Tea in my travel mug never tastes the same-help!
Steepster has never let me down, and I imagine now will be no exception.
So I love my timilino. I love the convenience, the weight of it in my hand, and especially that it keeps my tea warm for me throughout the day.
But I can’t, for the life of me, make the tea in my timolino taste the same as it tastes in a typical mug. This may be due to the fact that the timolino holds 12 oz of liquid, while I typically drink about 8 oz or so out of my cup, so perhaps adding more leaf will help, although I’m always wary of that because my inclination would probably be to over-leaf anyway. Then there’s the issue of the brewing basket, which despite dt’s best intentions, falls short in my opinion. Mainly because it’s just that—rather short, and it also doesn’t have holes in the bottom of the basket so as to really let the tea leaves “reach” all the water. I thought that shaking the timolino vigorously might help a bit, but realized that that might have some consequences as well.
What’s a girl to do? how do you get your travel mug tea to taste as good? Shall I brew and prepare elsewhere and just pour it into the tim tim?
Thanks for your thoughts, folks!
And just in case you were all wondering, my butiki order came in the mail yesterday and I’m preparing for my life to be changed dramatically.
I have yet to find a travel mug and infuser that do the job easily so I just make the tea at home in a pot and pour it into the mug before I go or make in the mug at home and remove the infuser when it’s at desired strength. You do have to compensate for the volume, but I usually use 12 ounce mugs anyway which is what most travel mugs are so it isn’t much of an adjustment for me. Try adding more leaf, more time, or both. Don’t leave it to the last minute before heading out the door or you’ll probably end up with a mess. :) Good luck!
Thanks!
You’re right about suggesting not to do it in a rush as I’m flying out the door, though—that seems to have been my experience two days in a row and my being frantic helps nobody. I think I’ll just brew it into a normal mug and pour it in, because even though I used extra leaf this morning, the taste seems to still fall flat (I still think it’s the very short brewing basket, but I’m into massive brewing baskets that would touch the bottom of the mug if I could help it).
I ran into this same problem, and I found a perfect fix! My parents got me a Brewt for Christmas (http://www.brewts.com/) and there is also a similar model at DavidsTea. I brew my tea in it in the morning and just pour it right from there into my timolino! I find there is not much heat loss, I actually leave the lid off my Timolino until I leave the house because it’s too hot to drink otherwise. The volume works quite well for it, I think it’s actually a bit larger than the Timolino, as I never fill it up all the way. Some of the more delicate teas don’t taste quite the same, but robust blacks and herbals seem to be ok. Hope this helps!
Thanks, MissLena! I think that’s actually a great idea. I think the model at David’s tea is called “The steeper”, and I intend on checking it out when next I’m there. It might actually solve all my problems.
Yay! Happy I could be of some help :) yeah I love mine! Only complaint is that it gets stained after much use, but I’m sure if I scrubbed it with baking soda, it would look much better lol.
*MissLena – I bet if you used a denture tablet and warm water that would take the stain out with no to minimal scrubbing.
I’ll have to try that! Would be much easier than scrubbing for sure, thanks for the idea!
I am deliberating a Timolino, and I have been for the last few days. They seem so expensive but it’s also so tempting for when I have 8am labs and have to wait until at least 11am to have my tea! You’ll definitely have to update what worked for you so I can make a more informed decision haha!
One thing I find, is what you’re drinking out of makes a huge difference in taste. If I’m at a coffee shop for tea, I can’t drink it out of the paper cup. Otherwise about 50% of the taste is paper cup… I always drink it in a ‘here’ cup. I also don’t like drinking tea out of stainless steel. Gives it a metallic taste that’s really distracting, and unfortunately that’s what nearly all tumblers are made out of. The ones that are ceramic never seem to have a handle or anything so you burn your hand picking it up, or the lid is so plastic-y that it still tastes like plastic anyway.
So I very rarely have tea to-go unless it’s a really cheap tea that I don’t mind having the taste meddled with.
I think I’m too picky…
As far as the infuser being too short. Some one suggested laying it on it’s side or upside while steeping. Never tried it myself. I think tea might come out of the basket if it is upside down or on it’s side unless the baskets fits really tight to the top. Just possibilities :)
Login or sign up to leave a comment.