Jan 3rd, '15, 10:25
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Newbie advice...

by dvto2 » Jan 3rd, '15, 10:25

I am just getting into tea having been mostly a coffee and an herbal tea drinker. I want something simple and easy for my office. I have a small sink area that I keep a coffee maker and I thought about getting the Trinitea. Some people seem to love it but there have been problems as well (malfunctions, plastic concerns, etc). Years ago I acquired a Utilitea kettle simply to heat water in a safe way (I burnt too many teapots on the stove) and it has been fantastic. I don't mind that the water temperature is not precisely calibrated which you would need a pricey pid to do; I just use an instant read thermometer to get my desired temp. The convenience of the Trinitea would be great but might i be better off with the Utiltea and something like the ingenuity or even the porcelain cup and infuser. Any thoughts?

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Jan 3rd, '15, 12:12
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Re: Newbie advice...

by futurebird » Jan 3rd, '15, 12:12

What kind of tea do you drink? For many teas you don't need a fancy kettle. a $30 one will do.

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Jan 3rd, '15, 12:18
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Re: Newbie advice...

by JRS22 » Jan 3rd, '15, 12:18

Is the utilitea available for office use or would you be buying a second one?

Jan 3rd, '15, 13:24
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Re: Newbie advice...

by dvto2 » Jan 3rd, '15, 13:24

I guess I am thinking green, oolong, and black but I'm not really sure at this point.

I have a Utilitea for home so I am looking for something for the office.

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Jan 3rd, '15, 13:45
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Re: Newbie advice...

by Chip » Jan 3rd, '15, 13:45

Buy the better varietea and keep it home. Take you'd utilitea to work.

A device like the trinitea may be more complicated on the cleaning end and may not be a simple work solution. A kettle and teapot is a more simple solution, imho.

Jan 3rd, '15, 13:58
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Re: Newbie advice...

by dvto2 » Jan 3rd, '15, 13:58

Simple and easy is what i am going for. One of the nice features of the Utilitea is that you are not limited to preset temperatures, because you can easily adjust the temperature up by holding down the start lever. I typically undershoot my target temp by a few degrees and then raise the temp by holding down the lever, checking it with an instant read thermometer. For coffee my desired temp is
90 c. This is an important feature because the temperature will vary depending on how much water is in the kettle.

I am not seeing this lever on the Varietea.

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Jan 3rd, '15, 15:09
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Re: Newbie advice...

by JRS22 » Jan 3rd, '15, 15:09

I have both the utilitea and the varietea. I haven't tested the varietea temperature control over water quantity, but for a given amount of water I find it consistent. I never had that consistency with the utilitea, which is now reserved for boiling water.

One approach is to reserve easy-to-brew teas for the office, and keep the more finicky ones at home. Then you can have the appropriate equipment in each place without duplication.

So one approach might be to have chinese greens in the office and japanese greens at home, oolongs that require boiling water in the office and more delicate ones at home, etc.

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