Once upon a time, about ten years ago, I purchased a plain white People's Brew Basket
After that disappointment, I bought the smaller Teeli Best brewing basket and was so happy with it because of the handles and lid/drip tray that I bought the larger basket, too, as well as some for friends, discovering somewhere along the way that the exact same baskets are made under different brand names:
Teeli Best:
Finum Brewing Basket (now, in colors, too):
Finding a traveler proved to be more difficult. Those with metal rims impart a yucky metallic taste and others didn't allow me to view the agony of the leaves. I thought the thermal traveler offered by Yellow Mountain Imports
While in Los Angeles last winter, I bought a Bodum 16 oz travel press with a nice grip around the middle from a local store finding that, although the grip and mouth-feel of the lid are very comfortable, rooibos slips by the seal of the press. Aha! A light bulb went on inspiring me to cut the hard plastic rim off of the RoT People's Brew Basket and slip the screen of the press into it. Much better.
Unfortunately, the press and grip effectively eliminated the aquarium effect I desire. Could I see my tea and drink it, too?
According to Amazon.com, yes. Bodum offers clear travel presses and tumblers in 16 oz. and 8 oz. sizes as well as those in the 16 oz. size that encourages one to "Give Up Bad Tea For Good."
Since the contents of my car were approaching critical mass and since I don't drink hot beverages during warm weather, I decided to wait until I returned to Oklahoma to order. Besides, I wasn't sure which to get, the one proclaiming that I was drinking good tea instead of bad? The smaller 8 oz. clear tumbler for air travel and the 16 oz. for home and car trips? What about the 8 oz. press? What about my tea-drinking friends?
Last month, I decided it was time. However, Amazon let me know in no uncertain words for the 8 oz. press and tumbler:
"Currently unavailable. We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock."
AUGGH! The "Tea" logo tumbler was available through KlinQ.com, but for the others, the hunt was on. Could I find one U.S. vendor with them all to avoid multiple shipping costs?
Not as far as I could see. I placed an order with KlinQ for the "Tea" tumbler only to receive one with the "Coffee" slogan. Somehow, the description on Amazon had gotten mixed up and only "Coffee" was left. I returned the tumbler at KlinQ's expense and promptly received a full refund, including shipping since it wasn't my fault I received the wrong merchandise. KlinQ was very good about resolving the issue and I won't hesitate to order from there again should I find something I want.
I next placed an order with HomeClick.com by phone because I had problems with the website's shopping cart. (It may have been my laptop's settings because I was also having problems with webmail at the time due to my fiddling.) Since the website doesn't have pictures for all items, but uses Bodum's product numbers, I trusted my research to get the right items and received the 16 oz. clear and "Tea" tumblers I wanted. I just couldn't resist that slogan.
Another light bulb went on. Why not call Bodum, 1-800-23-BODUM (2-6386), and ask about the availability of the 8 oz. press that I didn't find except from Canada? Yesss! Steve ran downstairs to check their stock in the New York store while I waited and I ordered what I wanted for myself and friends in both 8 oz. and 16 oz. sizes. However, they sent the "Coffee" slogan instead of "Tea" which may have been because "C" and "T" sound so much alike over the phone. Also, the new 8 oz. Picture presses (see below) were substituted for the clear presses I requested. This is not an issue for me because removing the template makes the container clear. Unfortunately, one other item was omitted from my order. Since I received the shipment only recently, these issues won't be addressed before next week because they are currently moving the store to a new location.
Product Review (finally!):
I'm very happy overall. They're made of SAN plastic or acrylic (I don't know the difference) and are spill-resistant. My rimless RoT People's Brew Basket fits into the tumbler cap to strain my green and white teas as well as rooibos and other herbal infusions while I sip. It is visible about 3/4" below the bottom inside edge of the cap. The screen of the press also fits into the People's Brew Basket and keeps black tea leaf fragments out of my beverage if I want to capture the few that slip past the seal.
(NOTE: For some reason I don't understand, I've yet to have a tea leaf fragment land in my mouth. I've gotten leaves in my mouth only with rooibos and as a result, I quit putting the RoT basket on the screen when I brew tea.)
The larger Teeli brew basket fits snugly into the both the 8 oz. and 16 oz. containers and I can dispense with the press if I want. In that case, of course, I have to remove the basket before I can screw on the cap.
The press and tumbler caps interchange so I can put whichever cap I want on whatever container although the screen for the 8 oz. press logically won't go down far enough for the 16 oz. container since the rod is too short and vice versa. If I had known last winter what I know now, I would have bought only the 8 oz. press and the 16 oz. clear press along with the "Tea" tumbler which slogan I can't resist and swapped the press and tumbler caps at will, packing the complete 8 oz. press and only the tumbler's cap for air travel, for example. If I wasn't thinking about air travel, I would buy a 16 oz. press and a 16 oz. tumbler to have the cap. I asked last winter and learned that Bodum doesn't sell caps as separate parts; you have to buy the whole thing.
After steeping and depressing the plunger of the press, the instructions say to add any desired milk and sugar through the drinking spout. I'm not reporting on how easy or difficult this is because I don't use either with my tea and haven't tried to do it.
The flip-lids vary somewhat in how securely they fasten. One of mine snaps so securely that you shouldn't try to unsnap it with one hand while driving while another is easy enough that it might be safe enough to do. However, the lids that are more secure are also more leak-resistant. I tried each cap with a full container of water, turning it upside-down and shaking vigorously. The more secure lids slowly dripped several drops from the ends of the hinges before stopping completely while the less secure lids dripped faster and were less inclined to quit dripping. I don't know why the more secure lids quit dripping since not much water was lost and there was no lack, but it's reassuring to know that my car's interior and I won't get deluged during a sudden stop or swerve although I wouldn't put one in a backpack with books or papers unless I'm 100% sure it will remain upright.
One thing I've noticed when I use boiling water is that the heat is retained so well that it's too hot to drink for about half an hour for the 8 oz. press and a full hour for the 16 oz. press even when I keep the flip-lid open as the directions instruct. I thought to see how long the warmth is retained after I start drinking, but for the 8 oz. press, I keep making the mistake of brewing tea that I like to drink. As a result, the beverage hasn't lasted longer than half an hour after the first sip before being completely consumed. Better luck, next time. (Ha!)
For the 16 oz. press, I close the flip-lid once the drinkable temperature is attained. The brew has still been desirably warm an hour later although significantly cooler than before.
Brewing with water at 190 degrees, the cool-down wait is much more reasonable at around 16 minutes for the 8 oz.. I had to wait about 35 minutes for the 16 oz. The liquid was still warm in the 16 oz. about 2-1/4 hours after boiling and tepid after 3 hours. Because of my drinking habits, having to wait this amount of time to avoid burning my tongue isn't an issue for me, but I thought I should mention it in case you think you might like to buy one for yourself or someone else for Christmas.
I haven't tried the thermal properties with cold tea. I've wondered if adding a few small pieces of ice and then pressing them down would keep the brew colder, longer, and eliminate or at least vastly slow the dilution rate of melting ice since liquor is retained below the seal even after the top portion is empty.
Something that puzzles me is that I'm used to stirring before straining out the leaves and I can't see how to do that with a press without having a lot of leaves swim up above the seal. The brew is obviously lighter in color above than it is below and depressing the plunger doesn't mix it.
For cleaning, the instructions state that all parts are top-rack dishwasher safe, but the removable bottom of the Picture presses instruct to hand-wash only. Since I rinse all my teaware with occasional soaks in solutions of water with baking soda, I can't comment on the efficacy of the cleaning directions.
Here's what's available using Bodum's product number. The items are available from U.S. vendors, but BodumUSA.com doesn't list any of them except for the press with the grip, the first one I bought in LA. I recommend calling the toll-free number several paragraphs above to check on availability if you can't easily find the product you want online and want to buy directly from Bodum's store in New York City. When I called, I was offered free shipping if my order went over $50 and the website offers free shipping for $50+ orders through November 30 for ConUS only. While I didn't check all the countries, I noticed that when I started at Bodum.com, the webpages for other countries sometimes acted a little strangely giving me a different language than what I was reading when I tried to go back to a previous page without using the Back button on my browser.
The clear containers are old stock being replaced by the new Picture items. The black bottoms on the Picture containers twist off so you may insert your own picture between the walls to individualize them. There's a skinny O-ring in the bottom, presumably to keep your picture dry while it's inside. IMO, however, the bottom is likely to come off too easily by mistake while hand-washing unless one is careful about how it's turned while being washed. Maybe a temporary adhesive can be used to prevent this and permit the photo to be changed out when the (grand)child(ren) is/are older or when the GF/BF/SO is gone. I think it would have been better if Bodum used a threaded screw-on bottom instead of the twist-to-lock design that they did.
8 oz. Mini Travel tumbler, #1105-01B or 1105-01FM-D, clear:8 oz. Mini Travel Press, #1205-01B, clear:
8 oz. Mini Travel Picture Press, #10658-01B:
16 oz. Travel Press, #1505-01B, clear:
16 oz. Travel Picture Press, #10660-01B:
16 oz. Travel tumbler "Give Up Bad Tea For Good," #1405-01FM-T. Looks like the one for coffee, below, except it says "Tea" instead.
16 oz. Travel Press "Give Up Bad Tea For Good," #1505-01FM-T. It looks like the one for coffee, below, except it has "Tea" instead of "Coffee."16 oz. Travel tumbler "Give Up Bad Coffee For Good," #1405-01FM-C. It looks the same as the press below except it has a cap without the press rod and screen instead of a cap with the press rod and screen. (Duh.)
16 oz. Travel Press "Give Up Bad Coffee For Good," #1505-01FM-C:Respectfully submitted,