I am officially turning into a tea geek

[jducoeur]

On Friday, I had to get out of the house (I'm working today instead -- one doesn't waste a 60-degree day), so I had an outing to Tea Zone, the little tea shop in Somerville that I keep stumbling across online. It's a lovely little store, with lots of good-looking tea: not exactly cheap, but certainly less than TeaVana.

The main point of the trip, though, wasn't for tea, but for teacups. I'm doing tea often enough that I'm starting to get dissatisfied with normal tea balls: they're a mild pain to clean, and they often don't let the water flow through the tea enough. When I was in Tosci's a couple of weeks ago, I noticed the cute little teapots they use, with big built-in infusers, and started looking for something of the sort.

So the Tea Zone trip resulted in two teacups with their own built-in infusers. One was this model, with a mammoth infuser that almost fills the cup. It turns out to make a truly fine cup of Genmaicha: intensely green and flavorful. As hoped, it works better than a tea ball, because it doesn't get filled and gummed up. The only weakness is that the infuser has no handle, so getting it *out* of the cup when everything is 180 degrees is a little challenging.

The other (which isn't on the website) is elegant black ceramic. Same basic concept, but with an extra piece, a sort of spatula that the infuser sits in, to make it easier to remove. The infuser isn't quite as large, but is still twice the size of the average tea ball, so I have high hopes for it. We'll try that one soon...

Comments

[elizabear.livejournal.com]

Have you been to The Tea Leaf in Waltham? (On Moody, near OL)

[jducoeur]

Is that the place that is now serving afternoon tea? If so, I just noticed it for the first time semi-recently, but haven't been inside yet...

[oakleaf-mirror.livejournal.com]

Most tea balls, and infusers for that matter, are way too small. You want to have room for the water to flow around the tea, and if the expanding tea ends up tightly packed, that doesn't happen.

I hadn't known about Tea Zone, and will have to check them out. Teavana has never impressed me all that favourably.

[its-just-me.livejournal.com]

I have a very large one I use to make Thai tea by the gallon. Tea is lovely thing. Teaoposy, is neat. Not strong tea but unique. i follow this blog every now and again and I have indeed had the Seven Sons Congratulating. I got it as a gift for my uncle one year.

http://teaescapade.wordpress.com/2008/04/08/seven-sons-congratulating/

[chaiya.livejournal.com]

I am incredibly fond of Harney & Sons' Jasmine Fairy Maidens, personally. I have also obtained a glass teapot with glass infuser for the experience.

Now I really want to host a tea party! :)

[its-just-me.livejournal.com]

Harney is awesome!

[jducoeur]

We haven't done much display tea yet, but do now have the equipment for it -- ladysprite and tpau gave us nice glasses designed for display tea and a couple of different balls, as Christmas presents. So I may have to try this out...

[its-just-me.livejournal.com]

Keep the wine, whiskey and all that. I can about tea for days.

[ian-gunn.livejournal.com]

I use these mug infusers (http://www.specialteas.com/Tea-Preparation/Permanent-Tea-Filter-for-Mugs-Sm-Pots.html) for single servings of tea. They also have a larger version for pots that don't already have infusers.

Also, if you already know what tea you want, there are online retailers that are less expensive and still have top quality tea. I recommend both Special Teas, the one I linked to above, and Upton Tea (http://www.uptontea.com/shopcart/home.asp?referral=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dupton%2Btea%26ie%3Dutf-8%26oe%3Dutf-8%26aq%3Dt%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial%26client%3Dfirefox-a). Adagio (http://www.adagio.com/index.html) is also decent. Of the three Upton has the largest variety and good detail on the tea. Special Teas has a smaller variety but it a bit less expensive. Adaigo has good tea but is a bit more expensive and does not go into as much detail about the tea.

[serakit.livejournal.com]

I usually just drop the tea leaves into the cup and try not to swallow them, but your way sounds better.

[jducoeur]

Oh, definitely. Infusers of *some* sort are absolutely the way to go, especially because most teas suffer if you steep them too long. They get sour or bitter -- given your history of stomach issues with tea, it's especially important to not over-soak it. A tea ball isn't as good as my new cups, but it's much better than nothing...

[umbran.livejournal.com]

You have perhaps missed the best thing to be found in Teavana: The Perfect Teamaker.

[jducoeur]

I've seen it and contemplated it, but it doesn't quite have the convenience of the all-in-one units, especially since I'm usually just making tea for myself. It's not a bad solution, but the cups with built-in infusers suit my needs slightly better...

[umbran.livejournal.com]

*shrug*

It holds 16 oz - one big mug, like I keep at my desk. And I daresay it is more convenient, in that I don't have the nasty wet diffuser I have to find a place for.

You are, of course, free to discard the idea without seeing it in action. Your loss, sir.

[learnedax.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I got a french press instead, which accomplishes much the same thing. Only it also works for coffee.

[eclecticmagpie.livejournal.com]

Bodum makes a french press designed for tea -- the holes in the infuser are in a different place, so that when you press the top down, the tea definitely STOPS infusing and you don't get an increasingly bitter cup of tea. Of course, one of the attractions for me is that it DOESN'T also brew coffee.