Tea Flask (?) Question - PLEASE Help.

I haven't seen that exact item, but in New York's Chinatown these days you can get something with a mesh filter under a screw top. The actual vessel, though, is of double-walled glass which isn't too hot to the touch even when you use boiling water. In Mandarin it's called a shuang ceng bolibei. You can see more or less what it looks like at

(I'm not connected with that company, and I'm certainly not responsible for the silly animation.)

/Lew

I am looking for the same item! These "tea thermoses" are coming in many designs, shapes and sizes. One design I particulary likes was two-wall glass cup. Unfortunately I broke it :( Another good design (I still have it) although single-wall, uses some kind of very thermostatic plastic and keeps the tea hot for quite some time. It has a mesh filter too.

I have not been able to find these in SF Chinatown, to my great surprise. However, I found some on ebay:

Sasha.

Just from looking at it it seems like it would not be a good design because you can't remove the leaves easily when they're done steeping and they would oversteep. Might not be a problem for iced or cold brewed tea but for hot it would. Comments?

Melinda

It is excellent design. The top part of the bottle (ust above the mesh) also unscrews, not only the "cork"

I also have a trick how to use these type of bottles for green puerhs where oversteeping is critical. I put the tea not under, but above the mesh and pour hot water so it covers the tea. I also do not break the tea - I put it in chunks. Then I monitor the steeping by looking at the color or pouring out small amounts and tasting. As soon as I think its done, I pour couple of ounces out of it into a cup so that the water level drops below the tea. That way the tea is above the water and the steep is interrupted. Yes, when you pour, the tea will be in contact with water again, but very briefly and if you are careful, you can manage to do it only on one side. The second filter (above the tea would be very handy, but I manage to do without.

Sasha.

OK help me to understand here: from what I see of the one on E-bay the leaves go in the water loose, and there is only a screen to screen out the leaves from the tea when you pour the tea out of the thermos. So if you are, say, wanting to steep tea and take the thermos with you (without oversteepiung the leaves badly), you'd have to steep in the thermos, decant, clean the leaves out of the thermos and then put the tea liquor back into the thermos to take with, is that right? Instead of, say, having a filter basket where you steep, remove the basker, put the top on and everything is ready to go (were there such a thing). Or what I find even easier, brewing in my regular Bodum at home and putting the finished tea liquor into a regular thermos.

Am I understanding correctly? :?

Melinda

I think I answered that question (we were both typing at the same time, so you did not see it). Brewing at home and having a thermos with you is Ok with me, but keep in mind that

1. This is a VERY light bottle - as opposed to heavy thermos
2. All you need here is a chunk of puerh and hot water at any hotel ogr gas station, so when you travel for several days - do you take your Bodum with you?
3. Believe me - I used these for quite some time - they are marvelous. Cheap too. The same guy sells other designs of these bottles too - but somehow never at the same time. Soem of his thermoses are much smaller and do not have bottle "necks".

Sasha.

Here it is:

Sasha.

Is this thermos available anywhere other than eBay???

Lol, yeah you did. The point about the traveling is very good....I know my Bodum wouldn't work on the fly as it were. And if filling the water up above the level of the filter works then that would solve the problem for me. Thanks Sasha.

Melinda

Wow. Thanks everybody. That last link is almost EXACTLY the one I am looking for. I appreciate all your help.

I have one of those small French press thermoses, which is good for tea as well as coffee, and it is true that you can easily oversteep if you don't decant the brew right away. Overall I think they're ill-conceived, but for making tea while travelling, I think they would be very handy (if used correctly).

Ian

I think something like this is a step in the right direction - at least for my needs.

It has a valve which will keep the tea separate. Granted, it's intended for making it while on the go, not necessarily taking tea around with you all day.

How fascinating. You brew the tea in the top section, release it to the bottom section, then brew some more, etc. That would work especially well with greens and oolongs.

Ian

I looked everywhere. This is the only one I found. I was amazed that in the middle of SF Chinatown you can find the whole shops full of thermoses and most of them will be non-transparent metal coffee cups. But in China you can find shops that have thousands of these transparent tea thermoses of all sizes and prices.

Sasha.

Hi Alex,

My buddy from Kunming sent me one of this design. It is his everyday cup that he carries to work. I have been using it daily since I got it. It is absolutely great! The trick I found that makes green puer work better is starting with lower than normal temperature water and get a little hotter with each refill. I get 3-5 good refills per day out of it. It is a simple design and it works.

Mike Petro snipped-for-privacy@pu-erh.net

I use that "technique" too mainly during long driving phases of my trips. ITC sells Yunan TuoCha and bamboo tuocha that are pressed into very dense tablets. I put one such tablet in this thermos/bottle (this time not on the mesh, but just inside the thermos and put 140 -ish in it. After an hour of driving this turns into a delicious drink. yes, about 3 refills (4 steeps altogether) i.e. 3+ litres of a good puerh from a 5 g tablet is pretty good by any standards.

All the best,

Sasha.

thanks for looking - if anyone comes across a source for these transparent thermoses, please do post! thx...