Bringing your own tea - Am I the only one?

No, you’re not the only one. There was a thread about this, hmm, a month ago, but now I can’t find it. I take tea as I’m the only tea drinker, so my relatives don’t have any. Or, worse, they have an ancient box of generic tea bags that I have to chock down.

Since I’m moving anyway, I’ve been having all my tea I’m receiving this month sent to my parent’s house, so that I have tea to brew while I’m stuck there. I don’t like traveling with tea, because it’s a pain. I’ll probably bring a few ounces of a black tea back with me, too, just to cover my bases.

I definitely don’t want to not have tea while I’m stuck at home for the holidays.

I’ll always take some with me on a trip, although I do tend to convenience when I travel. So I usually travel with tea bags rather than loose tea.

You’re definitely not alone. I take tea with me wherever I can!

I wasn’t, but Steepster’s changed me…I’ve had so much delicious tea I couldn’t have even fathomed existed a year ago that now I get antsy when I’m on trips, even if they’re only for a couple days. I spent the weekend out of town and missed my tea so much I think I’m going to start packing some no matter what. Next week I’m going to see if Harney satchets in tagalong tins suffice; I’m a little scared I’ll discover I miss my loose leaf so much I’ll need to start packing steeping paraphernalia…

My bigger trouble is hot (enough) water. I have been considering getting a tiny plug in kettle for travel because we tend to stay at dumpy motels, not nice ones with lobby hot water. Hm.

I tend to travel a lot for work and will take tea even if just bringing a carry-on. I will toss a couple of the sample-size tins like Upton carries (~ 35 g) of whatever loose leaf strikes me along with a melamine cup (unbreakable) and infuser, some fill-them-yourself teabags (just in case), a small tea scale and a plastic 1/2 liter hot pot. It takes up just a little room and brings me joy.

If I’m meeting with people I will usually offer tea but most seem to decline the offer, which I find somewhat puzzling. I’m usually not shy and will try whatever others offer, but perhaps my mother neglected that portion of my upbringing :-P

You are certainly not alone in bringing your own. We travel a lot for work and pleasure and nearly always bring our own teas. We normally bring three to five different varieties along with a couple infusers. Hotel provided tea is normally awful and much of our family has yet to experiment much beyond a few flavored black teas.

I also keep a cache of teas at my office. My biggest struggle is actually having good tea while consulting at a client site where I don’t have anything more than a laptop bag with me.

David @ Dominion Teas
http://blog.DominionTea.com

Glad I’m not the only one. Always nice to have company on the crazy train.

You’re not the only one. Although, if I bring unflavoured tea, my mom always steals it. I’ve learned to being unflavoured tea as “gifts” and flavoured tea for myself. :)

I do this, too, although I mostly stick to high-quality teabags rather than loose tea. Teabags are just so much easier to work with on the go. I always have a few in a ziploc in my bag/purse.

For longer trips, I’ll bring along a few small bags of loose tea and a steeper ball. I did this when I went to Taiwan and it actually turned out to be a pretty stupid idea. Hello dummy, Taiwan is where half my teas came from in the first place! I drank local the whole month I was there. :-)