Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The reusable tea infuser for Super Great Green Tea at Work Bliss

Green tea is grand, isn't it? But how have that great green tea joy at work? I've written a couple times about green tea's effect for health, well being and Fat Loss. But let's be clear: while any green tea may do, i'm always thinking not of the bagged detritus from the sweepings of the tea processing floor, but about real japanese green tea. Whether the humble genmaicha, common sencha or the the elegant matcha, this is lovely loose tea, best infused (isn't that a lovely word? let's say it together "infused" mmm) loose in a vessel like a tea pot (more on preparation here) so the little leaves can expand to their full taste glory.

Such tea pot temperament may be fine for the ebb and flow of home life, but what about the rush and constraints of work where the convenience of the bag may cause compromise on tea pleasure?

Friends, b2d diggers, i have found The Solution: the individual reusable infuser.

Yes indeed, a simple, made in germany, reusable, gold mesh infuser. Not sure of the actual company that makes the device. I've found one in France labelled as Finum (available in the US here), and another recently (and cheaper) from the delightful Nothing But Tea. No postage fee either. Proprietor Helga Warzecha's on Twitter too. That's just cool. Want to know when your fave Kenyan black tea will be back in stock? Tweat! so cool. I'll be back.

As far as i can tell from the "made in Germany " type face and design branded in the base, they're identical.

Very simple to operate for green tea:
  • Fill the cup with boiling water.
  • let the water come down from the boil (seriously, really really do not use just boiled water and do not add water to cool off boiled water: i made a cup with a post five minute kettle, and then another that was post 15 mins. The post 15 min off the boil was so much tastier it's insane. this is nice to forget about the water for a bit)
  • Note - when possible, use filtered water freshly boiled - i used boiled water from an "always hot" tank thing at work today and my goodness, what a difference in taste.
  • Put the amount and type of tea desired into the filter (in the UK for green tea i like the Japanese Center in the US i've heard the Tao of Tea is good but don't have first hand knowledge)
  • Dunk tea in water, with lid on filter - it just rests in the cup
  • let sit for whatever is recommended - 30-90secs.
  • Take off lid, flip over
  • put infuser in its lid coaster. A very cool part of this simple device is that it has a wee lid for when the tea is steeping that, when flipped over, holds the infuser (and its drips).
  • Enjoy that tea
The nice thing about green tea, you can reuse those leaves for one more tea cup, too, for sure, and it tastes great.
Voila! crappy tasting green tea bags be gone. Your wonderful favorite tea available even at work. I'm so happy with this wee little piece of technology - the tea infuser - no doubt it would work fine for well, black tea, and maybe even coffee too. But i'm just happy - and feel pretty decadent about having this moment of bliss at work.

If you haven't tried real loose japanese tea, wow, you will be delighted. Getting into green tea can be just as intrigued as getting into dark chocolate or fine wine. But really, compared to bags, just about any loose japanese green tea will do (i like genmaicha - love that brown rice mixed in). Explore here to give it a go.

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By the way: i'm not endorsed by Japan Center or Nothing But Tea - i just like their products and services. if you have sources you like for your fave types of loose green tea, please send a comment.

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4 comments:

Mark Reifkind said...

OK I'm convinved, loose tea it will be!

Iain Dwyer said...

I've had that exact infuser for about five-six months. It's great. Easy, fast, and low maintenance. I got a few weird looks at work when I first started, but who cares? I got 'em with my Vibrams too.

It works great with Yerba Mate too (if you haven't heard of that, I think you'd be interested in it)

dr. m.c. said...

Mark, congratulations.
You can get the filters at amazon here

Iain, cool, thanks for stopping by. and way to go on the vff's too

mc

Rich & Mi said...

'Voila! crappy tasting green tea bags be gone.'

For the UK, a massive truism. My mum back in England got into drinking green tea a couple of years ago as her doctor recommended it; couldn't believe how awful the bagged variety tasted. Had to send her some from Japan....

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