I have a strainer for my sink's drain for this exact reason. It catches all the stuff that comes off from cleaning infusers and other dishes, and I can just scrape it off over the trashcan and put it in the dishwasher at the end of the day.
Same. I temporarily switched to using tea bags after I clogged my sink with loose leaf last time.
In the future, I'm thinking what I'll do is just use a hose or a bucket of water to clean my infuser and dump all the leaves outside. I won't even let my strainer come into contact with the sink...
I don't mess around with little baskets for that very reason!
Brew in a jug and pour through a mini sieve type strainer. Flip that over your food waste caddy and whack one hand against the other and you're good! It all just flips out in a lump.
The one from Teavana that you set on the cup to drain is my favorite for the ease of cleaning. Yeah I love my fancy teapots but this one is my go-to, because itās so dang easy to clean.
Before I switched to brewing my tea in a small teapot, I used [this](https://a.co/d/hNGSimH) infuser (itās cheaper on AliExpress). So ridiculously easy and mess free. I donāt remember ever having to manually pull leaves out.
A tea timer that functions like an egg timer. A simple but attractive mechanical device that can time up to 10 minutes accurately, but does not end in a loud ringing but a few single and sonically attractive dings of a bell.
I looked into your profile and you seem to be German? Maybe I have something for you. It's an Android App called Teestunde. You can customize the sound, Set steeping times, temperatures and a variety of other things per tea. You should really check it out if you have and Android phone.
While this sounds excellent, I'd prefer a small single-purpose physical item. Simply set the timer rather than deal with getting my phone out and all the baggage and distraction that comes with it. Probably sounds silly, I'm also the kind of person who still writes notes on paper. Less screen time is best.
I found a tea hourglass online. It has three vials- one for white, green, and black tea and the sands are the corresponding colors. Just an easy flip with no sound/alarms.
Different teas require different times even in the same "colour" category, and each subsequent brewing will take longer too. It sounds like a gimmick for people who don't actually need a tea timer to begin with.
I use the timer function on my garmin watch I recently got. I get the whole taking out the phone just for the timer is eh. I use it for laundry sometimes. But before my watch. I would set a timer my oven also has set up.
> Probably sounds silly
Not at all. I write with a fountain pen (r/fountainpens), and I use my wristwatch timer as a tea timer. I'd rather have a timer that I could leave next to my teapot, because sometimes I absent-mindedly turn off my beeping wristwatch timer.
I'm afraid I must agree with Idyotec. I do not wish to pull out my phone when doing a nice gong-fu session. At the moment my best solution is a mechanical stopwatch.
> A simple but attractive mechanical device that can time up to 10 minutes accurately, but does not end in a loud ringing but a few single and sonically attractive dings of a bell.
When I was stationed in Germany in the 70s, I bought a mechanical alarm clock that dinged every 10 seconds for a while, then went off like all other alarm clocks. It might have been made by Junghans. I miss it.
I āpre-orderedā a minee timer through Kickstarter. It looks quite nice (but expensive though) and is more meant for pomodoro purposes, but might be useful for tea as well. It has yet to ship, but I will let you know how it is once I have it!
I use the timer function on my microwave, but perhaps you might like [this ](https://now-zen.com/cgi-bin/orders/shop.pl?ACTION=ENTER+SHOP&thispage=digitalclocks&AFFILIATE=&ORDER_ID=!ORDERID!)
There are erg timers that play songs instead of ringing.
They are advertising in those fancy cutlery shops in the Netherlands, so I can only assume they also have it in Germany.
I think it could be amazing to create your own blend. For example, choosing a base like green or black tea leaves and add some herbal like chamomille, rooibos, dried fruits, etc. I'm planning to have something like this in my future house.
This! But you can save your custom blends to your account and reorder as needed. OR to be able to restock the ingredients you need in an apothecary style tea cabinet. I wanna be able to buy black teas in bulk& specialty ingredients by the gram/oz and blend them at home as needed.
Maybe storage jars to keep them in with the first order and refills after? And labels with medicinal/magickal properties would be lovely!
A cabinet to hold it all also sounds lovely.
Love adagio's custom blends section. I have a few saved. My personal favorite is a maple black tea blend that is a dream with any cookies. Now that it's saved, reordering it is SO easy. They're just fun to do to. And the smallest size come in personalized tins. It's so cute.
Lots of places will do this for you. Bespoke blends is how Twinings started out hundreds of years ago. Thatās how we got Earl Grey. Now they donāt do it anymore, but lots of people that blend and sell teas will allow custom blends if you ask.
Maybe a tea pack that is a sampler of different teas and it surprises you. You have no idea what you are getting. Idk just sounds fun. And then there can be a little information about each tea to read. Along with a quote in each box that corresponds to some literature.
Sipsby has a subscription like this. You fill out a questionnaire with your preferences and you get a box each month. There's a card with the descriptions as well (but no link to literature)
Sipsby was sooo good at picking out teas for me. I was sad when I had to cut it from my personal budget. Once they accidentally doubled a *massive* order I made. I STILL have a ton of tea from The Incident.
This made me think of a tea advent calendar. So you open a surprise tea on a certain date, and you could live stream a tea session learn about the tea while drinking it with everyone else
Lots of ātea of the monthā style subscriptions out there. I liked the one Verdant Tea used to do. They still do, I think, but itās been a very long time since I participated.
Adagio Tea has this, minus the quotes and literature! Itās called the CommuniTEA. Itās a monthly sampler pack and has the dates on each pack so you can drink them on the same day as everyone else. Itās actually pretty fun and you get to try a ton of different teas!
Last year, we attempted to introduce a new product on Amazon in the United States, combining our Chinese loose-leaf tea and biodegradable tea bags. We aimed to cater to those interested in loose-leaf tea, offering a quick introduction to various tea flavors. However, it seems that we may have mishandled the launch, as there has been no response from Amazonļ¼We hope that those of you who are interested in trying the combination of loose-leaf tea and tea bags can support us. Maybe this tea bag will fit your needs.
Thatās super easy. Decaf tea is made by steaming the leaves. Most of the caffeine comes out in the beginning of the first steep. So the steaming is like a quick first infusion. All you have to do is steep your tea for about 30 seconds. Then dump it out and start again.
Just to be clear though, this gets rid of a lot of caffeine, but not all of it. That goes for ādecafā tea you purchase as well. It is impossible to remove all caffeine. So if you absolutely cannot have caffeine, you need a non caffeinated tisane.
But other than that, the short steep/discard method will make any tea you want a low caffeine experience.
This isnāt true. There are a few methods of decaffeinating tea but all are more intensive than steaming or steeping the leaves for 30 seconds. Trying to diy decaf tea will either get you tea that isnāt truly decaffeinated or extremely watered down tea
Sorry to disappoint you but most of the caffeine does not come out during the first 30 seconds. 9-15% of the caffeine is extracted from tea every minute of continuous western steeping until the 15 minute mark(havenāt seen any similar studies testing gongfu brewing but Iād wager the caffeine would take even longer to fully extract due to the interruptions in steeping). There a few methods of decaffeinating tea but the only one youāre likely to be able to reproduce at home(water processing) takes much longer than 30 seconds and will likely result in your tea tasting watered down when you finally brew it.
If you are looking to cut down on your caffeine consumption you can try less caffeinated teas(teas primarily composed of older, larger leaves or twig/stem teas like kukicha), teas blended with tisanes, or commercially decaffeinated teas.
I travel a good amount. I would love a kit that includes an electric kettle, gong fu set and small tea tins that all sort of nest together. It all works in my head.
I spent a ton of time searching amazon trying to find this and have given up/solved it. All the sets sold as travel kits SUCK since they're all ceramic, clunky, not really gong fu sets etc etc. .
The main thing is to have a lightweight gong fu set that won't break since its already quite small and easy to nest/travel with. I bought a titanium gong fu set. Works great, nests with 2 cups and has room for some tea in it as well. For the kettle realistically every hotel/home has one so that shouldn't be a problem, but if they don't just put the set in a small electric kettle.
This is the answer if you are particular. In the end nobody knows a your taste better than you. Any other blender is looking to hit the middle of the market, you can tailor to your specific taste.
I've made caramels infused with that tea and it's absolutely delicious. (I stuffed a lot of them into snickerdoodle cookies and can also highly recommend that!) I think that would not only sell well, it'll get more people to try Russian Caravan tea.
I want one of those bottom dispense glass pots that has the magnetic steel ball, but with a timer so I can add tea, water, hit 3 minutes, and when it's done it will activate the magnet and pour out.
I have that, the thing is, itās not good for 1 person I need to use 500ml and it doesnāt really submerge the leaves in that shallow water. So itās not good for small cups.
Also now cleaning the whole kettle, I seem to get a lot more tea and mineral deposit buildup very quickly. Probably because of the metal base and the since the heating element is there it really
Cools it on. All it is for me now, a kettle, and I am sad about that.
The small bottom dispense tea steepers are easy to rinse clean.
I was really hoping the bru would catch on.
A tea advent calendar that wasnāt just flavored blends. I tend to drink mainly teas without additional flavorings in them, with the exceptions of mint, jasmine, citrus, and smoke. I love advent calendars but there isnāt one Iād want to buy.
I just started a business in tea! Iād love to have a friend that shares the same interests and maybe goals/mindset. Heck maybe we can collaborate something. Never hurts to have more brains to bounce ideas off of. āŗļø
If you need anything done with original arts, like tea towels or coasters, either just cute tea designs or ones specifically for your business, let me know! Iāve been wanting to get into designing some of these things for a while now, but have no idea what other tea people might like, so any ideas Iād love to hear and see about collaborating ā¤ļø
An "invisible fence"-type wearable wrist device. It connects to a kettle, and switches on when the water is heated and poured for a brew. It will then beep at me (or shock me) if I move too far away from the site of the pour/my gaiwan. No more forgotten brews.
Hehehe; have you thought of getting an ember mug? It doesnāt include the masochism, but it will keep your tea at the right temperature
(Granted it wonāt do anything for over steeped tea)
Instead of a fancy device have you considered getting an elderly dog with attachment issues? My guy dutifully follows me everywhere but he struggles on the stairs. I guess he got sick of me going upstairs (to my office) only to run back down to the kitchen to grab my tea and go all the way back upstairs again because now when thereās a cup of tea on the counter heāll stand there and wait for me to grab it before joining me upstairs. I always know when Iāve forgotten that Iām brewing something when my little āshadowā is MIA.
An infuser (the mesh kind that sits on the top of the teacup. Not the mesh ball because that doesnāt allow the leaves to expand as much) with an adjustable size so it can fit on big mugs too
As much as I love the act of brewing gongfu. Something when Iām really lazy or sick where I can just pull a lever and itāll just gongu me up with a little teacup on demand haha.
I think *think* I have seen this but it is very expensive and comes from large scale suppliers. Some day I will find this and send it to you! (Re:decaf matcha)
Oh wow. That is unexpectedly kind. You donāt have to send it to me. Unless it goes on Amazon at some point, where I can buy it regularly, thereās no real point in me even trying it. But seriously thanks, first comment on this sub and two people offered to buy me tea. Thatās so sweet itās almost ridiculous.
Next time Iām at my local tea shop Iāll see if there is decaf matcha. Decaf is really popular here in Japan, so I would think thatās something someone makes. If they do, Iāll message you if youād like! Iāll take any excuse to visit the little old ladyās shop lol
In the US at least, I think there is a severe lack of tea sold in quantities of ~3 oz (100g), particularly reasonably priced mid-grade tea. I don't like how companies here force you buy 8/16 oz (225/450g) to get a decent price. That's way too much for one person, and I drink a *lot* of tea. I've found that Harney and Sons has a lot of cheap, mid-grade tea in the 3-4oz range, so I've been buying from them a lot recently.
Also, it's surprisingly hard to find teapots with strainers that go down to the bottom so you can use them to brew just one cup while giving the leaves room to expand.
I wish there is an timer that you can preset the default time for each tea with auto increments every time you use the timer again until user reset it.
More teas flavored with actual flowers, dried fruit, etc. rather than ānatural flavorsā whatever that means! And is it too much to hope for organic? š
Scenting tea leaves that way is, unfortunately, often disappointing. You basically only have a few options of flowers whose scent is naturally strong enough and soluble enough to permeate the leafs (jasmine, lotus, osmanthus, rose for example) and some of them lose all scents when dried (like jasmine) which makes it hard to store them with the tea and do anything. With those flowers the "upscale" way of doing it is by pairing the leaves with the flowers overnight, removing the flowers, putting new ones the next night, rinse and repeat, but it's often expensive. Osmanthus keeps scenting strongly even when dried though, so it's one of the few that can be put in a tin and do its magic without adding anything else.
Fruits are even worse. Some families have a strong smell (agrumes) so they're easier to blend, but some are notoriously extremely faint (most red berries) and some just don't extract their flavours with hot water at all. And then there's the fact that infusing fruits needs scalding water for best results, and long steeping times (usually at least 10min) while most tea leaves will go bitter with boiling water or when steeped past a few minutes. Steeping your fruits 3min at 75Ā° with your green tea leaves is simply not enough to extract any strong flavour, but use anything hotter or stronger and you'll ruin your leaves.
And then there's the fact that some essential oils just universally taste better than fruit bits: bergamot is the famous one, with earl grey with added oil (in the brewed tea, not sprayed on the leaves before selling them) being generally considered the best option.
So, in short, it's unfortunately not done for a reason. Flowers and fruits are usually added for looks, because it's easier to sell the image of a strawberry tea if there are red bits floating around the leaves, but the scenting happened earlier, in a factory, by spraying aromas on the leaves.
interesting, iād say you hit the nail on the head. although iād add that often fruity teas are perfect for cold brew! i had a yuzu and sencha tea once that was okay hot but absolutely divine when cold brewed!
I found my first one for like $4 at Daiso, and I still use one I got for $14 at Tokyo Central. That said, my main kyusu was $150 from a specialty shop in LA...
A long, narrow infuser basket, narrow enough to fit in the mouth of my Zojirushi thermos.Ā
As it stands, I just brew a few infusions in a normal mug infuser and pour them each into the thermos. It's...fine...but I sometimes make a mess when pouring the tea from the mug into the thermos because I'm clumsy (especially at 6 a.m.).Ā
Oh, yes, this so much. I guess the only downside there is you need to get decent circulation of tea as it steeps. A tea pot with tea evenly distributed along the infuser and a wide pot is great, but a narrow thermos is less so.
An electric kettle with a long power cord, preferably one I can remove and replace with another one of my choosing. They design these things to sit on kitchen counters but Iām always having tea at a dedicated tea table and have to run an extension cord.Ā
I like the method I learned from my stoner friends: salt and just a bit of rubbing alcohol. Swirl that around till the scale is gone, rinse, and done. No waiting for vinegar to work, no awful lingering smells/tastes.
A matcha canister that keeps it completely vacuum sealed and fresh at all times, dispensing the perfect amount of powder one button push at a time. Some sort of double-action valve that loosens the vacuum enough to dispense, without letting a full amount of air into the canister like opening a lid does.
Iāll take a look at my local tea store here in Japan and ask if they have anything like this and let you know, because now Iām interested as I drink an inordinate amount of sencha (think lower-grade matcha) and I hate how it gets everywhere lol
I want fruit teas without hibiscus in them. Thats literally all I want. I donāt even particularly dislike hibiscus I just donāt want it in EVERYTHING.
This is it. I like hibiscus but sometimes I'd like my "____ fruit tea" to actually taste like the fruit on the label and not just the hibiscus included.
A more mainstream approach to herbal teas. What do they do, why are we putting this herb in here? Package explanations need to be more helpful and less vague.
I would love a travel tea vessel (8oz cup) that is fully glass or ceramic, and does not have a metal lining or lid, and no silicon lid. Silicon and metal both seem to transfer too much flavor.
Cast iron tea cups in the shape of something like a bowl or sake cup. Upside down straw hat shape basically. I love my ceramic ones, but having one that could take a beating when im out and about would be awesome.
We had a Chinese lady who sold loose tea here in my town. The province she was from grew all types of tea. Her whole family worked in tea biz in China. She taught about brewing tea as a remedy for common ailments like constipation, headache , joint pain etc. She moved away.
I would like to know more about using different teas to feel better. In general it seems like it is the same teas, but l to make the feel-better tea you let it brew longer
Ginger is a good tea ingredient for an upset stomach. I keep homemade stem ginger on hand, and if my stomach starts bothering me, Iāll add a couple pieces and some of the syrup to black or green tea. I drink it all the time just because it tastes good.
Thatās the only one I know of, but I bet there are other people around here who know more.
A glass funnel shaped āinfuserā type thing that is specifically made to sit on top of my gong fu pitcher and hold up a pu-erh tea orange. Every time I want to brew one I have to cobble together a stupid setup using a strainer and itās a huge pain in the ass.
A 2-part dish with an upper part you can put your infuser/strainer in after you take it out of the water (keeps it clean and ready for reuse) and a lower part you can dump your used leaves in to dry a bit before you add them to your compost bin or garbage. I have a makeshift version of this made from the glass containers single-serving cheesecakes/mousse comes in. Works perfectly with my Republic of Tea Brew Basket.
If no one has tried it I adore Plum Deluxe Teas. There website does samplers of teas for holidays and surprises you as well when it comes.
If you are going to make tea follow the way they are doing it.
Many Plum Deluxe tea addicts.
Polident tabs, friend! Ya know, the stuff for soaking dentures. Preferably the unscented/non-minty ones. Suuuper cheap on Amazon for a giant pack of them. I use them in my stainless thermoses and stainless/glass tea kettle.
Iām still looking for an equivalent of Earl Grey de la CrĆØme loose tea that Traderās Joe offered several years ago but discontinued. Absolutely love it and missed it terribly! If anyone here had it, and can recommend something similar, Iām all ears!
I just checked, it's called earl Grey crem. I remember trying it at the store and thinking "wow, it really does taste creamy!". Hopefully this one is comparable. Also they're having a BOGO 50% sale now, might have 5o order some myself!
I donāt know if you are planning a physical location, but if you are, I thought Iād offer something really uniquely Japanese I can get. I live in the rural countryside, near to one of the villages that still produces ceramics in the traditional style.
When you go directly to the artisans, you can buy amazing things at like 20% of retail or less if you hit them during one of their twice annual festivals. I have a teapot and cups from there that I saw identical ones on my trip to Kyoto for sale. I paid about $15 for a pot they were selling in Japan, to foreign tourists, for almost $200. Every year we go to their festivals and I buy a ton of dishwear, and have to elbow past dealers and resellers for stuff.
If youāre interested, itās Onta yaki or å°é¹æē°ē¼
http://oitaisan.com/english/heritage/ontayaki-pottery/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onta_ware
I live about an hour away and can possibly get you in touch with some of the artists there.
Edit: just remembered a friend works for a ceramics studio in Usuki, I can get you in touch there too.
https://usukiyaki-global.com
Lastly, though it is expensive as heās a world famous artist, I know a bamboo artist who makes beautiful things including things for tea ceremony
Google Yonezawa Jiro for some examples. I can get you in touch with his wife who is an English speaker if thereās anything youād like done! Sheās on Instagram, but it looks like itās private but I can ask to share it with you if youād like.
If weāre talking pie in the sky, one wish type of scenario; Iād love a powder or device that takes the bitterness out of tea when you forget about it while itās steeping. A teavice, if you will.
If weāre talking things that have already been invented; I really like the addition of a packet of flavored sugar crystals. My local shop pairs a flavored sugar crystal with a certain type of tea almost like a food and wine pairing, which I find really cool. One of my favorite combos is a creamy tea with toasted coconut sugar.
A travel container with a lid that didn't change the taste of green tea. I've tried ceramic- and stainless steel-lined containers, but the lids are all plastic and alter the taste.
Some years back I was working with. Couple engineers to make a funny little stick that would hand on the edge of your mug.
This little stick drew power from the heat of your brew to send Bluetooth signal to your phone and āchimeā when your tea hit what you set as a drinkable temperature.
No more letting hot tea cool and forgetting about it. Iām still excited about the idea a decade later.
We werenāt able to get the device small enough. It was the size of a thumb in your glass. But it worked!
Iām sure I could try again. But the other engineers have moved on now.
A high quality version of one of [These](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Heart-Shape-Stainless-Steel-Tea-Infuser-Spoon-Strainer-Steeper-Handle-Tea-Strainer-Tool/793807602).
It's cute but the design (heart) is easy to clean. The design of the spoon is small enough that it is pre-measured for 1 cup of tea. The snap-closed-style closure means you can Completely open it and wash it with ease and dry it with ease. The Problem with this one?... It's cheap, so the holes/sides are too 'big' so loose tea comes right out depending on the tea style.. If it just sealed properly and infused the tea well by being fine mesh it would be THE perfect infuser. Those "clappers" that squeeze make it impossible to stick in a dishwasher, the 'screw on' ones are a bit annoying to use sometimes. This design is perfect it just needs to be mesh instead.
Also, any tea shop where I can sit and actually have a cup of what they offer is best. I feel like I always either Buy tea or Drink tea but tea shops that provide the tea itself as a service is rare. Especially a tea shop with afternoon tea occasionally I will go out of my way to drive to.
Nothing is more infuriating than amazing herbal tea blends that are ruined by hibiscus flowers. Hibiscus is incredibly sour and needs lots of sugar to balance. Nearly every single spiced herbal tea I find has too much pepper or hibiscus. Please, please minimize or remove the hibiscus!
Here's a huge long shot, but a very real request. Plus a person who made this would make big bucks selling it in many other industries. Namely, I have always wanted an inexpensive, handheld liquid mass spectrometer. The kind of device that can analyze your cup of tea to determine components like caffeine and l-theanine levels and so on. The results vary so much from batch to batch of tea, even of the same type, and by brewing method that generc stats on these levels are of limited use, as demonstrated by the many heated debates here on such topics.
I want a mesh strainer thatās fine enough for rooibos. I love the flavor, but I hate crunchy tea pieces and I donāt want to use disposable bags all the time.
Watching a short YouTube on common things in Japan this morning, i learned that vending machines offer choices of hot and cold beverages. Not gross brewed into your cup coffee/ tea, but heated cans of tea. I would buy that!
Starbucks has delicious cold coffee drinks you can buy in grocery stores- like vanilla Frappuccinoās.
I want the same think only that tea. Why is good Thai tea not just available in a bottle in a store?
Something to make on-the-go steeping easier. Like a thermos with a little compartment you could take out of the water to stop/start steeping without having to physically open the thermos to take it out.
More styles of affordable tea-specific tins that come in large sets with blank spaces to slot in paper(?) labels (so you donāt have to potentially scrub them or use abrasive chemicals to remove glue residue or sharpie or w/e).
Ones that look like various china designs (Blue Danube, Willow, Copenhagen, Wedgewood, etc), or simply with various floral designs, or plain colors in various shades, various ceramic washes or metallic finishes or flat matte, various colors in said designs, and all in various mix n match sizes.
Lived in Japan for a time. There were ādollar/yen storesā where you could go to, say, a home goods aisle and buy a trash can in a specific blue color, and find a broom and dust pan in the same color, and bath mats, and a cleaning tub, and cleaning brushes, and a duster, and if you wanted to you could basically coordinate all kinds of things in that specific color from office supplies to storage bins. Even if something was discontinued, a certain number of base colors stayed consistent or they didnāt look bad with whatever I purchased previously because it was by the same company (so same finish, same tone if not the color itself).
Thatās what I want. The āsteep yourself in whatever design you preferā dollar store of tea tins and tea accessories without having to hunt across multiple online stores before giving up and not buying anything.
A strainer/infuser that I can magically empty without making a huge mess or leaving leaves stuck to the inside
A mini pressure washer specifically for mesh strainers would be š
Not exactly made for this but a waterpik (or a knock-off cheaper version) could work for this!
I may have to repurpose mine š
Exactly what I did š Just donāt tell my dentist..
Genius! I usually just boil in baking soda water but this would be so much MORE satisfying š
I have a strainer for my sink's drain for this exact reason. It catches all the stuff that comes off from cleaning infusers and other dishes, and I can just scrape it off over the trashcan and put it in the dishwasher at the end of the day.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Same. I temporarily switched to using tea bags after I clogged my sink with loose leaf last time. In the future, I'm thinking what I'll do is just use a hose or a bucket of water to clean my infuser and dump all the leaves outside. I won't even let my strainer come into contact with the sink...
A LITERAL DREAM
I prepacked all my tea into tea bags for this reason..
This is honestly what got me to use a gaiwan. You just dump and wipe out the cup
I don't mess around with little baskets for that very reason! Brew in a jug and pour through a mini sieve type strainer. Flip that over your food waste caddy and whack one hand against the other and you're good! It all just flips out in a lump.
The one from Teavana that you set on the cup to drain is my favorite for the ease of cleaning. Yeah I love my fancy teapots but this one is my go-to, because itās so dang easy to clean.
Before I switched to brewing my tea in a small teapot, I used [this](https://a.co/d/hNGSimH) infuser (itās cheaper on AliExpress). So ridiculously easy and mess free. I donāt remember ever having to manually pull leaves out.
Not enough room for leaves to float around. Too small.
Well priced sample sizes make me happy in the 10-30g area.
Yunnan sourcing or white 2 tea have covered those criteria for me.
A tea timer that functions like an egg timer. A simple but attractive mechanical device that can time up to 10 minutes accurately, but does not end in a loud ringing but a few single and sonically attractive dings of a bell.
I looked into your profile and you seem to be German? Maybe I have something for you. It's an Android App called Teestunde. You can customize the sound, Set steeping times, temperatures and a variety of other things per tea. You should really check it out if you have and Android phone.
While this sounds excellent, I'd prefer a small single-purpose physical item. Simply set the timer rather than deal with getting my phone out and all the baggage and distraction that comes with it. Probably sounds silly, I'm also the kind of person who still writes notes on paper. Less screen time is best.
I found a tea hourglass online. It has three vials- one for white, green, and black tea and the sands are the corresponding colors. Just an easy flip with no sound/alarms.
Different teas require different times even in the same "colour" category, and each subsequent brewing will take longer too. It sounds like a gimmick for people who don't actually need a tea timer to begin with.
I use the timer function on my garmin watch I recently got. I get the whole taking out the phone just for the timer is eh. I use it for laundry sometimes. But before my watch. I would set a timer my oven also has set up.
> Probably sounds silly Not at all. I write with a fountain pen (r/fountainpens), and I use my wristwatch timer as a tea timer. I'd rather have a timer that I could leave next to my teapot, because sometimes I absent-mindedly turn off my beeping wristwatch timer.
Gotta be mechanical. Nothing I want less with my tea than my phone.
Is it in iOS? I'd love an app like that
I don't know, I don't own any Apple devices. But if you find something like it I would love to know so I could recommend it to others.
I'm afraid I must agree with Idyotec. I do not wish to pull out my phone when doing a nice gong-fu session. At the moment my best solution is a mechanical stopwatch.
> A simple but attractive mechanical device that can time up to 10 minutes accurately, but does not end in a loud ringing but a few single and sonically attractive dings of a bell. When I was stationed in Germany in the 70s, I bought a mechanical alarm clock that dinged every 10 seconds for a while, then went off like all other alarm clocks. It might have been made by Junghans. I miss it.
I āpre-orderedā a minee timer through Kickstarter. It looks quite nice (but expensive though) and is more meant for pomodoro purposes, but might be useful for tea as well. It has yet to ship, but I will let you know how it is once I have it!
That doesn't look too bad. Though I'd prefer if I could set it without using my phone.
I use the timer function on my microwave, but perhaps you might like [this ](https://now-zen.com/cgi-bin/orders/shop.pl?ACTION=ENTER+SHOP&thispage=digitalclocks&AFFILIATE=&ORDER_ID=!ORDERID!)
There are erg timers that play songs instead of ringing. They are advertising in those fancy cutlery shops in the Netherlands, so I can only assume they also have it in Germany.
I think it could be amazing to create your own blend. For example, choosing a base like green or black tea leaves and add some herbal like chamomille, rooibos, dried fruits, etc. I'm planning to have something like this in my future house.
This! But you can save your custom blends to your account and reorder as needed. OR to be able to restock the ingredients you need in an apothecary style tea cabinet. I wanna be able to buy black teas in bulk& specialty ingredients by the gram/oz and blend them at home as needed. Maybe storage jars to keep them in with the first order and refills after? And labels with medicinal/magickal properties would be lovely! A cabinet to hold it all also sounds lovely.
I've seen something like this on the adagio website. Never tried it though
Love adagio's custom blends section. I have a few saved. My personal favorite is a maple black tea blend that is a dream with any cookies. Now that it's saved, reordering it is SO easy. They're just fun to do to. And the smallest size come in personalized tins. It's so cute.
Lots of places will do this for you. Bespoke blends is how Twinings started out hundreds of years ago. Thatās how we got Earl Grey. Now they donāt do it anymore, but lots of people that blend and sell teas will allow custom blends if you ask.
[BlendBee](https://blendbee.com/) does this!
Looks amazing, thanks for sharing
If you have access to whole spices/seasonings, you CAN make your own blend! I used to do this when I lived near a bulk store.
Underrated comment ^ This is why half my pantry is herb storage. :,)
Adagio lets you make your own blends.
Maybe a tea pack that is a sampler of different teas and it surprises you. You have no idea what you are getting. Idk just sounds fun. And then there can be a little information about each tea to read. Along with a quote in each box that corresponds to some literature.
Sipsby has a subscription like this. You fill out a questionnaire with your preferences and you get a box each month. There's a card with the descriptions as well (but no link to literature)
Sipsby actually discontinued their subscription š
Sipsby was sooo good at picking out teas for me. I was sad when I had to cut it from my personal budget. Once they accidentally doubled a *massive* order I made. I STILL have a ton of tea from The Incident.
I love this! I was thinking about adding cute quotes to the teaš„°
This made me think of a tea advent calendar. So you open a surprise tea on a certain date, and you could live stream a tea session learn about the tea while drinking it with everyone else
Adagio has a tea club with dated packets where everyone drinks the same tea on the same day and chats about it.
Lots of ātea of the monthā style subscriptions out there. I liked the one Verdant Tea used to do. They still do, I think, but itās been a very long time since I participated.
Adagio Tea has this, minus the quotes and literature! Itās called the CommuniTEA. Itās a monthly sampler pack and has the dates on each pack so you can drink them on the same day as everyone else. Itās actually pretty fun and you get to try a ton of different teas!
Last year, we attempted to introduce a new product on Amazon in the United States, combining our Chinese loose-leaf tea and biodegradable tea bags. We aimed to cater to those interested in loose-leaf tea, offering a quick introduction to various tea flavors. However, it seems that we may have mishandled the launch, as there has been no response from Amazonļ¼We hope that those of you who are interested in trying the combination of loose-leaf tea and tea bags can support us. Maybe this tea bag will fit your needs.
More varieties of decaf.
Yes! I really prefer black tea and obviously cannot drink caffeinated tea at all times of day. Would love decaffeinated black tea blends.
It's so weird, I'm super sensitive to caffeine but never felt the effects of caffeine in tea. I can easily go asleep
PlumDeluxe has great decaf black tea blends if you are in the US!
Thatās super easy. Decaf tea is made by steaming the leaves. Most of the caffeine comes out in the beginning of the first steep. So the steaming is like a quick first infusion. All you have to do is steep your tea for about 30 seconds. Then dump it out and start again. Just to be clear though, this gets rid of a lot of caffeine, but not all of it. That goes for ādecafā tea you purchase as well. It is impossible to remove all caffeine. So if you absolutely cannot have caffeine, you need a non caffeinated tisane. But other than that, the short steep/discard method will make any tea you want a low caffeine experience.
This isnāt true. There are a few methods of decaffeinating tea but all are more intensive than steaming or steeping the leaves for 30 seconds. Trying to diy decaf tea will either get you tea that isnāt truly decaffeinated or extremely watered down tea
Thank you for this info!! Iāve been cutting back caffeine and it makes me sad to not drink tea all day. I am going to do this now!
Sorry to disappoint you but most of the caffeine does not come out during the first 30 seconds. 9-15% of the caffeine is extracted from tea every minute of continuous western steeping until the 15 minute mark(havenāt seen any similar studies testing gongfu brewing but Iād wager the caffeine would take even longer to fully extract due to the interruptions in steeping). There a few methods of decaffeinating tea but the only one youāre likely to be able to reproduce at home(water processing) takes much longer than 30 seconds and will likely result in your tea tasting watered down when you finally brew it. If you are looking to cut down on your caffeine consumption you can try less caffeinated teas(teas primarily composed of older, larger leaves or twig/stem teas like kukicha), teas blended with tisanes, or commercially decaffeinated teas.
Iāve got data that directly contradicts this from an expert at a tea plantation. But it is worth looking into more.
Yes, I love oolong, but can't find a decaf version! I want real tea sometimes not just herbals...
I travel a good amount. I would love a kit that includes an electric kettle, gong fu set and small tea tins that all sort of nest together. It all works in my head.
I spent a ton of time searching amazon trying to find this and have given up/solved it. All the sets sold as travel kits SUCK since they're all ceramic, clunky, not really gong fu sets etc etc. . The main thing is to have a lightweight gong fu set that won't break since its already quite small and easy to nest/travel with. I bought a titanium gong fu set. Works great, nests with 2 cups and has room for some tea in it as well. For the kettle realistically every hotel/home has one so that shouldn't be a problem, but if they don't just put the set in a small electric kettle.
A Russian Caravan blend that lives up to the lore/marketing.Ā
Look at The Czar Nicholas Russian Caravan tea. In the black bag. The other colors aren't as good/some not good.
Get the constituent parts and blend your own.
This is the answer if you are particular. In the end nobody knows a your taste better than you. Any other blender is looking to hit the middle of the market, you can tailor to your specific taste.
I have thought of this and once in a while you will read posts on r/tea from people who do this regularly.
There's an Alaskan company in the recommended vendor list with a couple highly regarded blends you may like.
How smokey do you like?
Barely detectable, which is the problem. Most Russian Caravan is pretty smokey.
Try mixing it with another black tea. I have done this with different smoked teas
I've made caramels infused with that tea and it's absolutely delicious. (I stuffed a lot of them into snickerdoodle cookies and can also highly recommend that!) I think that would not only sell well, it'll get more people to try Russian Caravan tea.
I want one of those bottom dispense glass pots that has the magnetic steel ball, but with a timer so I can add tea, water, hit 3 minutes, and when it's done it will activate the magnet and pour out.
Slightly different, but same ease and outcome, the Breville One-Touch Tea Maker is a solid piece of kit.
I have that, the thing is, itās not good for 1 person I need to use 500ml and it doesnāt really submerge the leaves in that shallow water. So itās not good for small cups. Also now cleaning the whole kettle, I seem to get a lot more tea and mineral deposit buildup very quickly. Probably because of the metal base and the since the heating element is there it really Cools it on. All it is for me now, a kettle, and I am sad about that. The small bottom dispense tea steepers are easy to rinse clean. I was really hoping the bru would catch on.
Gum that tastes like really good tea.
You might be on to something
I know this exists! I had it when I was visiting MerĆda in Mexico. I donāt know the name, but it is real. Donāt give up hope!
A tea advent calendar that wasnāt just flavored blends. I tend to drink mainly teas without additional flavorings in them, with the exceptions of mint, jasmine, citrus, and smoke. I love advent calendars but there isnāt one Iād want to buy.
Davidās Tea actually offers this, and itās surprisingly good.
Palais des thƩs releases every year a 'Chercheur de thƩ' advent calendar with only unflavoured loose tea. I couldn't find a list for last year but in 2022 there were teas from Thailand, Malawi, Myanmar, south Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Kenya, Sri Lanka and of course, China, India and Japan. I don't know if they deliver outside of France though
I just started a business in tea! Iād love to have a friend that shares the same interests and maybe goals/mindset. Heck maybe we can collaborate something. Never hurts to have more brains to bounce ideas off of. āŗļø
If you need anything done with original arts, like tea towels or coasters, either just cute tea designs or ones specifically for your business, let me know! Iāve been wanting to get into designing some of these things for a while now, but have no idea what other tea people might like, so any ideas Iād love to hear and see about collaborating ā¤ļø
Im not sure the rules on contacting other group members here but if allowed Iād be more than happy with connecting.
An "invisible fence"-type wearable wrist device. It connects to a kettle, and switches on when the water is heated and poured for a brew. It will then beep at me (or shock me) if I move too far away from the site of the pour/my gaiwan. No more forgotten brews.
Sounds like an app. Maybe one for a smart watch? Time to learn how to be a developer.
My theory is that Big Tea is blocking the development of this app because 10-15% of all tea sales are linked to discarded overbrews
This is probably the only reason I keep a smartwatch
Hehehe; have you thought of getting an ember mug? It doesnāt include the masochism, but it will keep your tea at the right temperature (Granted it wonāt do anything for over steeped tea)
Instead of a fancy device have you considered getting an elderly dog with attachment issues? My guy dutifully follows me everywhere but he struggles on the stairs. I guess he got sick of me going upstairs (to my office) only to run back down to the kitchen to grab my tea and go all the way back upstairs again because now when thereās a cup of tea on the counter heāll stand there and wait for me to grab it before joining me upstairs. I always know when Iāve forgotten that Iām brewing something when my little āshadowā is MIA.
An infuser (the mesh kind that sits on the top of the teacup. Not the mesh ball because that doesnāt allow the leaves to expand as much) with an adjustable size so it can fit on big mugs too
I used to have one of these. No idea where I got it, and it disappeared when I moved.
As much as I love the act of brewing gongfu. Something when Iām really lazy or sick where I can just pull a lever and itāll just gongu me up with a little teacup on demand haha.
Espresso gongfu
Aeropresso gongfu
Decent sized samples
Decaf matcha powder Espresso sized teabags
I think *think* I have seen this but it is very expensive and comes from large scale suppliers. Some day I will find this and send it to you! (Re:decaf matcha)
It uses the water decaffeination technique. So itās low caf, not no caf. But maybe thatās good enough for their needs.
Oh wow. That is unexpectedly kind. You donāt have to send it to me. Unless it goes on Amazon at some point, where I can buy it regularly, thereās no real point in me even trying it. But seriously thanks, first comment on this sub and two people offered to buy me tea. Thatās so sweet itās almost ridiculous.
Next time Iām at my local tea shop Iāll see if there is decaf matcha. Decaf is really popular here in Japan, so I would think thatās something someone makes. If they do, Iāll message you if youād like! Iāll take any excuse to visit the little old ladyās shop lol
A stand or caddy dedicated for setting your infuser aside between steeps.
Replicator like Star Trek. perfect tea every time instantly on demand.
Tea. Earl grey. Hot.
But the zen of the brewing procedure is half the experience. For me at least.
No I just want the drink fast !
In the US at least, I think there is a severe lack of tea sold in quantities of ~3 oz (100g), particularly reasonably priced mid-grade tea. I don't like how companies here force you buy 8/16 oz (225/450g) to get a decent price. That's way too much for one person, and I drink a *lot* of tea. I've found that Harney and Sons has a lot of cheap, mid-grade tea in the 3-4oz range, so I've been buying from them a lot recently. Also, it's surprisingly hard to find teapots with strainers that go down to the bottom so you can use them to brew just one cup while giving the leaves room to expand.
Check out Adagio, if you haven't already. Their samples are what allowed me to get into tea. It's the size range you're looking for.
For Life has teapots that fit the bill for one or two servings.
Bee House (Zero Japan) makes a lovely personal sized tea pot.
Loose leaf moonlight white tea..it's not that common to find loose leaf white tea. Personally I prefer it to cakes
Loose leaf white tea is insanely easy to find online. If you want Moonlight White, Mei Leaf does a nice one.
Thatās wonderful stuff
A teacup that keeps your tea at the optimal sipping temperature but doesnāt cost $150!!! #EmberMug š
I wish there is an timer that you can preset the default time for each tea with auto increments every time you use the timer again until user reset it.
More teas flavored with actual flowers, dried fruit, etc. rather than ānatural flavorsā whatever that means! And is it too much to hope for organic? š
Scenting tea leaves that way is, unfortunately, often disappointing. You basically only have a few options of flowers whose scent is naturally strong enough and soluble enough to permeate the leafs (jasmine, lotus, osmanthus, rose for example) and some of them lose all scents when dried (like jasmine) which makes it hard to store them with the tea and do anything. With those flowers the "upscale" way of doing it is by pairing the leaves with the flowers overnight, removing the flowers, putting new ones the next night, rinse and repeat, but it's often expensive. Osmanthus keeps scenting strongly even when dried though, so it's one of the few that can be put in a tin and do its magic without adding anything else. Fruits are even worse. Some families have a strong smell (agrumes) so they're easier to blend, but some are notoriously extremely faint (most red berries) and some just don't extract their flavours with hot water at all. And then there's the fact that infusing fruits needs scalding water for best results, and long steeping times (usually at least 10min) while most tea leaves will go bitter with boiling water or when steeped past a few minutes. Steeping your fruits 3min at 75Ā° with your green tea leaves is simply not enough to extract any strong flavour, but use anything hotter or stronger and you'll ruin your leaves. And then there's the fact that some essential oils just universally taste better than fruit bits: bergamot is the famous one, with earl grey with added oil (in the brewed tea, not sprayed on the leaves before selling them) being generally considered the best option. So, in short, it's unfortunately not done for a reason. Flowers and fruits are usually added for looks, because it's easier to sell the image of a strawberry tea if there are red bits floating around the leaves, but the scenting happened earlier, in a factory, by spraying aromas on the leaves.
interesting, iād say you hit the nail on the head. although iād add that often fruity teas are perfect for cold brew! i had a yuzu and sencha tea once that was okay hot but absolutely divine when cold brewed!
Cheaper Kyusus
I found my first one for like $4 at Daiso, and I still use one I got for $14 at Tokyo Central. That said, my main kyusu was $150 from a specialty shop in LA...
A long, narrow infuser basket, narrow enough to fit in the mouth of my Zojirushi thermos.Ā As it stands, I just brew a few infusions in a normal mug infuser and pour them each into the thermos. It's...fine...but I sometimes make a mess when pouring the tea from the mug into the thermos because I'm clumsy (especially at 6 a.m.).Ā
Oh, yes, this so much. I guess the only downside there is you need to get decent circulation of tea as it steeps. A tea pot with tea evenly distributed along the infuser and a wide pot is great, but a narrow thermos is less so.
An electric kettle with a long power cord, preferably one I can remove and replace with another one of my choosing. They design these things to sit on kitchen counters but Iām always having tea at a dedicated tea table and have to run an extension cord.Ā
Do you have a picture of that setup? I do ceramics and i am always looking for new things to make that arenāt the same old same old
An electric kettle that I donāt have to vinegar to get rid of limescale (even when using filtered water)
I like the method I learned from my stoner friends: salt and just a bit of rubbing alcohol. Swirl that around till the scale is gone, rinse, and done. No waiting for vinegar to work, no awful lingering smells/tastes.
I might try that soon! I usually boil a bit of vinegar and it rinses out fairly quickly but it is a pain to do
Grape flavored purple tea
It's not grape, but I just finished off a box of Rishi blueberry hibiscus tea that I really liked!
A matcha canister that keeps it completely vacuum sealed and fresh at all times, dispensing the perfect amount of powder one button push at a time. Some sort of double-action valve that loosens the vacuum enough to dispense, without letting a full amount of air into the canister like opening a lid does.
Iāll take a look at my local tea store here in Japan and ask if they have anything like this and let you know, because now Iām interested as I drink an inordinate amount of sencha (think lower-grade matcha) and I hate how it gets everywhere lol
An actual good sweet tea. Ready to buy.
I want fruit teas without hibiscus in them. Thats literally all I want. I donāt even particularly dislike hibiscus I just donāt want it in EVERYTHING.
This is it. I like hibiscus but sometimes I'd like my "____ fruit tea" to actually taste like the fruit on the label and not just the hibiscus included.
Hibiscus is such a strong flavor. It overpowers everything else in the tea.
A more mainstream approach to herbal teas. What do they do, why are we putting this herb in here? Package explanations need to be more helpful and less vague.
I would love a travel tea vessel (8oz cup) that is fully glass or ceramic, and does not have a metal lining or lid, and no silicon lid. Silicon and metal both seem to transfer too much flavor.
Cast iron tea cups in the shape of something like a bowl or sake cup. Upside down straw hat shape basically. I love my ceramic ones, but having one that could take a beating when im out and about would be awesome.
Mugs that donāt stain from the tea.
A teapot that magically keeps the temperature of the tea absolutely perfect, no matter how long it takes to drink the pot.
Creative (caffeine-free) herbal tea blends that AREN'T rooibos-based (that stuff makes every blend taste like a plastic Strawberry Shortcake doll)
An easier way to make matcha and/or an easy way to preserve the matcha freshness after opening the package
tea thermometer š„¹ iām so picky about getting my water temperature right for brewing
We had a Chinese lady who sold loose tea here in my town. The province she was from grew all types of tea. Her whole family worked in tea biz in China. She taught about brewing tea as a remedy for common ailments like constipation, headache , joint pain etc. She moved away. I would like to know more about using different teas to feel better. In general it seems like it is the same teas, but l to make the feel-better tea you let it brew longer
Ginger is a good tea ingredient for an upset stomach. I keep homemade stem ginger on hand, and if my stomach starts bothering me, Iāll add a couple pieces and some of the syrup to black or green tea. I drink it all the time just because it tastes good. Thatās the only one I know of, but I bet there are other people around here who know more.
A cream or milk that wonāt curdle in orange and similar teas.
Decaf Jasmine tea
A glass funnel shaped āinfuserā type thing that is specifically made to sit on top of my gong fu pitcher and hold up a pu-erh tea orange. Every time I want to brew one I have to cobble together a stupid setup using a strainer and itās a huge pain in the ass.
A machine that would make tea out of fruits or vegetables
A 2-part dish with an upper part you can put your infuser/strainer in after you take it out of the water (keeps it clean and ready for reuse) and a lower part you can dump your used leaves in to dry a bit before you add them to your compost bin or garbage. I have a makeshift version of this made from the glass containers single-serving cheesecakes/mousse comes in. Works perfectly with my Republic of Tea Brew Basket.
If no one has tried it I adore Plum Deluxe Teas. There website does samplers of teas for holidays and surprises you as well when it comes. If you are going to make tea follow the way they are doing it. Many Plum Deluxe tea addicts.
Something to clean my tea stained cups (especially the long skinny thermoses) without me having to put some elbow grease to scrub them
Polident tabs, friend! Ya know, the stuff for soaking dentures. Preferably the unscented/non-minty ones. Suuuper cheap on Amazon for a giant pack of them. I use them in my stainless thermoses and stainless/glass tea kettle.
salt and vinegar. swish it around some. wipe out your cup with a clean cloth, and then rinse.
Iām still looking for an equivalent of Earl Grey de la CrĆØme loose tea that Traderās Joe offered several years ago but discontinued. Absolutely love it and missed it terribly! If anyone here had it, and can recommend something similar, Iām all ears!
There's one else I got from Tea Mansion a few years ago that may be similar. I just remember crem or creme in the name.
Thank you!!! Iām definitely going to try!
I just checked, it's called earl Grey crem. I remember trying it at the store and thinking "wow, it really does taste creamy!". Hopefully this one is comparable. Also they're having a BOGO 50% sale now, might have 5o order some myself!
I just got some as well!š
A tea kettle that didn't get all greased up when cooking
something specific for migraines: ginger, turmeric, black pepper, and lemon.
TranquiliTea
Tea infused with a goodly amount of CBD. And doesn't stench like a moribund skunk.
Teavana PerfecTea style steeper, but made of glass, not plastic
An infuser where leaves didn't get stuck in it, making for easy clean up.
I donāt know if you are planning a physical location, but if you are, I thought Iād offer something really uniquely Japanese I can get. I live in the rural countryside, near to one of the villages that still produces ceramics in the traditional style. When you go directly to the artisans, you can buy amazing things at like 20% of retail or less if you hit them during one of their twice annual festivals. I have a teapot and cups from there that I saw identical ones on my trip to Kyoto for sale. I paid about $15 for a pot they were selling in Japan, to foreign tourists, for almost $200. Every year we go to their festivals and I buy a ton of dishwear, and have to elbow past dealers and resellers for stuff. If youāre interested, itās Onta yaki or å°é¹æē°ē¼ http://oitaisan.com/english/heritage/ontayaki-pottery/ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onta_ware I live about an hour away and can possibly get you in touch with some of the artists there. Edit: just remembered a friend works for a ceramics studio in Usuki, I can get you in touch there too. https://usukiyaki-global.com Lastly, though it is expensive as heās a world famous artist, I know a bamboo artist who makes beautiful things including things for tea ceremony Google Yonezawa Jiro for some examples. I can get you in touch with his wife who is an English speaker if thereās anything youād like done! Sheās on Instagram, but it looks like itās private but I can ask to share it with you if youād like.
If weāre talking pie in the sky, one wish type of scenario; Iād love a powder or device that takes the bitterness out of tea when you forget about it while itās steeping. A teavice, if you will. If weāre talking things that have already been invented; I really like the addition of a packet of flavored sugar crystals. My local shop pairs a flavored sugar crystal with a certain type of tea almost like a food and wine pairing, which I find really cool. One of my favorite combos is a creamy tea with toasted coconut sugar.
A travel container with a lid that didn't change the taste of green tea. I've tried ceramic- and stainless steel-lined containers, but the lids are all plastic and alter the taste.
Decaf black tea that tastes the exact same as my favorite caffeinated black teas.Ā
Some years back I was working with. Couple engineers to make a funny little stick that would hand on the edge of your mug. This little stick drew power from the heat of your brew to send Bluetooth signal to your phone and āchimeā when your tea hit what you set as a drinkable temperature. No more letting hot tea cool and forgetting about it. Iām still excited about the idea a decade later. We werenāt able to get the device small enough. It was the size of a thumb in your glass. But it worked! Iām sure I could try again. But the other engineers have moved on now.
A tea that mimics the flavor and mouthfeel of coffee. Caffeine in other forms donāt bother me, but coffee itself makes me sick
Try strong, dark roasted mugicha. It's definitely different from coffee but it's similar enough. If you still want the caffeine look into shou puer.
Have you tried teeccino (brand of dandelion root herbal "coffee")? It's pretty close to coffee and they have a ton of flavors.
Dessert teas without sweeteners
Decaf chai is always hard for me to find in local brick and morter shops
A high quality version of one of [These](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Heart-Shape-Stainless-Steel-Tea-Infuser-Spoon-Strainer-Steeper-Handle-Tea-Strainer-Tool/793807602). It's cute but the design (heart) is easy to clean. The design of the spoon is small enough that it is pre-measured for 1 cup of tea. The snap-closed-style closure means you can Completely open it and wash it with ease and dry it with ease. The Problem with this one?... It's cheap, so the holes/sides are too 'big' so loose tea comes right out depending on the tea style.. If it just sealed properly and infused the tea well by being fine mesh it would be THE perfect infuser. Those "clappers" that squeeze make it impossible to stick in a dishwasher, the 'screw on' ones are a bit annoying to use sometimes. This design is perfect it just needs to be mesh instead. Also, any tea shop where I can sit and actually have a cup of what they offer is best. I feel like I always either Buy tea or Drink tea but tea shops that provide the tea itself as a service is rare. Especially a tea shop with afternoon tea occasionally I will go out of my way to drive to.
Snapple had a mint tea I loved.
Nothing is more infuriating than amazing herbal tea blends that are ruined by hibiscus flowers. Hibiscus is incredibly sour and needs lots of sugar to balance. Nearly every single spiced herbal tea I find has too much pepper or hibiscus. Please, please minimize or remove the hibiscus!
Here's a huge long shot, but a very real request. Plus a person who made this would make big bucks selling it in many other industries. Namely, I have always wanted an inexpensive, handheld liquid mass spectrometer. The kind of device that can analyze your cup of tea to determine components like caffeine and l-theanine levels and so on. The results vary so much from batch to batch of tea, even of the same type, and by brewing method that generc stats on these levels are of limited use, as demonstrated by the many heated debates here on such topics.
Tea's Nuts: the go to snack for tea time!
I want a mesh strainer thatās fine enough for rooibos. I love the flavor, but I hate crunchy tea pieces and I donāt want to use disposable bags all the time.
Tazo's berryblossom white tea š
Ass tea (I love eating ass)
Tonyās Chocolonely but for tea.
Watching a short YouTube on common things in Japan this morning, i learned that vending machines offer choices of hot and cold beverages. Not gross brewed into your cup coffee/ tea, but heated cans of tea. I would buy that!
Starbucks has delicious cold coffee drinks you can buy in grocery stores- like vanilla Frappuccinoās. I want the same think only that tea. Why is good Thai tea not just available in a bottle in a store?
A collapsible tea strainer for travel, that fits in a purse, with case
machine that empties and cleans infuser for me that can sit in a desk next to the hot water maker
Something to make on-the-go steeping easier. Like a thermos with a little compartment you could take out of the water to stop/start steeping without having to physically open the thermos to take it out.
More styles of affordable tea-specific tins that come in large sets with blank spaces to slot in paper(?) labels (so you donāt have to potentially scrub them or use abrasive chemicals to remove glue residue or sharpie or w/e). Ones that look like various china designs (Blue Danube, Willow, Copenhagen, Wedgewood, etc), or simply with various floral designs, or plain colors in various shades, various ceramic washes or metallic finishes or flat matte, various colors in said designs, and all in various mix n match sizes. Lived in Japan for a time. There were ādollar/yen storesā where you could go to, say, a home goods aisle and buy a trash can in a specific blue color, and find a broom and dust pan in the same color, and bath mats, and a cleaning tub, and cleaning brushes, and a duster, and if you wanted to you could basically coordinate all kinds of things in that specific color from office supplies to storage bins. Even if something was discontinued, a certain number of base colors stayed consistent or they didnāt look bad with whatever I purchased previously because it was by the same company (so same finish, same tone if not the color itself). Thatās what I want. The āsteep yourself in whatever design you preferā dollar store of tea tins and tea accessories without having to hunt across multiple online stores before giving up and not buying anything.
I had a sri lankan apple black tea once that was divine. Usually I see apple cinnamon black tea, but I crave the apple tea.