I made a cross country drive a few days ago and took along a Stanley stainless thermos of Gunpowder tea with me. It worked well for me and was a welcome change from having coffee for the whole drive.
It got me to wondering if others here take tea on the road with them? What teas work for you? And how do you travel with it? (I see some TeaDay polls in this)
Tea on the road
刀獾
片和
片和
I either bring a travel set (and sometimes an electric kettle) with me, or I just bring some tea leaves that aren't too expensive and throw them in a mug or cup with some hot water. The results (esp. of the latter) usually aren't great, but still better than pretty much anything else I could come up with on the road.
Mar 20th, '09, 22:28
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hooksie
32oz Thermos. Not really sure where it came from for that matter, something I had lying around the house. In the morning I'll steep enough tea to fill it and gradually work on it through the day.
Although there was that one morning a few days ago I had it all in one sitting.
Although there was that one morning a few days ago I had it all in one sitting.
We were fated to pretend.
Mar 20th, '09, 23:48
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ABx
I think that the trick is to find a cheap tea that is good no matter how it's brewed.
I got some jade Dong Ding from a local shop that was just $33 for a half pound, and it comes out great brewed western style and yeilds many infusions. It's not a fantastic Dong Ding, but it is a very pleasant tea that's very easy to brew and goes a long way (they sell different grades with appropriate pricing, but I think this $66/lb Dong Ding beats most Dong Ding from online vendors that don't specialize in Taiwanese wulong). When I'm going out to run errands for a while, I will quickly make some in my infuser mug or a large-ish pot (large compared to my normal <5oz teapots for gongfu cha) and pour it in my travel mug (which is basically built like a thermos that you can drink from). This way, also, if I end up wasting some of the leaf then it doesn't matter as much since it was only $33 for a half pound.
I think that just about any rolled wulong that you like and doesn't cost too much would probably give you the same value. With how many steeps these tend to give, it would be easy to take a relatively small amount of leaf on the road and just stop for boiling water from convenience stores now and again. You could either use something like the huge empty teabags that Adagio sells or leave the leaf in the cup - since Taiwanese wulong generally uses 2 leaves and a bud still on the stem, you wouldn't have to worry about getting bits of leaf in your mouth.
With rolled wulong you might want to practice a bit first. If you use the right water temp, mug/thermos/whatever, and amount of leaf, then you should be able to get it so that it cools down enough that it doesn't continue to steep too much and wear out the leaf in the first round.
If you like shu (cooked puerh) then that can be another very good one. One of the reasons that people buy the mini-tuos is so that they can throw one in a thermos with hot water and go. The only down side is that some of the mini-tuos are made from chopped leaf that can be messy once hydrated.
If you are into Chinese greens then you could also basically do some "glass brewing." It's pretty common to throw some leaf into a drinking glass and pour hot water in. With the right amount of leaf this can be a very easy way to get a near perfect cup of Chinese green tea, and you could easily use this principal on the road.
I got some jade Dong Ding from a local shop that was just $33 for a half pound, and it comes out great brewed western style and yeilds many infusions. It's not a fantastic Dong Ding, but it is a very pleasant tea that's very easy to brew and goes a long way (they sell different grades with appropriate pricing, but I think this $66/lb Dong Ding beats most Dong Ding from online vendors that don't specialize in Taiwanese wulong). When I'm going out to run errands for a while, I will quickly make some in my infuser mug or a large-ish pot (large compared to my normal <5oz teapots for gongfu cha) and pour it in my travel mug (which is basically built like a thermos that you can drink from). This way, also, if I end up wasting some of the leaf then it doesn't matter as much since it was only $33 for a half pound.
I think that just about any rolled wulong that you like and doesn't cost too much would probably give you the same value. With how many steeps these tend to give, it would be easy to take a relatively small amount of leaf on the road and just stop for boiling water from convenience stores now and again. You could either use something like the huge empty teabags that Adagio sells or leave the leaf in the cup - since Taiwanese wulong generally uses 2 leaves and a bud still on the stem, you wouldn't have to worry about getting bits of leaf in your mouth.
With rolled wulong you might want to practice a bit first. If you use the right water temp, mug/thermos/whatever, and amount of leaf, then you should be able to get it so that it cools down enough that it doesn't continue to steep too much and wear out the leaf in the first round.
If you like shu (cooked puerh) then that can be another very good one. One of the reasons that people buy the mini-tuos is so that they can throw one in a thermos with hot water and go. The only down side is that some of the mini-tuos are made from chopped leaf that can be messy once hydrated.
If you are into Chinese greens then you could also basically do some "glass brewing." It's pretty common to throw some leaf into a drinking glass and pour hot water in. With the right amount of leaf this can be a very easy way to get a near perfect cup of Chinese green tea, and you could easily use this principal on the road.
okay, there seem to be two divergent ideas of travelling with tea here. One, is some tea in a giant thermos that you can drink WHILE driving. The second is what tea/ware to take to make at a travel DESTINATION.
I do both the travel set and travel mug things as we do a lot of driving. I agree with ABx, cheap(ish) and very forgiving brew parameters are going to be your best bets. I find most blacks do well. Gunpowder, as you found out, is good. TKY has not gone wrong, yet.
Basically anything that doesn't lose significant qualities when western brewed.
I do both the travel set and travel mug things as we do a lot of driving. I agree with ABx, cheap(ish) and very forgiving brew parameters are going to be your best bets. I find most blacks do well. Gunpowder, as you found out, is good. TKY has not gone wrong, yet.
Basically anything that doesn't lose significant qualities when western brewed.
Generally we don't travel much during the winter, so I don't take hot tea with me to drink. When we travel during the summer, we'll take iced tea with us.
I like hot tea with breakfast year-round, though. If we're going to be away from home I'll take some quality tea bags with me, or my little Origins teapot and some loose Adagio tea leaves.
Although my neighbors are all barbarians,
And you, you are a thousand miles away,
There are always two cups on my table.
--Tang Dynasty
And you, you are a thousand miles away,
There are always two cups on my table.
--Tang Dynasty