Tea Brewing Question

[dougr]

Thanks for all of the great options and links; the health options are the real positive aspect of green tea. One of those axioms that: it can't hurt

[netsurfr]

I just boil the water in an electric water heater and put the mesh in a cup. I guess you could also get a bigger mesh and do it in a big pot?

I've tried other ways but they don't seem to come out as well :/

+1

[netsurfr]

^^ They do make tea drinking very simple, and it's what got me started on tea.

Plus I feel that you really get all of the health benefits out of the leaf, once it is in the thermos it is steeped, and steeped, refill after refill, and all of the flavor and benefits of the tea come out.

They work best with whites and greens obviously. I really like to brew Dragon or Jasmine Pearls in my glass thermos and watch them unfurl. Really adds to the experieince.

+1

[dougr]

+1

Now that looks like fun

[dougr]

Thanks for all of the great suggestions and ideas. There was an extra small coffee pot in the pantry and it works great. I just throw two tea bags in the filter holder and turn it on. If stronger tea is needed, the tea bags are removed from the filter basket and dropped into the pot with the strings over the side.

[SiBurning]

Teavana's PerfecTea maker is pushing me up to the bar... to just use a large pyrex glass and strainer from a mixing set.

There are better strainers. For example, an old fashioned ceramic one with a fine fabric mesh is better than a stainless one with larger holes. Based on my experience with the Clever Coffee Dripper, I don't care for the PerfecTea. Simple seems better, and glass beats plastic. It is a bit inspiring, though.

[dougr]

Teavana's PerfecTea maker is pushing me up to the bar... to just use a large pyrex glass and strainer from a mixing set.

There are better strainers. For example, an old fashioned ceramic one with a fine fabric mesh is better than a stainless one with larger holes. Based on my experience with the Clever Coffee Dripper, I don't care for the PerfecTea. Simple seems better, and glass beats plastic. It is a bit inspiring, though.

Well said. There is a gold filter that came with the coffee pot for an extra ten dollars and it seems to work just fine for me. Also, the glass pot seems to work great and keep the tea at the right temp; we do four cups of water and two tea bags. It fills up my cup three times which is more than sufficient in the morning.

[Everett529]

Recently at work, I've been making a lot of cold brew green tea, as we're starting to get warmer temperatures around here. I have a tea thermos, but the strainer holes are a bit big, and some of the fines get through. Lately I've just been using a rather large mug, and a bombilla. I would quite like to start drinking yerba, but to find it decently fresh here is difficult.

[dougr]

I work at a research institute that happens to employ a lot of people from China. Those who drink loose leaf tea almost invariably use something like the one linked above. The less fussy of these just use hot water from the coffee makers, and drink it straight from the thermos. Some have water heaters, and only one actually pours the tea out at a specific time.

I've been impressed by the simplicity with which they approach tea - they just add more leaf if it's weak, or add more water if it's too strong. Same leaves, all day.

I ended up really liking this simplicity, Chinese approach. Three bags of green tea in the inexpensive coffee pot and add water when it gets too strong. In the afternoon, after the pot cools my wife pours it over the ice and we have ice tea.....we live in the South afterall. It works great and I have to add a little water to taste. No Waste; great taste.....