’ll be happy to suggest some nice oolong, although oolong can get very expensive!
By the way… I find it very touching that you are putting so much thought into your gift. :) Just wanted to commend you for that.
That is very kind, thank you. I get into stuff like this. When I give a gift I like to get to know the subject somewhat and make the purchased based on some kind of knowledge which helps in making it the right gift and getting the most gift for the money. Plus I have always enjoyed learning about new subjects.
These tea sets are grouped by “Teas for Chocolate Lovers” and other teas like that. They are all packaged up and ready to give to anyone, experienced tea drinkers or not, and introduces your gift recipient to a variety of teas all in the same family: http://shop.pekoesiphouse.com/product-category/tea-sets/
Putting it together would be great:
$150 on Amazon for items that last and make tea time more enjoyable (opinionated)
Kettle, http://www.amazon.com/KitchenAid-KEK1722SX-1-7-Liter-Electric-Display/dp/B00DBQ0VCM/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1450051822&sr=1-1&keywords=kitchenaid+kettle
Kamjove, http://www.amazon.com/Kamjove-Gongfu-Teapot-Infuser-TP-757/dp/B00MA4WSU4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1450051802&sr=8-2&keywords=kamjove
Tea Tray, http://www.amazon.com/10-6-Chinese-Gongfu-Bamboo-Tray-mini/dp/B00PD9XSSO/ref=sr_1_7?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1450051865&sr=1-7&keywords=tea+tray&refinements=p_85%3A2470955011
Then I would put a purchase through with Yunnan Sourcing, Yunomi, and What Cha.
Yunnan Sourcing, a few cups and plenty of samples to figure things out (this would cover some Chinese tea exposure)
Yunomi, they have a deal where they pick teas our for you so drop them $20 or $30 (this covers Japanese tea)
What Cha, I suggest samples of Russian tea, Kenyon tea, Taiwanese tea… (try to cover eve more variations)
and to make it even better, grab a book or two from Amazon on tea while you’re at it :)
(This is what I would do if I could go back in time and start all over)
Ok, my recommendations:
Personally, for beginners I recommend the steeping basket + mug method of brewing. It’s simple, flexible, and makes experimenting with different brewing parameters (amount of leaf, temperature of water, etc) pretty easy. And if he loses interest in tea, the mug is still useful for other beverages. :) You can get a mug that comes with an infuser at many tea stores/vendors (eg. http://www.amazon.com/FORLIFE-Curve-Tall-Infuser-15-Ounce/dp/B00H2XZ5X0/ ) or you can just buy the infuser (www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001JPA3Y8/ or http://www.amazon.com/Finum-Brewing-Basket-medium-black/dp/B000I68NCS/ ) and then get a nice mug from a local potter or something. Be careful about volume. Most loose leaf tea leaves can be steeped 2-3 times so for example, my 10oz mug + one serving (3g) of tea leaves can make 20-30oz of tea for me to drink! This is why I suggest a mug over a teapot, because if you want to try several different teas over the course of a day, you need relatively small serving sizes or the sheer amount of liquid gets overwhelming.
A variable temperature kettle is very handy, so if that’s within your budget by all means go ahead. Before I bought mine I would just boil water in a regular kettle, pour it out into a pyrex measuring cup, and then use a digital thermometer (http://thermoworks.com/products/low_cost/rt600c.html ) to check the temperature. That also worked fine, and a good thermometer is also super-useful for anyone who cooks meat.
Another thing that is not totally necessary but very handy is a little digital scale for measuring tea. Tea leaves come in all shapes and sizes, so the amount of leaf that fits in a “tea spoon” can vary greatly. For consistent brewing it’s nice to know how much leaf you’re actually dealing with. This is the one I have, and I love it: http://www.amazon.com/American-Weigh-0-01g-Digital-Scale/dp/B0012LOQUQ/ A timer is also useful, but I usually use the timer on my stove or on my phone, so I haven’t had to buy one specifically for tea.
For actual tea, you’ll want to get a bunch of samples covering a wide variety of types and flavours. A sample (in my opinion) is 10-30g (or 1/2-1oz), since as I said, I use 3g at a time in my mug. For a larger mug (lots out there are 16oz) a serving size might be 4-5g.
My suggestions:
http://verdanttea.com/teas/5-for-5-tea-samples/ – Verdant has some very nice, fresh, Chinese teas and this 5-for-5 sampler is a good deal.
http://www.tealyra.com/ – Tealyra has a wide variety of pretty affordable teas, and they sell 25g sizes. I would say they’re of somewhat variable quality. Use the steepster ratings as a guide.
https://shopmandalatea.com/ – Mandala has a 20% off sale right now, and a good reputation on Steepster, particularly for Chinese black and puer tea. Smallest size is 1oz.
http://www.capitaltea.com/shop/home.php – Capital Tea Ltd has a good selection of single-estate Indian teas, as well as a variety of others. It’s a Canadian company so the exchange rate works in your favour. Smallest sizes are mostly in the 20-35g range.
http://tiestatea.com/ – I like Tiesta for affordable flavoured teas. They have a 50%-off Black Friday sale that you unfortunately missed, but the “dry flights” are handy little sampler sets and still a good deal.
http://amodatea.com/ – Amoda is another Canadian company, a bit pricier but good quality, and they have 10g and 25g sizes for most teas. They also have a monthly subscription box that is popular.
http://www.teasparrow.com/ – On the subject of subscription boxes, I recommend Tea Sparrow. Another Canadian company, but they have free shipping to the US as well. You get 4 teas per month, usually 15-20g each, mostly flavoured, and a good variety of black/green/rooibos/herbal/etc. The teas come from a variety of companies/blenders, so the package will tell you the company that makes it so you can go online and order more if you like.
Addendum:
Max Falkowitz over on Serious Eats has written some excellent articles on the subject of tea:
http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/01/tea-for-everyone.html
http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/02/more-tea-for-everyone.html
http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/07/tea-brewing-equipment.html
http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/02/best-tea-where-to-buy.html
http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/08/types-of-black-tea-where-to-buy.html
http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/07/how-to-brew-green-tea-where-to-buy.html
http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/08/what-is-oolong-tea-where-to-buy.html
http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/08/what-is-puerh-tea-where-to-buy.html
Lindsay, Thank you for all this information. I have enjoyed reading over what you have shared and learning more. I have found some items to add to this gift. I am truly enjoying the learning process and look forward to devoting time to pursuing my own interests in tea after finishing this gift.
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