(Part 2) Best products from r/tea

This is my go to guide on enjoying tea.

As for your questions:

1. There are plenty of good things about tea. The Tea FAQ at the top of the subreddit page is a great place to start. There are a lot of myths and unsupported conjecture about tea - but rest assured, it is a very relaxing experience not necessarily because of the chemicals in the blend of tea you may be drinking (that might contribute though) - but also because the process of preparing and consuming it can be a break from the busy lifestyles we lead. Enjoying tea can have many benefits without any of them being directly related to the contents. However, be careful of believing that it is some sort of miracle drink; it may have benefits, but it isn't some sort of magic.
   
   
2. This varies greatly on your tastes. Do you like coffee? If so, what kinds are your favorites? Do you like it sweet w/ milk/cream or do you like it black? Do you like fruit drinks (juice and other things)? Green tea should be tasted first (especially if you're new) at a tea house as it is easy to prepare it improperly if you're new to tea and you'll possibly get turned off to it without ever giving it a chance. Earl Grey tea is a great starter and it is basically black tea with bergamot oil in it, many people like this tea. If you're used to fruity drinks, look for a good blended tea. Rooibos when blended properly can be mixed with fruits to give a really good flavor with a great fruit flavor (the rooibos is not tea, nor is it fruity, but it tends to allow other flavors such as peach, strawberries, etc to come out more than other brewed drinks). Mate is a great south american drink and has the highest caffeine content (other than coffee which has a lot more).
   
   
3. I have a guide to what you will need and how to do things below. In addition, go to a local shop if you have one. If you can find a small business, you are best off - teavanna has some adequate (but overpriced) teas and the staff is generally knowledgeable (but be prepared for high pressure selling techniques). It is always best to ask whomever you are buying tea from how to prepare it the best, and you always want to try and stick with local small businesses as their tea tends to be higher quality, fresher and more unique. If you don't want to spend a lot of money and want to find yourself some bagged teas to try out - I recommend avoiding Lipton at all costs, and while others may disagree, I detest STASH tea. My personal go-to teabag companies are twinnings (though apparently their New Earl Grey recipe is pissing people off) and Celestial Seasons. There is another one that I occasionally get a mint tea from but I can't remember the name.
   
   Good luck and enjoy the tea!
   
   Essentials:
   
   A. Learn to brew.
   
   This can be achieved in many ways, including asking the local tea shop how best to brew tea. Starbucks doesn't count. Not hating on starbucks, but they are not taught how to really brew tea. There are a lot of great resources, and misinformation out there. Typically speaking, it is said that it is best to use fresh, cold filtered water from the tap. Bring it to a boil, and then let it cool down. The temperature depends on the tea and what it is in it. In addition, the steeping time is adjusted depending on the ingredients as well. But a general rule of thumb (I include herbals even though they are not "tea" in the traditional sense):
   
   

• Black/Mate/Rooibos/Most Herbals: Fresh off a boil (212° F), 5 min for black tea, 7-8 min for mate/rooibos and it varies depending on the herbal blend, but usually about the same time.
  
• Green: 180° F, about 2-5 minutes depending on the type of leaf
  
• White: 160° F, about 2-3 minutes
  
  Again, this is all based on what is actually in it, so it is usually best to ask the tea shop what they recommend. If they sell more than just tea (and possibly coffee) you should go somewhere else and ask. If you like what the shop has and it doesn't just sell tea (and coffee) you can buy from them, but they're not going to have the knowledge that a tea bar/house is going to have.
  
  B. Get good equipment
  
  It is imperative that you buy good equipment. As often as I use my tea supplies if I didn't have good equipment it would already be broken. If you plan on using it once or twice a month, I suppose you could get by with an old stovetop kettle, but if you're going to drink it more than that, I suggest:
  
  
• A good single cup strainer. These range in quality and materials. It is typically mentioned wherever I go that a stainless steel mesh is good because it prevents flavors from being absorbed into the material, washes easy and is generally resistant to bacteria growth. Others prefer a bpa-free plastic mesh or other synthetic material, and some go with a fabric mesh (though I have yet to find one that isn't essentially a one-time use bag). Examples include this (which I use).
  
• A good tea pot - this is different than a tea kettle for warming the tea. Typically you will want to prepare the tea in something other than you prepare the water in. Mostly because a lot of kettles cannot take direct heat, and even if they can, they would get very hot, be prone to warping and would collect minerals from the water. Plus pouring it aerates the water (as I have recently found out). I have a couple that I use, but I typically stick with a BPA-free polymer that is pretty much shatter proof and does not leave any taste. This is because I have a kid who likes to grab at it. Otherwise I'd use clay and/or glass. Metal pots are great, as they hold warmth and look amazing, are next to impossible to break, but also require some maintenance to prevent from rusting. You can get these at amazon, your local tea shop or, if you must, teavanna.
  
• A good kettle - you can get a stove top kettle if you wish, or you can purchase any variety of electric kettles. The ones with temperatures readouts and temperature selection are beneficial, but not required. My local tea shop advises you let boiled water stand for approximately 10 minutes for green tea, and about double that for white.
  
• A kitchen thermometer (meat, candy, etc..) to be beneficial in judging the temperature. There are stove top kettles that have thermometers built in as well. Teavanna and some online retailers offer a "tea" thermometer, some come with a built in timer. While the thermometer is not necessary, it is something that you might find useful.
  
• Glassware - it is important that you have the right cups. You can typically decide what is "right" by what your pot is. You don't have to really serve any kind of tea in any kind of glass, but believe me - as you get more into tea, it becomes almost like a small tradition to you to prepare and consume it. An opportunity to relax, and if the glasses match the style and look of the pot, it leads to a more fulfilling experience. Granted, this is the least of your worries, as any mug will do - but it is nice to have matching glassware. The materials all run the same as the pots - and they all have the pluses and minuses.
  
  C. Learn to spot good tea, and furthermore, where to buy the tea. Many people drink tea never realizing there is something better out there. They drink a bag of tea here and there when they're sick or someone surprises them with it. Once they try good tea, prepared the way it is supposed to be, they wonder what they've been missing. Starbucks is a bad place to buy tea. Teavanna - while a great place to get "started" is bad b/c it is usually way over priced. I buy about 7-8oz of tea for about 11-13 bucks at my local shop. It is hand blended by the gal who runs the store and she comes up with her own blends, tests them and they really, really do taste amazing. She also has traditional teas of many different kinds. All the staff loves tea, and will happily answer anything they can about the tea. The way to prepare it is specific to the blend and you can always trust that it will turn out great if you follow the instructions. It also helps if it is a tea bar to where you can actually try it out before you take it home.
  
  D. Try new things, enjoy yourself and never worry about what someone else thinks. Even with all the advice I've given you, you simply need to find your own spot. I love matcha, I love black teas and blends. I like my tea to be slightly sweeter than others at times. I hate bitterness. But I was a tea tasting with a guy one time who says he loves to let his black tea steep for 20 minutes as if it isn't bitter he doesn't enjoy it. It is all in what you enjoy. So enjoy yourself, ask questions, and find what you like. But don't be afraid to try new things!
  
  Oh, and if you ever find a tea shop that will bake with tea you need to try that stuff. It is a-freaking-mazing.

Sorry, generic tea copypasta coming though here.

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New to Tea? New to loose leaf? Let me help.

Hello, new friend. So you've stumbled your way into /r/tea, you probably though this was a subreddit for the Mr. T, but no worries you're here and you're in good hands. We're all tea fiends and we're all eager to share our fifteen minutes of meditation, our hobby and our little slice of heaven. So why should you consider switching from Lipton to something crazy like leaves some Chinese person picked off a tea bush?

• Loose Leaf tea is often higher quality than your traditional tea bags.
  
  
• Less preservatives or additives.
  
  
• A greater variety of teas that are too delicate for tea bags or can't be effectively brewed that way.
  
  
• Greater access to fine teas, you can't find good premium teas in tea bags.
  
  
• It's more cost effective. You can pick up Twinning's Irish Breakfast tea (20 tea bags) for $2.99 at your local supermarket and that'll make you 20 cups of tea. With loose leaf tea you can buy 125 grams of Irish Breakfast from Upton Tea for $5.60, which will make you 100-150 cups of tea. You can re-brew the same tea leaves two or three times when it comes to loose leaf, but with a tea bag all the water penetrates the "tea dust" the first go.
  
  
• It tastes better. That's 100-150 cups of far better tea than Twinnings. Not to say you can't get good tea out of a tea bag, but you'll get better tea with more control/flexibility when it come to loose leaf.
  
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  So, Where To Start??
  
  ^^buy ^^theses ^^teas ^^first!!!!!!!!!!!!
  
  Where | Why?
  ---|---
  GoodLife Tea's $7 for 7 Sampler | Free Shipping! Robb has a fantastic variety of tasty high quality tea important for building up your tea pallet.
  Verdant's Five Teas for $5 | Free Shipping! Again, Verdant sells some premium quality tea. Think of their sampler as a crash course into the rich people's side of tea. But the catch with tea is that it's a lot more affordable than wine could ever hope to be. The sampler is great for building up your tea preferences and giving you a kickstart in the right direction.
  Upton Tea | My personal favorite store, they send a nice little paperback catalog every quater. They sell a huge variety of teas, from traditional English Breakfast to Tie-Guan-Yin. Not only that but they sell their teas in different grades meaning you can dabble in what is traditionally an expensive tea by trying a lower quality (but still delicious and tasty) grade of tea. You can find the grade and variety of tea that matches your wallet and taste. They also sell cheap samplers, if you wish you can take $20 and order around 15 samples and see where your cuppa takes you.
  Adagio | A personal favorite of /r/tea if you can find a store nearby! But don't fret, most of us buy our tea online so no worries if you're in Kodiak, Alaska and can't get down to an Adagio. They sell nice quality tea, their stores people are incredibly informed and helpful (unlike a certain Starbucks owned tea store). They also have Adagio XL which sells tea in bulk.
  Harney & Sons | Amazon Prime Shipping. I love my Amazon account, that's usually by go to place online shopping and being able to two-day ship a simple tin of Harney & Sons tea without the shipping cost is fantastic. They sell lots of teas and they're all very good. Maybe not the premium tea you'll see Chinese diplomats drinking but they in my opinion sell tea that all tastes great.
  Coffee Bean Direct | Who knew a place called Coffee Bean Direct* sold tea too? Again, with Amazon Prime Shipping this seems to be the place to buy tea in bulk. They're well reviewed and their tea seems to be good. If you're like me and cold brew ice tea frequently then this might be the best place to pick up some bulkier tea to last you the season.
  Crimson Lotus | Owned by a frequenter of /r/tea, Puerh_Lover stocks a great store with lots of neat little stuff. Be warned, he caters to pu'er which is a type of fermented tea pressed into bricks or pellets. In other words this is a special variety of tea that needs special equipment and special knowledge to brew. Don't fret if you're not walking out of /r/tea after a day brewing in a gaiwan.
  White2Tea | More lovely pu'er.
  Yunnan Sourcing | Again, more pu'er, but also lots of green and white teas too. They sell teaware for good prices too so if you're looking to pick up a traditional china teacup or gaiwan this is a good place to get that.
  What-Cha | Another beloved store on /r/tea, but they're pretty pricey at times. But you can always expect good quality tea and a looser wallet from here.
  
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  Just How Do You Make Tea?
  
  Traditional Western | Gongfu | Cold Brew
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  The way you're probably familiar with when it comes to brewing tea, all it requires is a teapot like this one (I highly recommend this teapot). Western or Traditional works well with every kind of tea. It's the universal method of making tea and the best place to start. | This kind of brewing is very specific as it only works with Chinese type teas like pu'er. This method of making tea is hands down the best way to make a Chinese styled tea and does wonders to enhance and bring out the best in the leaves. But this method wont work for a cuppa English Breakfast or Japanese Sencha. To brew Gongfu style you use a gaiwan which is fancy talk for a tiny cup with a lid. The idea behind Gongfu is more leaves, less water and time. You use micro-infusions instead of waiting minutes like Western or hours like Cold Brewing. | Cold Brewing is for those of us who just love iced tea. It's simple to cold brew, a vessel like this will brew a mean pitcher of ice tea. All you have to do is leave the leaves in the filter and wait 5-12 hours for the tea to brew, perfect for leaving overnight. Fair Warning: tea can go bad, the kind of stuff you'd buy at the store has a massive amount of preservatives in it. Keep your cold brewing tea out of the sunlight and don't let it sit for more than 48 hours.
  
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  On Kettles
  
  So you're going to need a way to keep your water hot. A stovetop kettle is probably the most accessible and the biggest no brainer out of everything here. A microwave heats water inconsistently, can leave an odd taste if your microwave isn't properly clean, and you really don't have a good way of knowing how hot the water is. Temperature is important. Brewing a cuppa green tea in boiling water will result in a pretty shitty cup of tea, and brewing some black tea in the water appropriate for green tea will result in a disappointing cuppa.
  
  You also have electric kettles like the Cuisinart CPK-17 which is going to cost as much as a decent coffee machine but if tea is your caffeine fix then it might be worth it. The Cuisinart is a variable temperature kettle meaning you just have to press a button and it makes the water the appropriate temperature for whatever kind of tea you're drinking.
  
  
  Tea | Temperature
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  Black | 212
  Green | 175
  White | 190
  Oolong | 185
  Pu'er | 212
  Herbal | 212
  
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  Where To Buy Tea Equipment? What Equipment Might You Want To Buy?
  
  Umi Tea Sets sells lots of cute tea sets. They also sell pretty much any kind of vessel you can brew tea in, from Yixing to Japanese tea sets.
  
  Mr. Coffee Tea Kettle A simple, $10 stovetop kettle to boil some water. It seems to have a little hole in it for a thermometer to go in if you need to measure your water temperature.
  
  Glass Whistling Kettle I have one of these, you can tell water temperature from the bubbles if you learn to read them well. It’s pretty handy but if I could I would exchange it for the Mr. Coffee.
  
  CPK-17 Electronic Kettle probably the device that makes most of /r/tea’s mouths water (that might just be the tea). This is pretty much the best electronic kettle you can buy, cheaper than a K-Cup Coffee machine. It has temperatures for making all kinds of tea labeled nicely. I have one and I love it.
  
  OTHER
  
  Want to find the right kind of tea for you? Here’s a tea discovery wheel! Try it out here.

No worries at all, I'm more than happy to help as much as I can. I'm super passionate about tea and love seeing new people want to try it out, especially gongfu!

Because you've expressed interest in having a full gongfu set up, below I'm going to give you a couple examples of starter-packs consisting of a tea table, gaiwan, pitcher, strainer, and tea cups (and a tea pet if you're really feeling like going all out).

Nearly everything I'm going to list below is from Yunnan Sourcing's US-based website, because that way you won't have to wait for China shipping. Although, don't get used to US shipping. The deeper you get into this hobby, the more you're going to be ordering from vendors who ship directly from China, which generally takes anywhere from 10-15 business days. It's best to accept that fact up front and just get used to it--honestly, now I don't even notice. It shows up when it shows up.

Okay, without further ado, here's the full gongfu package that I'd recommend for one person just getting into gongfu.

Tea Table: ~$45.00USD (US Shipping)
https://www.amazon.com/Tasteful-Bamboo-Gongfu-Table-Serving/dp/B00M3Y8LNY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1503637708&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=gongfu+tea+tray&psc=1

Gaiwan + Teacup: $10.00USD (US Shipping)
http://www.yunnansourcing.us/store/index.php?id_product=1074&controller=product

Cha Hai (Glass Pitcher): $6.50USD (US Shipping)
http://www.yunnansourcing.us/store/index.php?id_product=86&controller=product

Strainer: $3.20USD (US Shipping)
http://www.yunnansourcing.us/store/index.php?id_product=89&controller=product

^That will have all the brewing utensils that you'd need to get started with gongfu (though some would argue you don't need the tea table, just use a cloth or a dish or something, but since you seem interested in the full package, that's what I'd go with...that's actually the table I use now!)

Now...when it comes to tea...

I'd first highly recommend picking up a scale (this one from Amazon is only $9.00USD and works really well: https://www.amazon.com/American-Weigh-Scales-AWS-600-BLK-Nutrition/dp/B000O37TDO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1503639369&sr=8-1&keywords=American+weigh+scale

As for strong sweet flavor that doesn't need sugar, I'd recommend starting with oolongs, which are typically very smooth, sweet, floral, and somewhat creamy.

Here are a couple of my personal favorites that are extremely budget-friendly, ship super fast, and are all from Eco-Cha.

Four Seasons Spring Oolong: https://eco-cha.com/collections/all-tea/products/four-seasons-spring-oolong-tea-1

Dong Ding Oolong: https://eco-cha.com/collections/all-tea/products/dong-ding-oolong-tea

Alishan High Mountain Oolong: https://eco-cha.com/collections/all-tea/products/alishan-high-mountain-oolong-tea

If you're feeling adventurous, then I'd definitely pick up some puerh as well. The Basics Puer Tea Sample Set from White2Tea is
one of the best introductions you can ask for. It's $39.99USD for 400g of solid tea (4x100g cakes of Spring, Autumn, Huangpian [large leaf], and 10-year-old tea), and it always comes with a free puerh pick, and ships anywhere in the world for free, which is super nice.


If you purchase everything I listed, you'd spend ~$130.00USD, which would set you up with a tea-set you would grow into, and enough tea to last you roughly 2 months, and that's assuming you drink 10g of tea every day, which is highly unlikely.

If you're on a super tight budget, then I'd recommend ditching the tea table and just getting the gaiwan+teacup, the scale, and the teas. Everything else isn't nearly as important, though if you have the money, it's certainly nice to have the full setup.

Ontario-based tea snob chiming in.

Capital Tea has been one of the best tea shops I have ever had the pleasure of doing business with. Owner is a solid human being, and they have extremely accessibly priced, high quality teas. My favourite part of the shop is the absolute full transparency in its selling. Really recommend the shop.

Give Tao Tea Leaf a shot for China teas. They are a little on the pricey side, but honestly, they are the best China teas I've ever had. Tao, the owner, goes to China every year to buy from different estates. He grew up in China, and I believe his parents worked in tea, too, so he has the kind of knowledge and connections to get extremely good quality tea. Seriously. Buy some. Especially the "Award-winning" teas. They were picked out as winners, by professional cuppers, at the North American tea championship. Free shipping over $35. Can't go wrong. Don't bother buying non-China teas there.

For Indian teas, especially Darjeelings, go for House of Tea. They're online ordering isn't the best, but if you can make it into Toronto, they're worth checking out. In the springtime, call ahead and ask when they're getting their first flush Darjeelings in. It's better if you know what you're talking about before you go (I've had pretty unhelpful service there, a staff member didn't even know what I was asking when I inquired about the estate).

For blended teas, check out Herbal Infusions. The owner is, again, a solid guy, and a complete wizard with his tea blending. The mint cacao tea, and the grapefruit oolong have been two of the most memorable blended teas I have had.

Camellia Sinensis is really great, too, as /u/exmechanistic mentioned. All four taster-importers know what they're doing, and all of them are passionate about their work. I've met Kevin, one of the taster-importers and authors of this book, and they all seem crazy knowledgable about their product. There aesthetic is brilliant, their packaging, great. Their shop itself is all done perfectly. The one thing I'll say about them is that for the price point, the quality of some of their teas can be improved. I'm not blaming them at all, but if you have a very sensitive palate, some of the teas can be a little disappointing for the price. I was the tea consultant for a coffee shop that just opened in Toronto, and the first thing I did was taste like thirty samples from the shop. Some samples hit it out of the park. Others left something to be desired.

In terms of general knowledge of tea, I've found these books immensely helpful.

The Story of Tea This is the official textbook of the Tea Association of Canada's Tea Sommelier certificate program (of which I'm taking) and is probably the best tea book out there right now, in terms of amount of content and quality of content. At least of the ones I - and everybody I talk to in the community - have come across. Comes in paper and in e-book form.

Tea I've had the chance to talk to Kevin, one of the authors of this book. He, not to mention his co-authors, are immensely knowledgeable. He and the three others are taster-importers, and have been in the business for twenty years. This book has beautiful pictures, and is a great general resource on tea. I used to manage a tea shop owned by a taster-importer, and once I started, he held up the book and asked "Have you read this book? Yes? Good. Because it'd be the first thing you do on this job if you hadn't." What I'm trying to say is that it's a good book. Not on e-book, to my knowledge, but it's a great thing to have on hand.

The Tea Companion This was the first book I picked up on tea, and after a fair amount of time, it's stayed among the books I'd recommend to people. It's an incredible, gentle introduction to the world of tea.

Finally - and this may be a little audacious of me - but I'm currently writing a tea book. I'm in the rough draft stage currently, but I'm uploading all of my content for free on a blog I run. When the time comes to publish, I think I'll set up a pay-what-you-want for the e-book format. I've gotten the thumbs up from one of the co-founders of the Tea Guild of Canada, and like to think the information is pretty good and relevant. It's not done yet; not even halfway done, but if you want an opportunity for a bunch of free content on tea, which will eventually become a book, here's my blog.

Hope you can find some use! (and by the way, if you guys have a problem of me promoting my to-be book, I will totally take down the last link. I don't monetize it, I don't have a shop, and truly just want to share my knowledge of the lovely camellia sinensis plant, but just let me know and it'll be gone!)

That's awesome he wants to learn more! Hope you also get to enjoy that exploration with him.

My first idea is usually to look around what you have locally, whether specialized tea shop(s) or more commercial tea selection at coffee places. Starting where you are can connect you with the people also interested and supports businesses around you.

Next my question might be whether "black-based" means flavoured or not. The highest-end black teas I have are single-origin and I usually brew them in greater tea (g) per water (ml) ratios, keeping the leaves in the water for short periods (10-20 seconds, increasing after the 3-4th time usually), usually referred to as "gong-fu" style. If that's what your boyfriend wants to go for, a nice simple starting point may be something like this, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MA4WSU4/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_wasIDbQBJ6CBZ.

If flavoured, I would usually more go for "western" brewing (less leaf-to-water ratio and longer steeping time) and you could search for "glass teapot" in Amazon or elsewhere.

For tea itself, the vendor list on /r/tea is an amazing place to start, https://www.reddit.com/r/tea/wiki/vendors/page_01. Once you've gotten into them there is a surprising amount of variability in flavours from varying places in the world and he might narrow down what types he likes most.

I'll throw in a plug for what I believe to be the best creamy earl grey you may ever find, http://www.lucasteas.com/shop/black-tea/lucas-earl-grey-cream/ , just in case you're looking for flavoured tea suggestions.

i only brew tea to drink it later once cold, so my opinion may not be relevant for most posting here. i used to drink http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00112GBO0 but the price went up 50% this past year, so i started looking around for a similar tasting assam&ceylon, similar potency (1g:8oz) alternative. i found this at my local indian grocery http://www.amazon.com/Tetley-Loose-Leaf-Tea-31-75-Ounce/dp/B001VIIXXQ to be a worthy substitute which is slightly less leafy and also keeps longer (does not ferment) in my fridge enabling me to make larger batches less frequently. the typical Adagio sipper posting here won't be impressed, but if you consume 100g of tea per week (6 gallons), you are looking for the best neutral pH robust malt:leaf tea flavor money can buy, and that blue box Tetley loose suits my needs perfectly - the Indians shopping at the Patel brothers grocery chain can't seem to get enough of the stuff, and they come from a former British colony that grows a quarter of the World's tea production. an additional bonus with that Tetley is it's dust free fanning size baked spheres of leaf - agitate well in my 82°C/180°F Mr.Coffee Tea Maker, thus helping liberate all it's best tea notes. if you buy either Dilmah or Tetley, http://i.imgur.com/xHMfop8.jpg make sure you transfer it to another sealed container once you open their foil pack, as the box they ship in does poorly for storage and reuse. I have not found any Chinese or Japanese blacks to like, as I generally find them to be bland, leafy and over priced just because they are whole or broken leaf - when compared to dark malty fanning or orange pekoe size Indian blacks. unlike most posting here, i don't like leafy tasting tea, which is why i only sample whites, greens, and won't use stevia as a sweetener. the only chinese teas i regularly drink are dark oolong.

Maybe you could have an assortment of teaware so people could pick? Call the 100ml a "small" for 1-2 people, and call the 200ml a "large" for 2-4 people.

I'm not familiar with those exact pots, but I like that style. They're great for beginners or people not familiar with a gaiwan. I started out with a very similar pot made by Hario (this one) and have been very happy with it. Maybe you could also keep around a couple gaiwans just in case someone wants to try one?

This sounds like a great idea, though. I wish there was a shop near me that served tea gongfu style like this!

Do you live in a major metropolitan area? A tea shop where you can ask for advice is a great place to visit, and usually you'll be able to sample a wide variety of teas on the spot. Check out the FAQ on the sidebar for some light reading or a site like Teaclass for a little heavier reading.

A supermarket isn't a bad place to start out, though there's usually more choices in something like a whole foods or trader joe's. An asian grocery store usually will have better quality chinese/japanese tea, both in loose leaf and in teabags, and specialized tea shops are the best places to go.

If you're set on online shopping, a site like Upton Tea or Adagio where you can order a wide variety of samples so you can find out what your tastes gravitate to is the best route to go.

In terms of tea preparation, start out simple. If you have a mug, great! All you need is a way to steep your tea. If you choose teabags, that's it. If you want to go for loose leaf, you need an infuser basket or a tea ball. You want a way to boil water, either a stove top kettle or an electric kettle, and a way to measure the water temp like a meat thermometer. Different teas have different steep times and water temperatures to use so your brew doesn't come out bitter from oversteeping or burning it with water too hot. That's it to start off with!

If you are looking at teas from unusual origins, say the country of Georgia, try what-cha.com.

if you are looking mainly at Chinese teas, Yunnan sourcing and teavivre are good places to start.

you can get some wonderful Taiwanese teas at Beautiful Taiwan Tea, and they have a very reasonable threshold for free shipping. You can also go to Yunnan sourcing's Taiwanese sister site taiwanoolongs.com

If you want to go down the rabbit hole that is Puerh, try out white2tea (they also have some gorgeously yummy black teas and oolongs) as well as the aforementioned Yunnan sourcing.

yunomi is a decent place to go to for Japanese teas, but since it is a marketplace type website, you would have to do some hunting (and Japanese teas are not my speciality, so I will leave much of that to other users.)

for flavored teas- there's really a plethora of places to get those, but the one that I have found with the best tasting flavored teas of the bunch is New Mexico tea company. This is just personal opinion, some people like Adagio better (and I do love Adagio's chestnut tea as well as a few others, so don't take that as a strike against Adagio).

I would stay away from most mall-type stores like Teavana because a lot of their teas are more cheap filler ingredients and less tea, just to cover up the low quality of their teas.

On the subject of tools, seeing as you are a coffee guy, might I suggest a hario teapot? A gaiwan would be the next step in going towards the gong fu style of tea. A very basic 100ml gaiwan would cost you less than 5 bucks + shipping. (shipping is expensive from here, so I would suggest getting more than one item).

For very basic tea drinking there are always in mug basket infusers.

Or you could always go grandpa style, where you just toss your leaves in a mug and refil the water whenever it gets low.

I'd caution against getting a 60ml unless you're sure you want one - a 60ml nominal gaiwan is gonna produce 30-40ml of tea per steep, basically one tiny (eggcup-sized) cup. The can also lose heat faster than is desirable for teas that work well with boiling water. 90-120ml would be my recommendation, and you can stack 3-4 steeps to get your 8oz.

If you decide you want a scale, this is the one that basically everyone has. You can go the 100g if you want more resolution, but the 600g allows you to weigh directly into heavier brewing vessels, and measure the amount of water you pour in if desired (which can be useful in some circumstances). The 1kg isn't as accurate as is desirable, imho.

Oh, one other thing I forgot; water matters. That's not to say you have to use bottled water for tea, but if you have a filter or dispenser in addition to tap water, it's good to try each with whatever kind of teas you like and see which works best. It's crazy how much the mineral profile of the water can affect the way the tea extracts, tastes and feels.

Good luck!

Since you didn't specify what kind of tea she preffers, I'll say this; Gun Powder Green Tea! I've had many brands but HERE is my favorite thus far! It's cheap, it's organic, great reviews, great experience! You'll need a metal infuser to go along with it though, if she doesn't already have one. If she doesn't have one, HERE is the one that I use. It doesn't have great reviews, but it works perfectly if you just line it up when you close it. Hope this all helps!

They are a bit of a money sink but I would recommend looking at cast-iron teapots and Tetsubins for college. This one looks pretty cost efficent even though the cups will probably kill your hands. They cost more than porcelain but it is a nice relief to know that they won't break. I don't know much about other kettles but I love Adagio's UtiliTEA. I have had it for a good year and it is still running strong.

I might recommend this kettle, mostly just cause it's cheaper than the one you chose. The one you linked to will work well, I'm sure. If you're looking to splurge, this is the kettle I'd like the most, but I'm gonna get this kettle soon.

The pour is actually very important in making good tea, and most people don't realize that. Gooseneck kettles have a great, easily controllable pour. You might not notice it for a while, so that's why the first kettle is good for beginners.

I know it's a bit expensive, but I have and love this OXO gooseneck kettle

It'll let you set it to any temp between 104F and boiling. It has a keep warm feature which is amazing for multiple brews; if you put the kettle back on the base within 30 seconds it'll keep the water at the temp you specified.

The gooseneck is designed for pour over coffee but it works great for small brewing g vessels like a gaiwan or wehn you need to add just a tiny bit more water.

search for an "ice tea maker" on amazon from mr.coffee, hamilton beach, west bend. they all make models that brew 2L-3L properly every time. i still use an old mr.coffee TM3 model which is cheap and works great even after 1,000 brew cycles. trust me, i know what i'm talking about - i drink 2-3L each DAY. I use standard dirt cheap 8-12cup coffee filters when brewing loose tea in the TM3. once you find the model you like, double check pricing at walmart.com as they often sell kitchen gadgets at a deeper discount with cheap ground shipping.

be mindful of your sweetener since you drink so much. years ago i switch from sugar to cheap kirkland(costco) sucralose(splenda) which helps keep weight off and my teeth from rotting, but if you don't want artificial, then your only choice is Stevia which may take a while to get used to it's leafy aftertaste. I suggest cheaper bulk Stevioside 90% powder, not any commercial brand. i flavor my tea with an extra ounce per cup of milk, pink grapefruit juice, cranberry juice, or peach nectar, whenever I find them on sale, so no need to buy exotic tea blends, as any robust black or green will do.

one additional suggestion is to be mindful of your tap water quality. i use a counter top canister filter for under $30 that will last for years, and totally removes the chloramines(ammonia taste) from my NYC tap water.

I recommend brewing with broken piece loose teas, not full leaves, since broken pieces will agitate better in a 8-12 cup filter and give you a deeper richer full tea brew flavor and color. my favorite high volume best value black tea brewing would be Dilmah http://www.amazon.com/Dilmah-Ceylon-Loose-4-41-Ounce-Boxes/dp/B00112GBO0 or for a wide flavor blend try Taylors; http://www.amazon.com/Taylors-Harrogate-Yorkshire-8-8-Ounce-Packages/dp/B001E5DXY0 and you only need 1 gram per 8oz cup while measuring i recommend using a cheap $10 digital postage scale since you need to measure by weight not volume(spoons). if you don't want to deal with filters and weighing, use http://www.amazon.com/PG-Tips-160-Bags-17-6/dp/B000YB7XQ4 at a ratio of 1 bag per pint, so for a gallon or 2L-3L i use 8 bags - these are large cotton bags that leave the tea room to agitate - unlike most commercial paper tea bags that can only seep.

in my daily ritual the way my TM3 works is the pitcher is double the capacity of the brew water hopper (presumably so you can add ice cubes to the pitcher). so I double cycle brew the same leaves till my 3L pitcher is nearly full, then I transfer it to any 2L-3L size liquid serving or storage container and add my sweetener there. I use gallon plastic screw cap jugs, but you can go with glass by using http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000DE9B5 to keep the brewed tea liquid from new air exposure. by using air sealed containers you can stock up to a weeks worth of tea in your fridge before a fermentation taste is noticeable on pre-sweetened with splenda or stevia - with sugar the fermentation taste is noticeable by the forth day.

This electric kettle was $22 when i got it, but it's served me very well for over 2 years now. And it even survived my coworkers using it as a fucking teapot

=^ ]

multiple times.

https://www.amazon.com/T-fal-Balanced-1750-Watt-Electric-Temperature/dp/B0086UJQN8/ref=sr_1_7?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1467010643&sr=1-7&keywords=electric+kettle+adjustable

$27


And this is my suggestion for a teapot for 2 reasons

https://www.amazon.com/FORLIFE-Ceramic-Teapot-Infuser-16-Ounce/dp/B00HFGSPWM/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1467010804&sr=8-18&keywords=forlife+teapot

It's cheap and safe. For borosilicate glass i dont have time to temper shit .-.

And the second being you can Take out the strainer to use in cups and it is very good quality. Or you can do that WITH the black part and lid to keep the cup sealed and warm while you steep it in a cup. I like to have the option to do both and honestly, yea all teapots are pricy. But you'll pay $13 for a single cup brewer set anyway and this is one of the cheaper teapots available that isn't going to break.

Same thing, 2 years, still perfect.

That does seem nicer than your typical 'push button to boil' pot, but I prefer my Zojirushi CV-DSC40 which is awesome. It keeps 4 liters of water hot all the time; vacuum insulated so only uses a few watts. Never having to wait on water heating up is a huge benefit.

And 4 liters means plenty of extra hot water so I can preheat my thermos and measuring bowl (I brew in a measuring bowl), even if I am making a lot at once.

I keep it set at 195; this is perfect for black and oolong. If I want to make green or white, I pull water out (at 195) for my preheat, and add a little fresh water back in to lower the temp to 175-180.

Granted it is a tad pricy, but I am of the opinion that it is worth spending a lot on things that you are using every day. I have had mine at least 8 years now, used near daily, and only had to replace the lid assembly once.

If you have a kettle and want an easy to manage work teacup, I'd check out this or this. The Kati's infuser is really easy to clean if you have a small trashcan nearby (just put a grocery bag inside) and although they're a bit pricy, you'll save money by being able to use loose-leaf tea. The Forlife is a bit harder to clean but is still doable.

However if that still doesn't work, Twinnings has a good range of flavored black teas. I also would check out Harney and Sons. A little bit more pricy, but totally worth it. I've had Paris, Florence and a red raspberry tea and all three have been nice.

What do you dislike about the design - The plastic handle? The base? The shape of the kettle?

If you can narrow that down, it will help with suggestions.

The Cosori isn't stainless, but it's still pretty attractive if the matte black works with your kitchen. OXO makes a stainless one that is pretty popular around here.

All the people I know who've owned glass tumblers have had them break. I'm usually very careful with my stuff, so I bought one too, but it broke within 6 months. It looked nice while it lasted, but what a waste of $25.

This one from Zojirushi is the best one on the market and a great example of Japanese engineering. They ripped off the design from Nissan, which at the time had the most well-designed tumbler on the market, but they made several modifications that made it even better. The older model maxes out at 16 oz, but the newer model comes in 20 oz. The newer model also has a high quality non-stick lining that should prevent any odors. Also, it's small enough to fit in a BMW cup holder.

They're a little expensive (around $32), but they last forever. My parents have used the older model daily for 3 years, and the mugs still look brand new.

Hi! If you want to get into tea, I would reccomend starting by watching Alton Brow's episode on tea here. It's a good background on everything involving tea and tea brewing.

If you have a Peet's Coffee near you, you can go and order mugs of tea (brewed with loose leaf). They will give you free hot water refills so you can drink as much as you can handle. You can find a tea you like without having to commit to a huge container.

I prepare my tea in the morning in a tea pot (I have this one, but I don't like it because it's hard to clean) and pour it into a travel mug.

They make travel mugs that are similar to a frech press (here) where you put the leaves and hot water in and just push down a stopper to stop brewing. I'm really picky about the lids on my travel mugs, so I don't own one.

For resusable tea bags, the most popular style is a [tea ball] (http://www.amazon.com/Progressive-Stainless-Steel-Mesh-Ball/dp/B00004RIZ7/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407090137&sr=8-1&keywords=tea+ball) (although the one I linked is a little too small to allow the tea to fully unfold). They are cheap and fairly easy to clean, but you have to be careful where you store them so they don't get bent up.

They also make tea bags for loose leaf tea. These would be easy to pop into your travel mug. You can also find bags made of muslin that can be washed out, but I don't know where you would do that.

WAIT WAIT.

I have exactly the thing for you. I got it when I had no where to put my tea bags when I was studying in the library or in a class room. It works great.

The Aladdin Tea Infuser Mug, only $20. It has an basket that you can put a tea bag, tea leaves or even coarse coffee grounds in and then, after a few minutes, you can flip the basket up into the lid of the mug and away from the water!

I've had it for a little over a year, and I think I might replace it sometime soon. The plastic got stained from the tea, so it's not perfectly clear, and the basket is starting to degrade. (Not the netting, but some plastic bit on the wire netting). But it's still working perfectly! It's also 100% leak-proof - every morning, I pour in hot water, close the lid immediately (not waiting for the water to cool), and throw it into my bag with my laptop or textbooks. I've never had a problem.

EDIT: While the libre tea thermos being made out of glass is great (no staining, even if it's a bit heavier), note that you can't infuse the tea by pouring hot water over the leaves. I've done a lot of looking into this, and the Aladdin is really the best bet. You can infuse the tea by flipping down the basket and pouring your water over the basket, underneath the lid. I can take a video/picture if this is hard to explain - or I can show you the degradation of the product over a year of really heavy use (more than once daily).

I've been meaning to buy [this book, "Cooking with Tea" by Lise Stern] (http://www.amazon.com/Culinary-Tea-Recipes-Steeped-Tradition/dp/0762437731) - the recipes look amazing, and I want to start using tea infused flavored foods in my afternoon teas.

But I can tell you that I have ad a lot of luck using teas in cookies, and pastry, such as flavored teas (lemon, bergomot), or strong blacks. I have also used steeped black teas when making fruit cakes, or walnut rum cams. You steep the dried fruits and nuts in a black tea so it acquires the flavor. DELICIOUS! :D

This AWS 1kg x 0.1g scale would be the perfect addition.

If you travel and don't already have one, a nice thermos could also be valuable. Zojirushi makes my favorite.

Personally, I haven't had too much success buying teas from Amazon.

What kinds of foods are you interested in cooking? There are a ton of great recipes for cooking with tea. It's most commonly used in desserts like ice cream and cookies, but there are lot of savory things you can do with it as well. A couple of good cook books for getting started are Culinary Tea and Cooking with Tea. I also have a few recipes if I know what you want. :-)

• If you're an engineer and have a little disposable income, one very popular choice is the Bonavita 1l variable temp kettle. Sometimes the lids on these do rust for no apparent reason. Cheap thermometers are cheap, and you might want to have one.
  
  
• A 10-12oz ceramic mug is good for starting out with. There is a Chinese style with a lid that has a lot to recommend it.
  
  
• Tea from good vendors comes in packaging that will keep it adequately fresh for months. You should just drink it up soon enough that you don't need storage.
  
  
• You are missing a basket-style infuser.
  
  
• Not absolutely necessary, if you are sticking with small broken-leaf tea that can easily be measured with a spoon, a small digital scale is inexpensive and useful for measuring tea with large, fancy leaf or tea that has been compressed.
  
  This is basic gear for so-called "Western-style" brewing for one person. If you decide you want to scale up with this method, there are pots that work with the same principle.
  

Adagio kettles are pretty nice actually:

https://www.amazon.com/Adagio-Teas-utiliTEA-Variable-Temperature/dp/B001A5NFQA

They have the functions you'd want (except for holding it at a given temp for long periods of time, like a Zojirushi).

They're also pretty durable, which is the biggest problem I've run into with electric kettles--they tend to not last that long (which is the reason why I just use a microwave and stove kettle at home--the electric kettles I maintain at another house, where I've settled on Adagio after trying different brands over the years).

Zojirushi makes the best ones really, but those tend to heat slowly and hold water at a temp for a long period of time, rather than heat quickly. They're also more expensive. But if you would like to have water at a given temp all day, they might be the better bet.

​

It seems you will not be making tea for people other than yourself on a regular basis so you don't need a tea set.

I personally have never needed variable temperature kettles. Others love them. I personally don't own but have used this Bonavita. It's a tad pricey but I love the goose neck. One friend runs a teashop and uses those there. Cheaper electric kettles exist.

I would get a cheap porcelain pot, with a shallow brew basket. What happens is the tea brews and as soon as you pour out the first cup, the water level goes below the brew basket and can sit without overbrewing. The shallow brew baskets are 5 bucks and can be found at most large Chinese grocery stores.

Guayusa is super energizing, even moreso I think than a strong black tea or matcha or even yerba mate. But like camellia sinensis tea it gives you a sustained type of energy, not like the peaks and valleys of the coffee buzz.

Yea I've got some Lipton sitting at home so might start with that (or the bags of English/Irish breakfast I've got), but the loose leaf you linked earlier certainly seems like a fine option. Have you ever tried cold brewing overnight for this? I've got one of these and it's worked pretty well for the fruit-flavored loose leafs that I like.

You don't need much in terms of apparatus. Personally, I would begin with the following. Keep in mind I am only talking about loose leaf tea.

• Something like this to which you add loose leaf tea, water, let it steep, and then push the button down to decant
  
• A digital scale to accurately measure the quantity of dry leaf. Something simple like this will suffice
  
• If you're going to experiment with a variety of tea types (black, green, white, oolong, etc.), I would highly recommend a variable temp kettle. Or at the very least, an immersion thermometer. This will help you accurately measure the temp of water. I have this one
  
  The above combined will set you back <$60. Honestly, you can substitute the Kamjove tea maker with a simple all purpose teapot, eyeball the dry leaf instead of weighing it, and guess the temp of water and do without the variable temp kettle - I personally wouldn't do it for a variety of reasons, but if you're on a budget...
  
  The next step, and the most important one, would be to get your hands on samples of tea. A lot of vendors, incl myself, offer samples. Get small quantities from a variety of vendors so that you have enough tea to experiment with, but not so much that you're stuck with a large quantity of tea you don't like. Once you have sampled enough to determine your likes and dislikes, invest in larger quantities of tea.
  
  Good luck!

http://www.runa.org/

I don't know about OP, but I bought my bag on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004FSASKU/ref=pe_175190_21431760_M3T1_ST1_dp_1

At basically $1/oz, it's a pretty awesome deal.

I use this and it works great for me. I only drink black and green, but there are three settings, the middle being for oloong or white. Works great so far. Bonus it is quite small for a non-traditional brewing spot like an office or a personal room.

While not a true Camellia Sinensis, guayusa is a great caffeinated holly tea native to Ecuador with natural sweetness. You can check it out here and here. Yaupon holly, a sister plant to guayusa, is also a naturally sweet caffeinated holly native to Southeast North America.

If you want simple western style brewing, which of you are in the Americas or uk is the norm these two items will get you set up right. All you need is tea. especially if you want to get into oolongs, which can be very fussy about temperature, you will find a kettle with temp control a dream come true.

Also if you were in the USA look at Harney and sons. They a great first step, offering a wide variety of low cost samples with free shipping.

FORLIFE Curve Tall Tea Mug with Infuser and Lid 15 ounces, Turquoise https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0017938B6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_nGsKBbWD971BZ

Epica 6-Temperature Variable Stainless Steel Cordless Electric Kettle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01G7OL9ZW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_OGsKBb3ETZ80H

I use the provided hot water in our office kitchen. We have two systems -- the water cooler gives water at about 180F and the coffee maker provides plain hot water at a slightly higher temperature (both are filtered). I brew in gaiwan, in a Western-style teapot, or grandpa-style in a mug, depending on what I feel like. I don't find that the slightly-cooler-than-boiling water affects the flavor of black or pu-erh teas, and if I'm brewing a delicate green or white tea, I put the water into a mug before pouring it over the leaves to let it cool slightly.

All this said, I'm a bit of "that eccentric tea lady" at work. I find it endearing and enjoy talking to people who enjoy tea, no matter how they take it. I have a small collection of teaware, including a gaiwan, a portable gongfu set, an English china tea-for-one set, and a glass kyusu and two glass cups.

At my old job, I kept a small electric kettle on my desk, plugged into the power strip with my computer and printer. I would boil it and let it cool off for as long as I needed depending on what kind of tea I was drinking. I was less "eccentric" in that job and drank all my tea out of this mug.

The Bonavita's are by far the best. Having that kind of control when pouring is awesome. They have a model for 90USD with temperature control. as well as a model for 60USD without.

I just got this (http://www.amazon.com/Aladdin-Tea-12-Ounce-Infuser-Blue/dp/B001Q3L9PA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1292857228&sr=8-1) as a present and I think it'd be perfect for you. The infuser is built into the lid, so you can remove the leaves when they're done steeping without worrying where to put the infuser, and when your next 15 minute break comes in, just refill with hot water and get another wash of the leaves. It's incredibly easy to clean, just rinse out the infuser at the end of the day. You can heat the water with this pup right here: http://www.amazon.com/Sunbeam-6131-Water-Dispenser-Black/dp/B000C3QSPQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1292806382&sr=8-1

I love my Aladdin infuser tumbler. I've had mine a year and I have put it through hell but it still looks like new. A friend has had hers even longer and hers is like new, too.

http://www.amazon.com/Aladdin-Perfect-Inufser-12oz-Blue/dp/B001Q3L9PA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413524058&sr=8-1&keywords=aladdin+tea+tumbler

http://www.amazon.com/Aladdin-Perfect-Inufser-12oz-Blue/dp/B001Q3L9PA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426190070&sr=8-1&keywords=aladdin+tea+infuser+mug

Been using this at work for a couple years, it works perfectly! sometimes the infuser refuses to plop down but its very uncommon. its a great product.

You can always get cheap steepers from amazon. :) I have this and this. They are both a little small, so the teas can't fully expand, though. My personal favorite is something like this because it has tiny holes that stop anything from escaping, and still plenty of room for larger tea leaves to fully expand.

Anyone that likes Mate should also give guayusa a try. Personally I like how mate feels but not the way it tastes. Guayusa feels very similar but it tastes amazing. I believe they are very similar plants but guayusa is not at all bitter.

I use this FORLIFE mug at work.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0017938B6/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1374170929&sr=8-1&pi=SL75

It works well and it is easy to clean. The ceramic lid flips over to hold the metal infuser with the used tea leaves. This is helpful so u don't need to take multiple trips back and forth to the break room/garbage

Steeping tea is enjoyable to me. At minimum, you'll need a device for heating the water (kettle, either electric or stovetop), a container for steeping (teapot), a filter to catch the leaves (can be part of teapot or separate), and a cup for drinking.

I use these:

• Medelco kettle
  
• BIA Cordon Blue teapot and cup
  
• Steel ball strainer
  
  The process is simple.
  
  
• Place leaves into teapot.
  
• Heat water in kettle.
  
• Pour water into teapot.
  
• Place strainer at mouth of teapot while pouring tea into cup.
  
  You can alternatively place the leaves in the strainer and stick it inside the teapot to steep. That's slightly simpler, but it doesn't allow the leaves to fully expand.
  
  Some teapots are also designed to ease the steeping process further, like Adagio's Ingenuitea, which I own and yet don't use as much. You place the leaves inside, steep, and then the tea flows out from the filtered mesh bottom, directly into a cup.
  
  Once you've developed tea as a hobby and have certain regional or style preferences, such as Japanese sencha (green tea) or Chinese oolongs, you can invest in steeping equipment specific to those, such as kyusu or tetsubin and Zisha teapots or gaiwan. These are by no means required, but they can heighten the experience, especially if you decide to prepare the tea in the culturally traditional manner; see Japanese and Chinese tea ceremonies.

+1 for Guayusa, though I've only had Runa's version. I bought it for the cheap price and favorable Amazon reviews, but Runa claims it has ~90mg caffeine per cup (on par with coffee). I don't feel particularly buzzed with it, so YMMV, but I'm not very sensitive to caffeine anyway.

The taste took some getting used to. Like canadasmith said, it's not actually tea, so I shouldn't be surprised that it doesn't taste the same as orange pekoe or english breakfast. It seemed more "grassy", like some green teas.

Oxo gooseneck. All stainless steel except for the signature Oxo silicone handle and the top of the lid which has a silicone handle, but underneath the lid is all stainless steel.

I just purchased this kettle and I absolutely love it. It's on sale on Amazon, too.

I almost purchased the Fellow Stagg EKG but aside from being aesthetically-pleasing, I can't justify the price. I've also heard of the handle randomly falling off after a few uses.

Thanks for your help, what about something like this? https://www.amazon.com/FORLIFE-Curve-Infuser-ounces-Turquoise/dp/B0017938B6/ref=sr_1_7?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1485972161&sr=1-7&keywords=tea+mug

Invest in an infuser and start drinking loose leaf tea. The dust/scraps that go into bagged tea can't hold a candle to the fresh, rich flavour you get out of the full leaf. You can find single-serve mugs, mesh strainers, and full-size kettles. The difference is noticeable and makes the whole experience more enjoyable.

You actually can do that if you have a big enough tea basket or a small enough cup. You do it a little different tho.

You want to put the strainer in the cup or gaiwan first, then put the leaves in the strainer. Then when you're done steeping, instead of pouring the tea out of the gaiwan into the cha hai, you can just lift the strainer out and drink from the gaiwan.

So it's basically like standard western style tea brewing, but with very short steeps and a lot of leaf for the amount of water. I use about 8 grams of tea leaves for 90ml of water and then start steeping 8 to 10 seconds. Every steep I increase by a couple of seconds. You can often get 10 steeps from a tea, which at 90ml of water per steep is almost a liter of tea! For good puerh I sometimes can get 20 steeps or more.

They also make a device that is a self contained gaiwan and cha hai. I have one but they're a little difficult to clean. https://www.amazon.com/Kamjove-Gongfu-Teapot-Infuser-TP-757/dp/B00MA4WSU4

I have this one: http://www.adagio.com/teaware/utiliTEA_kettle.html

It's not too expensive, has worked for me flawlessly, and right now Adagio has free shipping which is cool.

They also sell it on Amazon, if you prefer.
https://www.amazon.com/Adagio-Teas-utiliTEA-Variable-Temperature/dp/B001A5NFQA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480121292&sr=8-1&keywords=adagio+variable+kettle

People seem to really like the Bonavita gooseneck variable temp kettle. I wouldn't recommend brewing tea in your kettle. It's better to have a separate teapot for brewing. Something like this or this maybe.

This is a real decent stovetop kettle with a great pour: https://www.amazon.com/Hario-VKB-120HSV-Stainless-Stovetop-Original/dp/B000IGOXLS

Electric kettles aren't that expensive if you don't get one with temperature control. I use a simple electric bonavita kettle without temperature control : https://www.amazon.com/Bonavita-Electric-Featuring-Gooseneck-BV3825B/dp/B005YR0GDA/ref=sr_1_3?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1543086763&sr=1-3&keywords=bonavita+kettle which looks like it's cheaper than the Hario above. They also have a stovetop model: https://www.amazon.com/Bonavita-Stovetop-Gooseneck-Kettle-BV3825ST/dp/B005YR0IBU/ref=sr_1_4?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1543086763&sr=1-4&keywords=bonavita+kettle

Looks like you're shopping a bit higher end but I wanted to list this one for budget shoppers: amazon link

I got one as a "spare" kettle at work and it heats like a champ. Fast and does have variable temperature, though you need to do some experimentation to figure out exactly what "low" and "high" mean for your particular unit. I tend to leave mine in the middle for my black teas and low for green.

If you're looking for a variable temperature kettle (without presets) I'd recommend the OXO On Adjustable Temperature Electric Pour-Over Kettle. I've had it for almost a year and its been great.

Electric kettles are probably a life saver in your situation. Then I would do a single serving style brewing container. The teavana perfect tea maker or an IngenuiTea are good picks and more of a one piece type deal. They also have a fine mesh strainer so only the smallest bits of tea dust get through when you are done brewing.

If you want to brew in the mug or cup you will be drinking out of there are a lot of mugs with infusers out there. I can personally say that I love my ForLife mug and infuser. The only things to watch for when looking for a mug and infuser is the size of the infuser basket and the size of the holes in it. You want your basket to be big enough for your teas to be able to float around a bit and unfurl, but you don't want your holes big enough that the leaves or small particles to float through.

I've had this model for years: https://www.amazon.com/T-fal-Balanced-1750-Watt-Electric-Temperature/dp/B0086UJQN8/ It is made largely of plastic, but we like it in our house so much that when my roommate broke it (knocked it off the counter, it landed weird and the side cracked) she bought the same one as a replacement. If the current one breaks and it's still for sale, I'd buy it again in a heartbeat. It's currently $31 and has 3 temp settings - white, green and black. I haven't tested how accurate the different temps are since green tea brewed at the green setting tastes good and black tea brewed at the black tea setting tastes good!

Oh totally. There are plenty of tea cookbooks out there
https://www.amazon.com/Culinary-Tea-Recipes-Steeped-Tradition/dp/0762437731/ here is a cheffy one.

Most of it is usually with Lapsang Souchong due to strong flavor. But you can do anything really if you infuse a fat (butter/oil) or liquid with tea and cook with it. Matcha is very easy to cook with too.

I used a 1L T-Fal electric kettle. It's very cheap, pretty small, and it's made of food grade plastic. It was still working after about a year of use, when I upgraded to a better kettle. https://www.amazon.com/T-fal-Balanced-1750-Watt-Electric-Temperature/dp/B0086UJQN8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468020408&sr=8-1&keywords=tfal+kettle

I'd actually forgo the tumbler and go full on thermos. Zojirushi is a fantastic brand out of Japan and their 12/16/20oz lineup is pretty awesome (especially the pouring nozzle and locking mechanism).

I've just ordered one myself. Sure you can't steep tea in it, but you can just do that at home before you leave. At least this way your tea will stay hot or cold, depending on your preference.

If I go to re use the loose leaf how do I do it? I usually only drink one cup at a time. Do I just take the infuser out, let the tea dry lol? Or is it only intended on steeping again right after the first?

Also, i was looking at this combo https://www.amazon.com/Epica-6-Temperature-Variable-Stainless-Cordless/dp/B01G7OL9ZW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1486621787&sr=8-3&keywords=variable+kettle plus https://www.amazon.com/Hario-Chacha-Kyusu-Maru-700ml/dp/B000NVMC4I/ref=pd_bxgy_79_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&refRID=W6562BAB0YZQKH1YGCTM&th=1 i assume I get the water to the desired temp then pour into the infuser then straight into my mug?

Finally, as for the variable kettle is it okay to only pour one cup into it? Also, I heard a complaint that it didn't heat the water all the way up to the desired temp?

This Zojirushi 20oz black thermos

I heard that it was amazing for retaining heat and also keeping drinks cool. Theres an identical 16oz version so I’m kinda on the fence as I’ve never used a thermos before.

Or the smaller (300ml) version of the Hario teapot. I bought one after it was recommended here, and I love it.

I have the Bonavita and I love it. the gooseneck is fantastic if your looking to perform the gong fu cha ceremony as it is easy to aim the stream of water. It heats a liter of water in 4 minutes.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005YR0GDA/ref=redir_mdp_mobile?keywords=bonavita%20kettle&qid=1366633447&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

Why not glass? I absolutely love mine. It's durable, completely cleanable, and even though they tell you not to, you can totally use high heat. It's also really fun to watch the water boil.

I used to have an enameled kettle and the enamel would melt and bond to the stovetop, and once you boil it dry its garbage. I have yet to boil my glass one dry, but i'm thinking it might hold up better.

Hey guys. I just recently discovered this thread and thought I'd post my question instead of starting a new thread.

I recently ordered this and this. I am looking to wean myself off of coffee and have always enjoyed tea. I mostly drink green tea hence the amazon order. Does anyone have any recommendations on other/better brands?

I'm also looking to get either this addition to my Contigo mugs or just another mug for tea.

Oxo adjustable temp! I love it! It's pricey but worth it. https://www.amazon.com/OXO-Adjustable-Temperature-Electric-Pour-Over/dp/B074KHPS7F/ref=asc_df_B074KHPS7F/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198091976077&hvpos=1o3&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12271096293936072105&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9025327&hvtargid=pla-353176065491&psc=1

I got this electric kettle. Advantages are not having to hang around a microwave or a stove (I can boil water wherever I am) and the temperature control which allows me to easily make green teas.

Disadvantages are that electric kettles can be rough on old electric systems...I couldn't have an electric heater, computer, and electric kettle going all at once, the fuse would go and I'd have to go downstairs and reset it.

If you're in LA, or near a big city, you can use Yelp to look up local tea places. Big cities tend to have a few. Alternately, you can buy online.

Personally I've bought from adagio.com, harney.com, tgtea.com, and verdanttea.com . Haven't had any problems with them so far. Be aware Verdant Tea is based in China now, so shipping times are considerably higher than other vendors. (Adagio and the like had my tea to me in a few days, Verdant took a few weeks.) Other tea vendors who are not based in the US I expect would also have longer shipping times.

There's a lot of different places selling a lot of different teas...I've found I just keep sampling new stuff all the time, and slowly build a "list" of the ones that were memorable to me.

I went with this one for use at the office, it's been great!

I've been heating my water just using a hot water boiler/warmer. Like one of these. But I think I'll pick up an adjustable electric kettle. Seems nice for the option of temperature.

I love this one

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00MA4WSU4/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491921419&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=gongfu+teapot

My advice for a simple way to brew that is really tasty is: get one of these, learn how to use the gong fu style of tea brewing in it. Your tea will taste less biter, have stronger aromas and you'll get many infusions out of each brew.

Here's a good video that explains how it works, go to the 25 minute mark. Or watch the whole video for education on all brewing styles. It's a great YouTube channel for tea education.

https://youtu.be/puldqGnW9P0

Don't worry about the short brew time, caffeine dissolves very quickly 😉

This one is nice because it's cheap. These are nice because cleanup is a lot easier. Cleaning out infusers can be a pain.

I have this guy that works out quite well for me providing I can keep the cup at a flat surface, but other than that, I'd just say bring a couple of tea bags with you and microwave and steep when you can. I've always found that lighter blacks (like Lychee Black or Darjeelings) and Jasmines work quite well over time

If you are interested in actual caffeine content in an infused cup, there's a LOT to it that results in wide variation. I recommend looking at the chapter on this in the book Tea: History, Terriors, Varieties which has a nice chart of test results with a wide variety of teas. A Google Scholar search will also give you studies on the subject, but many of them compare caffeine of dry leaf, or extracts of tea, rather than an infused cup of tea.

Just put the tea in one of these and you are good to go!


http://www.amazon.com/Prepworks-Progressive-International-GT-3931-Stainless/dp/B00004RIZ7

This is an expensive(ish) travel mug, but it's clear so you can carry in hot water and then flip the lever that lowers the basket of tea leaves when you're settled at your desk.
http://www.amazon.com/Aladdin-Perfect-Inufser-12oz-Blue/dp/B001Q3L9PA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420658486&sr=8-1&keywords=alladin+tea+infuser+mug

Proctors may not be very understanding, though. Do you know what the rule was made to prevent?

I keep it simple - I have a cup, a basket infuser, and the cup comes with a lid that I can sit the basket infuser on when it's done steeping. Here's what mine looks like!

https://www.amazon.com/FORLIFE-Curve-Infuser-ounces-Turquoise/dp/B0017938B6/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1496790941&sr=1-1&keywords=forlife+tea+cup

It's work, so I try not to do anything too fancy!

I did a bit of research and got this one from OXO. The entire kettle itself is stainless steel, no plastic or glass near the heating element or water, only where the bottom connects to the stand (which never gets remotely hot). You can dial in the exact temperature to the degree and can utilize it as a timer/stopwatch too. I've had mine for about a year and it still looks new. Definitely recommend it.

If you actually like Keurig coffee and are willing to pay the premium for it, and you drink mostly green or oolong tea, it's probably fine (providing the water actually tastes good). It will be sub-optimal for black tea, since the water won't be hot enough, and you'll probably still want to use a thermometer for green tea.

Personally, I would say it's not worth it (because Keurig coffee is overpriced if you aren't using the reusable filter basket and it doesn't give me any control over the brewing process), and stovetop kettles are cheap, less than a couple packs of K-cups.

I'm on the same boat as you and I'll probably end up getting this:

http://www.amazon.com/Adagio-Teas-UtiliTEA-Variable-Temperature-30-Ounce/dp/B001A5NFQA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320714645&sr=8-1

It has an adjustable knob to turn it from 180F to 212F and half the price of a Zojirushi.

This seems good too: http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-CPK-17-PerfecTemp-1-7-Liter-Stainless/dp/B003KYSLNQ/ref=pd_sim_sbs_k_1

But a bit more expensive.

I bought a $5 thermometer instant read thermometer from my grocery store. I use that and a pot on a stove and it works fine. No need for a fancy tea maker. This kettle apparently works well and is only $10 as well.

First you're going to need tools. I assume you have a 12oz mug.

• Next you should get a cup infuser. This one is inexpensive.
  
• Life is much easier if you pick up an inexpensive digital gram scale. 5g of leaves/12oz mug. Tea leaves come in all kinds of shapes and sizes and trying to do volume measurements can be frustrating.
  
• Check out the Vendor List
  . Pay attention to U.S. vendors. Nearly all of the have sample packages and that's where I would start. Adagio Tea is a good beginner's tea shop.
  
• Order some samples and come back for more advice.

I recommend Zojirushi's water heater, here's one. This is probably the most used appliance in our home, all tea drinkers drinking 6+ cups a day from this heater.

Not really, it's a personal gravity steeper. Super easy to use and works with anything. Also, my bad... I lied, they went up in price since I last looked. The one I would recommend is $16, but it would change your tea game.
https://www.amazon.com/Kamjove-Gongfu-Teapot-Infuser-TP-757/dp/B00MA4WSU4/ref=sr_1_8?rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1481078936&sr=8-8&keywords=kamjove&refinements=p_85%3A2470955011

Seriously, I use this thing at work multiple times a day.

It looks similar to this variety from Adagio.

This site says to steep at 195°F for 2-3 minutes.

You can use a teapot or a tea strainer like this or this.

This is the one I have. I bought it a year ago and it's served me well through college so far.

Check out some of Hario's stuff on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IM42AZ4/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002LW0HVM/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A Hario is always worth considering and quite cheap.

You could try a tea pot with a strainer inside like the Hario Kyusu.

I just used mine to make coffee. Here is the same kettle on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Adagio-Teas-UtiliTEA-Variable-Temperature-30-Ounce/dp/B001A5NFQA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374670832&sr=8-1&keywords=adagio+kettle

Here's an Amazon link. I waited around for a bed bath and beyond coupon to get it cheaper since the price looked the same everywhere.

According to my copy of Tea: History, Terroirs, Varieties, Anxi TGY has 17mg and Mucha TGY 12mg of caffiene in a serving (brewed from 5g of leaves).

6oz filter coffee, according to Schott's Food and Drink Miscellany, has 105mg caffiene, and 12oz cola has ~50mg. (The same source claims that 6oz 'Tea' (unspecified type) contains 35mg caffiene...)

I have about 50 books on tea and this is by far the most complete and factual guide to tea: http://www.amazon.com/Tea-Terroirs-Varieties-Kevin-Gascoyne/dp/1554079373

Non-mobile: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000NVMC4I/ref=mp_s_a_1_10?qid=1426813680&sr=8-10&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&keywords=hario+glass+pot

^That's ^why ^I'm ^here, ^I ^don't ^judge ^you. ^PM ^/u/xl0 ^if ^I'm ^causing ^any ^trouble. ^WUT?

https://www.amazon.com/Hario-Chacha-Kyusu-Maru-300ml/dp/B000NVMC4I/ref=pd_lpo_79_lp_t_4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=E24GAVW1XX1D5CKJEAY3

Comes in a 700ml version. Would that be large enough for you?

Amazon usually has it cheaper.

I use this kettle. I tested the temps with a thermometer when I first got it last year, and the settings more or less do work. I think I measured 170 degrees for the low-end of the green tea setting and about 182-185 degrees for the highest setting. I only brew green tea in the morning and peppermint tea after dinner, so I'm happy with it!

I have this. It has those settings.

Here are two I know of, but I don't have any experience with either.
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001Q3L9PA/
www.adagio.com/teaware/activiTEA.html

heres a link to wikipedia page about it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilex_guayusa

http://www.amazon.com/Runa-Amazon-Guayusa-Traditional-Tea/dp/B004FSASKU

http://www.amazon.com/Bonavita-1-0L-Electric-Kettle-BV3825B/dp/B005YR0GDA/ref=sr_1_20?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1381476090&sr=1-20&keywords=electric+kettle+no+plastic

or

http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-KUA-17-Cordless-Automatic-Electric/dp/B00004S9CZ/ref=sr_1_12?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1381476090&sr=1-12&keywords=electric+kettle+no+plastic

I use the Nissan Tea Thermos to steep and store hot tea at work. I also added a good electric kettle and my favorite tea to make the work day fly.

Not an injury, but came close: I broke my glass kettle (this one by accidentally tripping and dropping it). Thankfully it fell away from my and didn't get cuts. I ordered another one from Amazon a few minutes after :D

Would a kettle like [this] (http://www.amazon.com/Medelco-12-Cup-Stovetop-Whistling-Kettle/dp/B000V5X826/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463179911&sr=8-1&keywords=stove+top+kettle) work? and I think I have an infuser lying around

There are plenty, you can just Google it, but they tend not to be the cheapest possible options. Then again, I agree with what's been said--save up a bit and buy a stainless kettle; the plastic ones are nasty.

-PINO

-Jura-Capresso

-Kalorik

-Adagio

-Melitta