Chinese Tea Thermos

[depravitea]

Since I've gotten into glass brewing I've become aware of these tea thermoses that I've apparently been oblivious too for some time now.
I've gotten links from TCers and some I've found on my own. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with these and if so, which would you suggest, and why.
Also, I have no experience with these companies, so I'd feel a lot better about it if someone on here might be able to vouch for them (or warn me.)
The two in question:
Strand Tea Company - Tea Tiger:
http://www.strandtea.com/shop/shop-for- ... rod_5.html

Xiu Xian Tea -
https://xiuxiantea.merchantsecure.com/p ... ductType=4

If anyone knows of one that they think is sperior to these, please, let me know.
And my final question - Are these a waste of time?
For me, it may be a way to phase out bagged tea completely, so I'm kind of psyched about that, but I don't want to wind up spending another $20.00 in tuition if you know what I mean.
As usual, any input is appreciated.
Thanks very much!

EDIT - I have to say, the one at Strand is plastic, so I'm kind of already partial to the ones at Xiu Xian, which are glass...

[geeber1]

I don't have a Tea Tiger, but I have ordered from Strand Tea. They have been a good site to order from, they have good customer service and quick shipping.

If you do get one, let us know how you like it!

[depravitea]

Thanks geeber, makes me feel a little better about giving my credit card info to yet another tea shop lol
I'll definitely let you guys know!

[Salsero]

I ordered the Tea Tiger, but frankly I haven't managed to incorporate it into my tea routine. I think I used it once on a trip, putting some Chinese green tea into and letting it sit in not-too-hot water.

[depravitea]

How did it taste? I was sort of concerned about having a plastic smell or taste infect the tea.

[Salsero]

I can't say for sure that the plastic affected the taste, but I have thought about getting another one made of glass. Gordon has several glass and stainless ones for sale at DTH.

[depravitea]

Nice, thanks for the link.
I think I'm going for a glass version as well.
The Silver Fish Glass at Xiu Xian Tea has caught my eye. I'm just wary of placing an oder at a place I really know nothing about...

[DJ3riple]

I too have been looking to buy one of these glass thermoses and I'm glad I have more options now.

[tealeaf]

The Silver Fish Glass at Xiu Xian Tea has caught my eye. I'm just wary of placing an oder at a place I really know nothing about...

As you got the link from me, you probably already know that I've been happy with XiuXian's service! More than that, they were extremely helpful (and friendly) with sorting out shipping to Germany and also in sending me extra filters when I misplaced mine. I also got some free tea samples along with it.

I have one of the Tea Tiger thermos flasks in a cupboard back in the UK. They are nice enough, although the hologram on the lid puts me off quite a lot. I never had issues with plastic smells or taste, but for general feel and pleasure of use I much prefer my glass one from XiuXian. It's pleasantly heavy, sits in the hand well and is subtly styled. Of course, it's also going to be more fragile than the plastic, but my glass one has survived a couple of bangs and knocks without ill effects. It's definitely good quality.

The XiuXian tea flasks have a small metal filter that sits neatly inside the flask. I personally much prefer that to the Tea Tiger (and the Dragon Tea House) design where the filter screws on top of the glass itself and under the lid. That's just a preference, though.

One thing to watch out for when using them is that the water stays hot for longer than you might expect. When I first had it, I ruined a good few brewings by assuming that the water must have cooled down enough to add the leaves.

[beachape]

http://www.summittea.com/catalog/produc ... &s=teaware

A little pricey, but works fine. I broke my first one by setting it too firmly on the ground. Double layer glass is pretty easy to break.

[tea fish]

I have a glass one that my mum bought me on a visit to China (so I don't know where she bought it--sorry!). There must be significant variation in glass quality, because my thermos feels really durable to me--kind of like a mason jar. I'd have to really bang it to break it, I think.

[cinnabar]

I have a Chinese glass tea thermos that I bought from Xiu Xian. I really like it, and use it several days a week on the way to work since I can just heat the water to the right temperature, pour it in and then head out the door. Since the tea steeps for longer periods I use cooler water. The thermos works very well for Chinese green teas, white teas and some lightly oxidized oolongs.

If you do purchase one I would caution you to figure out a way to transport it safely if you're going to carry it with you. The first one I had broke in the back of the car when it bumped into something. Now I carry mine in a heavy felt wine bag which protects it quite well.

I would never use a plastic thermos. I also have a yixing-style clay tea thermos that I use for pu'er teas that also came from Xiu Xian.

[depravitea]

I'm sold. I was never that keen on plastic, so I'm definitely going with the glass version at Xiu Xian.
Thanks, everyone, for all the input. I will most definitely put up a humble review once I use it a few times!

[depravitea]

Well, I did it! I finally placed the order! I went with the glass one at Xiu Xian Tea. I'm pretty excited to try this out.
The only thing that I wasn't able to figure out was what it said. I'm guessing it's something about tea and/or fish maybe?? lol
Any one have any ideas?? It would be very much appreciated. I hope it doesn't say something like Kitchen Sink, or My Owner is Stupid. lol



I tried to tweak this to get a better look at the characters...

[Maitre_Tea]

Okay, the last character looks funny, but I'm assuming it says: 年年有鱼， which literally means you'll have fish every year. This is something said around Chinese New Years to wish good luck/fortune onto other people. In my family we fry up two whole fish, and we eat one but we "save" the other for a while to have luck for the rest of the year...so yeah, it doesn't say that the owner of this is stupid or anything.

*Note* actually, on second notice it the character looks like 茶, which is the character for tea...which means it's a pun on the original saying