My last post explained why one should not make tea from tea bag. I am going to start talking about how I make good tea at work without hassle. Most people either use paper cup from the office kitchen or bring their own cup to make tea. I have tried both, but none of them really work well. The disadvantages (or advantages) of paper cups are pretty obvious, I won’t go into details here. A normal coffee mug or cup won’t work for me either since I don’t sit on my desk all the time. And as most tea lovers know, some teas need to steep (like Pu Erh) for a longer time in very hot water; a normal cup (especially without lid) just cannot keep the water temperature high long enough.

Then I tried one of these stainless steel vacuum coffee mug with a lid (actually, that was a giveaway from my previous company). It worked pretty well, much better than my old cup. I could roam around the office with it and it keeps the water pretty hot for a long time. This is not the mug I am currently using though. Before I show you what I am using today, let me talk about what other people use across the Pacific (China, that is).

Two most common styles of tea”cup” I have seen are tea jar and tea cup with lid . The tea jars are nothing more than a long cylindrical plastic or glass jar with a twist top. Actually, an used spaghetti sauce jar works just fine. I remember when I was a kid, bus and taxi drivers in Hong Kong simply use jars like that for tea. Back then, there was no cup holder in cars. The ceramic tea mugs with lids are classic. You can see them whenever you see Chinese government officials in Hollywood movies (remember the court scenes in Red Corner from Richard Gere?). Even today, they are the still used in the National Assembly meeting in China.

I guess I have side tracked too much :). Here is what I am using these days.

Nothing really fancy. It is very much like a normal thermal travel coffee mug, but with a water-tight screw top. For making black tea, I can close the lid and let the tea steep for a longer time in very hot water. For making green tea like Dragon Well, I can keep the lid open so the tea is not cooked. In any case, the screw top comes in handy since I like to shake the tea a little to make sure the tea has an even flavor. It is so water tight and sturdy that I have dropped the mug a couple times (with the lid on) and nothing spilled.

I would like to know what mug or cup other tea lovers out there use for making tea. Please send me a picture or leave a comment with a description.

David from www.just4tea.com

1 Comment » Posted by david / Pratical tips

Like most tea lovers, I used to make tea from tea bags when I want a cup of tea after lunch. It does not mean I did not appreciate a good cup of tea. However, I just found it very troublesome to make tea from loose leaves in an office setting. And unlike coffee, there is just no Starbucks equivalent around even if I am willing to drive down the street and pay $2 plus for a cup of tea. Most tea lovers associate enjoying good tea with making tea with gaiwan or yixing teapot from premium tea leaf at home. This is definitely true. June and I do that at home whenever we get a chance. After a couple years of trial and error, I finally figure out some ways to make good tea at work without spending too much time and without messing up my desk.

Before I go into the details of the technique that I use, let’s discuss why one does not want to drink tea made from tea bags. I bet most of the readers of this tea blog is sophisticated enough to figure that tea made from most tea bags taste horrible. This is mainly because tea leaves are all broken in tea bags. There are 2 problems with broken tea leaves. Broken tea leaves are generally low grade “tea dust” that is left behind after the bigger tea leaves are picked. In addition, much of the flavor in tea is from its oil on the tea leaves. Tea oil is easily dried up if the leaves are broken. There are some higher quality tea bags. Those higher quality tea bags use larger leaves with roomier tea bag and/or having individual tightly sealed packaging to avoid drying up of tea leaves. However, I have yet seen any decent quality tea bags for Chinese tea.

In the future blog, I will share with you more about what works and what doesn’t when coming to making tea at work.

David from www.just4tea.com

No Comments » Posted by admin / Pratical tips

I always carry a huge lime green bag with my portable tea can or big Thermos with Pu-erh everywhere. My friends always laugh at me whenever I take out my big Thermos and pull myself a cup of teas. It’s kind of funny, but a nice cup of tea could lighten up the food especially the grease Chinese food. Do you know the Chinese dim sum restaurant would waive your tea beverage surcharge if you bring your own tea leaves? You could ask the waiter to brew it for you; or you could simply ask for an empty tea pot and some hot water and you could brew it yourself.

In case you already upgrade yourself from drinking low quality of tea bags to premium teas, and you don’t want to waste the unwanted teas in your cabin, here are the things you could do to make use of them:

1. Tea is a great absorbent and it could naturally absorb any smell. If you have a stinky refrigerator, you could put the tea bags and several slice of lemon peels on a small dishes and let it sit inside your refrigerator for several days. The smell would be gone and replaced by refreshing lemon teas smell.
2. Got a tired, achy or puffy eyes? You could soak tea bags into warm water and place it over your eyes for 10 minutes. It has a very soothing effect and it take out the tiredness.
3. Your plants enjoy tea too. When you water the plants with tea, the nutrients from the tea will be released into the soil, spurring growth. most plants love the tannic acid that occurs naturally in tea. Please remember don’t over fertilize it.
4. Heal rash. Simply dip a towel into the tea and place it over rash area for a while.
5. Say goodbye to your athlete’s foot (Hong Kong Foot). Just take a daily tea bath and soak your foot in strongly brewed tea for 20 minutes a day and say good-bye to offensive odors.
6. Speaking of the athlete’s foot, so don’t forget to put a couple of tea bags inside the shoes and take the smell out.
7. Heal pollen allergy. Simply dip a cotton ball into the tea, dab it on nostrils area and let it dry. Repeat as needed. My mother and I both have a allergy, and we both agree the Lu On tea has a better effect. So I take some out and use it while consuming it.
8. Make tea eggs and it’s a great and cheap party snack. http://www.recipezaar.com/127310

Wish you all have the best holiday!

June from www.just4tea.com

1 Comment » Posted by june / Pratical tips