Chatsford Teapot

I think that if he wants to make a large concentrated amount and then dilute for icing, that a teapot is probably not the tool he wants.

--scott

I just measured 1 oz into my 2-cup and 4-cup baskets and found that:

One oz of CTC leaves pretty well fills up the basket of the 2-cup pot -- not enough room, IMO, for the water to circulate and leaves to freely swim. If he uses whole leaves, it'll likely be even worse.

The basket of the 4-cup pot fills up about half-way. I'm not confident that would be enough room for 1 oz of tea, but the 4-cup pot is more versatile for hot tea being suitable for the solitary drinker who likes to have more than one cup as well as big enough for when there are a few guests.

I don't know about the baskets of the larger pots, but I'm sure they'll be better.

HTH.

I think Bluesea is about right on target.

I own one Chatsford, love it, and regularly debate buying a second, larger one for tasks like this.

Warren

I'm curious. How many oz of concentrate does he make with this 1 oz of dry leaf?

I like the 32 oz Adagio IngenuiTea for making iced tea. It is the same thing as the Teavana Perfect Tea Maker. Unfortunately, both companies seem to be sold out of the 32-oz size at the moment. If you're interested in that one, perhaps someone else in this group can point you to another supplier, or you can get Adagio to send you an email when they get it back in stock.

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I would get at least a 32-oz teapot; an ounce is actually rather a lot of tea to brew at one time.

I would also ditch the infuser basket entirely, and pour through a strainer when brewing is done. The basket is all-but-worthless, unless you can somehow attach a handle to it and use *it* as a strainer. (Actually, here at work I use the basket from my tetsubin as a strainer, just taking care not to pour hot tea onto myself when using it.)

stePH

-- GoogleGroups licks balls.

I don't know ... I've brewed double- to triple-strength in my 32-oz ceramic pot and strained it into a jug of icewater; it works just fine. What would you recommend to make iced tea?

stePH

-- GoogleGroups licks balls.

Also, since you have to allow for the expansion of the leaves, as much as

3-4 times the dry volume, the 2-cup basket really wouldn't work at all.

I've used the Chatsford basket as a strainer by holding onto the tab and pouring very carefully so as to not get backsplashed. Using the tab as a handle isn't something I recommend, but it can be done. It's easier to set the basket inside the receiving vessel and pour the brew into the basket then retrieve it instead of holding it like a strainer.

Thanks for all your responses.... I had to make my choice the day I wrote to this forum in order for him to have it for his birthday, so unfortunately, I did not have most of your input before making a decision.

I believe his pre-Chatsford practice was to stuff up to 7 tea bags into a coffee cup and pour the hot water over. Then he poured that concentrate into ice and water making around

44 oz. of iced tea. He did that 3 -4 times a day, so figured he was using 1 oz. of tea leaves a day. He's thinking with a large enough pot/infuser he would be able to make the concentrate for a full day at one time. I'm currently having the same thoughts. Like Warren, I've been using a smaller (24 oz) Chatsford pot and am thinking of buying a 36 oz. or larger one.

Neither my friend nor I have delved into the bulk teas yet, though we're looking for some now. He has looked more and is having trouble finding co2 decaffeinated green and white teas... would anyone here have leads on good bulk sources that might have these?

The Adagio teapot looks interesting!

I settled on the largest Chatsford sponge sheep teapot I could find, which was 36 oz. I'm kinda waiting to find out how successful his pot is with the bulk teas before making the leap for myself.

Thanks again.... :) .

My "receiving vessel" here is a 12-oz mug that easily takes my tetsubin's infuser basket all the way to the bottom. Not much point in trying to fish it out with the leaves after pouring hot tea in.

Instead, I hold it above the cup, at the edges with thumb and forefinger, and pour tea in the middle of it. Haven't scalded myself yet.

stePH

-- GoogleGroups licks balls.

Much easier than using a cup.

I get my decaf'd green tea from

and I've never seen decaf'd white tea so he might have to use the DIY method:

Brew tea for 30 seconds. Discard liquid. Brew again as usual with fresh hot water. This will remove as much as 80% of the caffeine in the first steep since it's highly water soluble. Don't bother going past 45 seconds because the rate of extraction greatly decreases and you won't get out any more caffeine.

I use the large (quart) IngenuiTea for making tea via the cold brew method: tea leaves + cold water, refrigerate overnight or for at least 6 hours. Strain into pitcher.

You're most welcome.

Yeah, that used to happen to me when I tried a RoT brew basket. It's too short and has no tabs so setting it in anything other than a cup was pointless. The 4-cup Chatsford basket, OTOH, is tall enough for mugs and the tab makes it easier to use as a strainer if one so desires.

:)