We're looking for glass tea tumblers
Hi everyone, I hope all of you are doing well. We’ve been doing some searching for good quality glass tea tumblers that we can add to our online store. It seems like a lot of people here had bought some glass tea tumblers from one company to another. Some are good experiences and some rather not so good. I would love to hear from you if you bought one, where and if you recommend it to others. Thanks!
I admit I bought mine at the Chinese grocery store. For the price I paid for it, I am very happy with it. It is a double walled tumbler , it has a mesh screen that fits in a lip in the top and can be pulled out with a handle, I either leave it in and put the leaves on the bottom if steeping time is not an issue, or put the leaves on top if I plan to remove them. The lid is the only plastic part and it has a rubber seal. It is water tight. I can turn it upside down for brewing, or toss it in my bag without fear of leaking. I often use it for gongfu brewing if away from home. The mesh in the screen can generally filter out rooibos but it could be thinner. The workmanship on these tumblers can be inconsistent and one needs to check that the screen fits snuggly on the lip and the seal is present in the lid when purchasing. I have bought them for friends when they have admired mine.
Which Chinese grocery store was it YYZ? I know you’re close to where I live and I’ve not been too happy with my Timolino lately.
I’ve seen them at a few. I originally bought it at what used to be a Yuan Ming on Hurontario N. Of Dundas last time I was there though their teaware was limited. They are under new ownership but sometimes get in unusual green teas and Oolong’s. The best place to probably find them right now is Yuan Ming’s location at Burmanthorpe w. Of Mavis. They usually have a good selection of these tea mugs which are usually of better quality than the ones at Oceans on hurontario. They also have a huge tea aisle on the entire left hand of the store just before their houseware section. Although most of it is the brands usually found at Chinese grocery stores here, they often have more premium products of those brands and I have got teas from Emei shan there as well. The store has interesting dry goods and a nice bakery but their vegetables are seconds. They are cash or debit only but the mugs are usually between $ 5-8 dollars. TNT is nearby as well. They sometimes have a wider variety of Oolong’s. I’ve also seen them at some of the houseware shops in Toronto’s China town, though usually I am picking up gaiwan’s when I wander down there.
I must have missed this post. Just seeing it now. Thanks yyz for letting me know. I’ll have to check them out sometime. I’m also planning on getting a gaiwan and yixing teapot sometime too.
If your not looking for something exceptionally beautiful you can get very cheap Gaiwan in China Town in Toronto. I have bought several there ranging from 2-5 dollars.
Something cheap is a good starter one. I don’t often get to China Town in Toronto though. Wonder if they have any at Chinatown in Mississauga (although it’s not a very big China Town.
I haven’t seen any at the dundas one there is another plaza south of the Yuan Ming store on burmanthorpe. I got my first Gaiwan at the tenren store in square one and they also have them at the king Zen garden restaurant. I don’t think they were particularly cheap but they have some nice looseleaf tea available for sale there and they do a Chinese Tea ceremony occasionally on Fridays. They are associated with king Zen tea if you would like to buy in store. http://www.zen-garden.ca/ourbranch.html
Wow I must live around the corner from you two, as I used to go to that mall at Hurontario and Dundas all the time. Still do, for the Korean stone pot every now and again.
Will have to check out the glass tumblers!!
Ubacat, why have you been unhappy with your Timolino? I was thinking of getting one soon, but maybe not if they don’t perform well.
Dustin, I’m a bit picky. The Timolino has been great for no leaks and keeping the tea hot. I just hate all the plastic. The infuser is even a lot of plastic. This really affects the taste of my tea. I have found too, with some aromatic teas the scent gets absorbed into the plastic and transferred to the next brew.
YYZ thanks for that info. I’ll try to stop at some of those places when I get a chance.
Indigobloom, I never knew you were in the area too!
I thought the insides of the Timolino were steel! Or are you saying that it’s the infuser that is plastic and even that much is to much? The main reason why I’d get a new travel tumbler (I have the Aladin now) is to get away from plastics.
The infuser, rim & lid are all plastic. When I drink from it , the tea passes over the plastic and changes the tea taste. I suppose I could remove all that and just pour it in a cup but I don’t always have a cup when I’m on the go. And yes, the even the plastic on the infuser changes the tea taste. Is there any plastic on the Aladin?
Your descriptions sounds like one of the tumblers that we have been looking into. It is made from China and I can’t really tell if its a good quality tumbler without physically touching it. Do you happen to have a picture of it?
I don’t have a picture of it but it looks close to this one, with a slightly different lid
http://www.zhejiangpengfei.com/product-9016-4.html
And the screen inside is like the mesh one on this image http://www.caffeinechronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/chinese-glass-tea-system.jpg
Thanks a lot for providing photo of the tumbler. This is actually the one that I had in mind when I read your description. Have you heard of Teavana’s glass tumbler recall last year? http://www.teavana.com/recall-glass-tumblers It looks similar to it.
I remember the recall. The teavana ones if I remember seemed to have thinner glass than the one I have with less air between the panes. The inner pane does not reach the bottom. Mine had the name jingfin or something similar in gold script on the top. At the store there were a lot of second where the seal was either missing or the lip was not wide enough to securely hold the screen. I’ve had mine for a year and a half with no sign of cracking or fisuring.
Now that I compared the photo of yours and Teavana’s, I see the difference that you are talking about. Anyways, thank you for helping me out. I want to keep on researching to see if there is any other options available before I make a decision on which tumbler to get.
Memily just got one in that style. The second time she used it the inner glass chamber broke. :(
Not that it would help with the inner chamber, but I don’t understand why none of those companies make a rubber outer sleeve like the Lifefactory bottles. It looks like the glass needs more protection!
Would you be looking for something like this?
Yeah! I’ve heard of great reviews about Libre tea tumblers. Do you happen to have one? If so, how do you like it?
If you’relooking for alternative styles this mug is quite nice and has a mechanism I haven’t seen in North America.
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Multifunctional-tea-cup-tea-division-stainless-steel-vacuum-cup-tea-car-water-cup-free-shipping/822131276.html
There are usually several types of glass or BPA free mugs on aliexpress with a similar mechanism.
Wow that is one amazing tumbler. I haven’t seen one in the USA either. I would love to have one for personal use. Thank you for finding this.
I bought a glass tumbler from a store in Omaha. I’m sure I probably did something wrong, or the water was too hot, but it cracked very quickly. To be honest, I think they’re very pretty, but I’d be wary of getting another one. But I know a lot of people really like them.
I’ve heard of people reporting about their glass tumbler cracking due to hot water. In fact, it happened to quite a bit of people.
I’m wondering if when you say tumblers, if you mean travel cups or tall glasses.
If you mean the traveling version I feel like I’ve seen the ones like yyz mentioned at a few places, I was eyeing the ones available at World Market the other day, they seem pretty well made. Thermos also makes a type that’s stainless steel and vacuum insulated, which seems more practical to me because it has the double lid- like the Libre ones (borosilicate+titan exterior) (which I drool over, but haven’t gotten yet). I wish there were more double-lidded tea travel cups in the market for the US, they seem pretty popular in Asia. There’s a few on Aliexpress.
I have a theory that the glass ones what crack easily aren’t borosilicate, but maybe lime-glass or another cheaper glass, which doesn’t handle thermal shock very well. Personally I trust borosilicate because that’s what we use in the lab and I know it to be non-reactive to even pretty nasty chemicals. Of course, if you prime your glassware for hot water, there shouldn’t be any problems.
If you mean tall cups, I think the Russian tea mugs are a really unique and lovely item.
I’d love to see what you decide on! I’m always in the market for a new cup! =)
Hi! We are talking about the traveling one. Specifically glass ones. We’ve contacted a few suppliers (mostly from Asia) but I am not sure of how the quality is. Overall quality and being safe from thermal shock would be our number one priority before we even sell it to our customers.
We will look into the Thermos one that you mentioned. That sounds like a promising tumbler! Thanks for suggesting :)
I have the Libre mug! The first one I got the lid was leaky, but I emailed their customer service and they sent me a new one right away :)
Brewing with the leaves at the bottom and sipping through the mesh works super well, but I often end up oversteeping that way if I don’t drink fast enough. Steeping at the top also works, although I have to be much more careful about temperature and water volume to make sure it doesn’t build up too much pressure. With leaves in the lid, there is also water that stays there when flipped right-side-up, so I have to be careful when I open the lid for the first time to make sure it doesn’t drip everywhere.
Since it’s made of glass inside and plastic outside, it’s fairly sturdy. I usually just throw it in my school bag so it can withstand some bumping around. I’ve even dropped the lid a few times and dented it :( but it still works. Also because of the glass/plastic, it only remains hot/warm for an hour or so, but the cup is small enough that I’m usually able to finish my tea before it gets cold.
I heard nothing but great things about the Libre mug. Thanks for contributing! I am looking forward to purchasing one for personal use.
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