Tea tumbler usage
I have been using a very nice tea tumbler from teavana for a couple months now and was wondering about how others enjoy theirs. I was told that you should put the tea leaves on top of the screen and when your done steeping to remove and throw away the leaves. However, as an on the go college student I’ve been putting the leaves on the bottom and using the screen as a filter to drink. Other than not being able to reuse the leave does anyone have any thoughts?
I have not used a tumbler but typically you would want to take the leaves out after the proper steeping time so that you do not get a bitter flavor, over steep, etc. Many teas (most) can take several brews.
I suppose though since you are on the go you really could not resteep them but you could save them for later to steep. Maybe carry a baggie with you to store them in.
Thats true, thanks. I’ve been only putting in enough leaves to get the flavor but not enough to get bitter.
Hi – I really don’t want to come off as a know it all because trust me I know just enough to be dangerous BUT the amount of leaves you put in is not what causes a bitter flavor – stronger yes but it is actually over steeping that causes the bitter in tea.
Actually, too much tea leaves to water ratio actually would cause bitterness as well. Not just oversteeping or too high a water temperature.
I never knew that Derek. I always thought it okay to add extra leaves for a stronger tea. Is this true for all teas or only certain ones?
For oolong and green teas this is most obvious, at least to me.
Black teas it is also true but less marked.
White and yellow I’ve not had this experience but not surprising given that it makes up less than 5% of my tea drinking.
Pu-erh- yes as well.
Other types I’ve not drank them before so can’t comment.
Hope this helps.
Haha i assure you this is appreciated. I never thought of it that way, thanks much.
I have a Teavana tumbler as well. I was never instructed in the usage. I put my leaves in the bottom. I use as many as I like for flavor, generally pretty close to the recommendations of the tea provider. Add water, wait appropriate steep time and pour out liquid. I generally get a few steeps using the tumbler this way, so it works out good for single brewing for me.
I use the leaves in the bottom because it seems like they have more room to unfurl and do their thing that way. That little screen can get pretty hot too. I always figured I should leave it alone once the water was poured in.
I have a Teavana tumbler that comes with an infusion basket. I just put the leaves in and then take out the whole basket when it’s done brewing and reuse the leaves for later when I get out of classes. You could put them in a baggy to take with you but as that may be a little messy as the bag may leak. I found that using sachets (I get them from Mighty Leaf, Harney and Sons, Tea Forte) works really well for one time use and a little less messy if you wish to take them with you and reuse them. The only problem I have taking my tumbler on campus is finding hot water to make the tea and trying to mix cold water and hot water for a decent temperature for re-brewing tea, especially when using green tea.
At Iowa State, the coffee shops around campus usually would give me hot water for my own tea =) just ask! It’s usually just other students working anyway.
One of the shops on campus doesn’t mind me getting hot water, but it’s typically on the opposite end of the campus that my classes are at. So, I typically don’t have quite enough time to get the water for my tea and get to classes on time. So, I have a tendency to just carry around two tumblers and then just fill them with cold water minus tea because there are water fountains everywhere, just none with the hot water spigot.
I usually put the leaves in the top basket thing of my Teavana tumbler. However, I have a tumbler from The Puritea and with that one it works better to put the leaves in under the filter thingy. Just my two cents. :)
James @ Wan Ling Tea House here.
I use travel cup (seems they are called tumblers in the US) for travel. I always leave the tea leaves in. Typically I find shu puer and most oolongs good teas to use, they don’t tend to get bitter, just strong, so topping up allows you to dilute.
Drink very little green tea, but when I have I found that these travel cups are not a good solution. Very difficult to get a good brew on the move. Plus after only a couple of top-ups it is too weak. Sheng Puer is ok, but I find the first two top-ups need to be done quickly to avoid it being too strong to enjoy, this can be a problem during class/travel.
I bought a tea tumbler from Teavana, and I really wanted to love it. It looked so cool and everything, plus – as Americans – we always want to take our beverages on the go (we tea-drinkers want to have what coffee-drinkers have!). Unfortunately, brewing good loose-leaf tea on the go is difficult.
The only way I could see of brewing loose-leaf tea (to my liking) while you’re running around campus is with the method described by Missy (above). This would mean you would need a second cup to pour the tea into. Hot water is the issue with this method (as with any on-the-go method). If you’re picky like me, you’re going to be worried that the water is either too hot for your green/white tea, or too cold for your herbal/black/oolong tea.
It’s possible that you could buy one of those tumblers with the big, removable baskets (Teavana’s yixing tumblers have nice sized brew baskets) and remove the leaves once you’ve steeped the desired amount of time, but then you need some place to put the brew basket… I would feel self-conscious fiddling around with a brew basket, and trying to put it in a baggie or something in class.
I could never use the “leave the leaves in the tumbler” method as a permanent solution. I hate over-infused tea – I /DID/ try this method with my own Teavana tea tumbler, and it yielded less-than-favorable results (ESPECIALLY with the Teavana’s Strawberry Misaki blooming white tea which I normally love). The one exception to this rule I found is with Pu-erh (shu, not the sheng). I can leave that stuff in there forever, and it never gets bitter.
My solution to tea on campus was to just go with tea bags in a mug =P I know I know… you don’t usually get good quality tea in tea bags! But it’s just so much less hassle when you’re busy running around on campus – I don’t care too much about water temperature when I’m brewing tea bags, so I just go get hot water from the coffee shops around campus. Take the time to make nice loose-leaf tea when you’re relaxed at home (this may never be possible for you in college – haha!).
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