New Stuff!!! Tasting Set

by **CynTEAa** » Nov 7th, '08, 17:19

by CynTEAa » Nov 7th, '08, 17:19

Salsero wrote:
CynTEAa wrote: an instant read thermometer
Is there really such a thing and where can you get them? Or are they just "pretty-quick" read ... like they stabilize in up to a minute?

You're right! They are "sorta fast" read. The one I have takes about 25 - 30 seconds. My other dream gift is one of those fancy digital probe thermometers Alton Brown is always showing off.

Chip wrote:Great, thanks Cyn!!! It is extremely helpful receiving advice on a forum from someone with extensive industry experience with tasting.

It's my pleasure!

So nice to be able to share my passion!

by **Drax** » Nov 7th, '08, 18:41

by Drax » Nov 7th, '08, 18:41

Very cool, thanks for the pointers, Cyn!

Sal -- the only thing I've seen close to an "instant read" thermometer is one that uses an infrared beam to read the temperature of a surface. I saw it on "Good Eats," where Alton used it to read the temperature of the pan.

You might be able to use this with liquids, but I would keep in mind it would be reading the surface temperature, which would be cooler. But it would be near instantaneous.

Any other thermometer is going to have to equilibrate with the liquid in order to get you an accurate reading. The only way to make a thermometer faster is to reduce the amount of "thermometer" that has to get stuck into the object -- for example a very thin wire versus a chopstick-sized poker. But I have no clue if they make stuff like that.

We now return you to the tea-set discussion.

by **chad** » Nov 7th, '08, 19:57

by chad » Nov 7th, '08, 19:57

Salsero wrote:
CynTEAa wrote: an instant read thermometer
Is there really such a thing and where can you get them? Or are they just "pretty-quick" read ... like they stabilize in up to a minute?

I use a Thermopen instant read. They are very accurate and very fast. Of course, I use my Thermopen mostly for BBQ where every minute you have the pit open you are losing heat/time...

When I use it for water I get a stabilized read in 4-5 seconds. One difference with the Thermopen is that it will read from the tip...most instant reads (Taylor analogs for sure) have a "dimple" about 1/2" from the end...that's the actual read point for the probe.

I have absolutely no financial interest in this product!! Oh yeah, they also come in colors! I use the "original".

http://www.thermoworks.com

by **Chip** » Nov 7th, '08, 20:28

by Chip » Nov 7th, '08, 20:28

I was sold til I had extreme sticker shock! Heh, $178 buys a lot of tea, so I will wait a few more seconds.

OK, tried the tasting cups to sample Adagio Alishan I received when it first came out and some I just received. There is a discussion HERE that raised some questions and saw a great opp to give 'em a test run. I am going to do a round 2 tomorrow.

I used a gram per ounce of water, are there set parameters for doing a tasting?

It was actually pretty exciting trying out the sets and I learned a little from even the first tasting. For instance, you can simply set the inverted brewing vessel on top of the cup and move right to the next one, etc. The inverted vessel thus continues to pour as you go to the next one and next one, etc.

And since there is no spout, just a slot, you quickly invert the vessel in order to prevent major dribbling.

FUN!!!

Last edited by Chip on Nov 7th, '08, 20:43, edited 1 time in total.

by **Pentox** » Nov 7th, '08, 20:32

by Pentox » Nov 7th, '08, 20:32

There's the mini handheld one which would only be 73 dollars with the 2second response time needle probe.

178 is also for 2 of the thermapens.

by **Chip** » Nov 7th, '08, 20:44

by Chip » Nov 7th, '08, 20:44

Pentox wrote:There's the mini handheld one which would only be 73 dollars with the 2second response time needle probe.

178 is also for 2 of the thermapens.

Oh, then I will take 10.

by **Salsero** » Nov 7th, '08, 22:15

by Salsero » Nov 7th, '08, 22:15

I really find the product attractive, but the price is putting it a bit lower on my priorities list. Of course, Christmas is next month!

by **Vulture** » Nov 7th, '08, 22:49

by Vulture » Nov 7th, '08, 22:49

Salsero wrote:I really find the product attractive, but the price is putting it a bit lower on my priorities list. Of course, Christmas is next month!

Also the fact that it is unavailable (west coast?) at the moment kinda will stop anything!

by **Salsero** » Nov 8th, '08, 00:08

by Salsero » Nov 8th, '08, 00:08

Vulture wrote:
Salsero wrote: I really find the product attractive, but the price is putting it a bit lower on my priorities list. Of course, Christmas is next month!
Also the fact that it is unavailable (west coast?) at the moment kinda will stop anything!

Actually, I was referring to the Thermopen rather than the tasting set. Sorry about the ambiguous antecedent.

As for the tasting sets, I like them a lot and have two, but I have difficulty imagining myself having the patience to actually brew 5 oz of 6 different teas at the same time. I don't think I could forgo drinking all that tea either, and that level of caffeine would probably be my end! :lol:

by **treazure** » Nov 10th, '08, 12:48

Question about tasting set

by treazure » Nov 10th, '08, 12:48

Apologies in advance, but is there a handle on the bowl? Some days the only teaware I can use are the ones with handles unless I want to dump hot tea all over the place, drop the teaware and probably break everything. (Not to mention it is a sin to waste good tea.) I have several small, 2 cup glazed teapots which I use pretty much on a daily basis, and a set of 5 paper thin porcelain cups for tasting. Each cup holds about 2 slurps.

by **Chip** » Nov 10th, '08, 12:57

Re: Question about tasting set

by Chip » Nov 10th, '08, 12:57

treazure wrote:Apologies in advance, but is there a handle on the bowl? Some days the only teaware I can use are the ones with handles unless I want to dump hot tea all over the place, drop the teaware and probably break everything. (Not to mention it is a sin to waste good tea.) I have several small, 2 cup glazed teapots which I use pretty much on a daily basis, and a set of 5 paper thin porcelain cups for tasting. Each cup holds about 2 slurps.

The brew vessel has a handle, the cup or bowl does not. The cup is pretty big, around 5 ounces which is more than the vessel will brew.

This is quite different from the aroma/tasting sets that are very small.

by **Victoria** » Nov 10th, '08, 15:16

by Victoria » Nov 10th, '08, 15:16

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr I want!! Hurry and send west!!!!!

by **Janine** » Nov 11th, '08, 12:05

by Janine » Nov 11th, '08, 12:05

Those tasting sets look nice to me.

I like to try teas side by side, and I agree that I like to get everything possible out of a tea - that means multiple steeps of the same teas also side by side. One important criterion for me is how many steeps I get.

But I also think I LEARN a lot by doing this. If you do this with a type of tea - like different green oolongs even from same vendor - then you really learn a lot IMO.

I have seen electric water kettles that have a digital temp readout on the top of the handle so you know exactly what temp the water is. You can stop it at any temp you like, and I believe set it too, like an alarm for a particular temp although I did not test that aspect.

by **Salsero** » Nov 11th, '08, 13:09

by Salsero » Nov 11th, '08, 13:09

Janine wrote: I have seen electric water kettles that have a digital temp readout on the top of the handle so you know exactly what temp the water is.

Any idea where one could obtain such a kettle?

by **Vulture** » Nov 11th, '08, 13:16

by Vulture » Nov 11th, '08, 13:16

Salsero wrote:
Janine wrote: I have seen electric water kettles that have a digital temp readout on the top of the handle so you know exactly what temp the water is.
Any idea where one could obtain such a kettle?

I saw this but it wasn't an electric kettle, it was a normal stove kettle with the thermometer on top