Tea At Work

I use a cheap Bodum travel kettle because its compact

and just let it cool down if need be. You can use a pocket thermometer if you want to get anal about but after a few times you judge the temp by feeling the kettle.

I use the same cup you have for teas that can handle staying in the water, like oolongs and black puerhs, I start with cooler water in the morning and then go a little hotter with each refill. For other teas like greens or blacks I use

because it is compact and easy.

Mike Petro

"In this work, when it shall be found that much is omitted, let it not be forgotten that much likewise is performed." Samuel Johnson, 1775, upon finishing his dictionary.

I have an IngenuiTEA from Adagio, a mug, the hot water spigot on the filter in the kitchenette and the microwave.

The hot water spigot is just about the right temperature for oolongs and some greens. But for my blacks, I nuke the IngenuiTEA for 50 seconds to bring it to boiling.

I used to use a TeaOne, but I find that he single-unit construction of the IngenuiTEA is less messy than the removable infusion basket on the TeaOne. However, the TeaOne drains faster after infusion - only a second or so, whereas the full IngenuiTEA takes 10 seconds, which can adversely affect some teas if you don't shorten the steeping time.

IngenuiTEA:

TeaOne:

-- Derek

"Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority.+ -- Thomas H. Huxley

i use my jenaer tea cup or cups with filters purchased from

I use an electric kettle (Cuisinart, but there are lots of alternatives) and, usually, a six-ounce glass gaiwan, decanting into a big porcelain cup.

/Lew

I have a 12-oz thermal flask that I carry a cup of good tea, brewed at home, in. I used to drink from paper cups but now I keep a 12-oz glazed ceramic mug here.

Once I drink the contents of the flask, I usually suffer with teabags. The hot water dispenser puts out at almost exactly 170F, I measured it. For black teas, I preheat my mug and then finish boiling the water in the microwave. For green tea, I dispense straight onto the teabag in the cup.

Yesterday I brewed some Se Chung oolong. I put the leaves in the mug, dispensed water over them, let it steep for a minute and then fished out the leaves with a plastic fork (saving them in a paper cup for two more infusions.) It came out pretty good. Today I'm saving some trouble by brewing in a paper cup, then pouring into the mug through the screen infuser basket that came with my tetsubin (hell, it's not good for anything else.)

stePH

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I'll add another vote for the IngenuiTEA. I especially like that it allows me to brew a cup for myself and a cup for a friend at the same time.

Since I only drink black teas, I use the Sunbeam HotShot to heat water. It's a nice match to the InenuiTEA - one cup capacity each. One minor "problem" - the Ingenuitea is taller than the open space under the water tank in the HotShot. I drain the hot water from the HotShot into a Pryex measuring cup and pour from it into the Ingenuitea.

Not elegant, but it works well for me.

I hope this helps, Tom (with no relation to either product except as a satified user)

I've got to get me one of those. It will only brew one cup at a time for me, as I tend to have my tea in 12- or 16-oz mugs -- but that's no problem; I don't know any other tea drinkers, and if I do ever need to brew for two, I can use a teapot.

stePH

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Or do what I typically do. Steep double strong and then dilute.

-- Derek

"In love, one and one are one." -- Jean-Paul Sartre

I have the UtiliTea (Adagio*) at work, and I like it a lot. I calibrated it with a thermometer, so I know where to set it for greens. If a friend is sharing tea with me, I brew it in a BeeHouse teapot (The Tea Table*). If by myself, I use either a disposable paper filter (Adagio*) or Teeli filter (Harney & Sons*) in a china mug (Upton*).

• = example vendor (no affiliation)

Steve Hay wrote: ...

No need. If I'm ever brewing for two, I will almost certainly be at home, not at work. And at home I always use a teapot.

BTW is there a "saturation point" after which adding more leaves to the water is pointless? I make iced tea by brewing double-strong and pouring it into a jug of ice water (jug is intended for cold liquids only, so I don't want to pour too hot into it) and I wondered if I could make it even stronger.

stePH

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I do not believe there is a "saturation point". For example in Gongfu style brewing you use a very high leaf to water ratio and shorter steeps. It is all a function of leaf/water ratio, temperature, and time. Manipulating one or more variables will result in a noticable difference in the tea. However you can easily create a cup of bitter paint remover by exceeding the proper balance.

Mike

What's the volume of the Tea-One? I can't find that information at the link you provided.

stePH

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I was thinking that more leaf in the same amout of water means less room around the leaf for the water to circulate; sort of the same principle as using a mesh teaball, or the basket infuser that comes with some teapots.

stePH

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Mike Petro wrote:

Mike, I agree with your answer if you do multiple steeps. If I'm making a lot of iced tea with a small pot I will do two steeps of a lot of black leaves.

To me, the closest technology is the samovar. Savarka (the high-test concentrate) dilutes to make good stuff if it is made with something not too astringent. The supposed ideal is Caucasian, but any non-Darjeeling Indian which isn't too sharp will work fine.

Best,

Rick.

Pardon my aspirations. It's "Zavarka". Rick.

Honestly, I don't know. I'd say about 6 ounces. I always have to add water to fill up an 8 ounce cup.

Eh. Things always get lost in transliteration.

The place where I work at is pretty tea friendly despite the coffee addicts who surround me, and occassionally my employer partakes of the tea that I make for myself in the office. And everything that I normally buy for the office, he'll consume as well. So naturally I bring receipts as proofs of purchase and I'm reimbursed in my paycheck along with my salary. Our office has a small Mrs. Tea maker and kettle. I mostly use it to heat up the water, and then I have a large ball-n-stick metal strainer which I use to infuse the tea.

My boss was a Russian studies major in college, so I keep a can of Prince Vladimir by Kousmichoff just for him. I normally will drink a Mark T. Wendell Lapsang Souchong (either the China or Hu-Kwa), but we go through a lot of RoT's Mango Ceylon and Taylor's Darjeeling as well.

I use an in-cup tea basket, either from the Republic of Tea or from Upton's, and I make hot water using the public microwave in the coffee mess at work.

With the microwave, it can be a pain to figure out how long you need to run it to get up to a particular temperature, but once you do it stays pretty stable. Use the same cup and the same amount of water, and it takes the same time today that it will take two years from now. (Maybe not ten years, as the magnetrons do weaken as they age.)

For boiling water, I really prefer an electric kettle, but if you want to make green tea with one, it can be a pain and usually involves getting the water to a boil and then waiting a calibrated time for it to cool down.

--scott