Aaaaand an old thread comes to life again *poof*
Now that I am back in a dorm and therefore sans garbage disposal, I am met with a dillemma. How do I get the tea leaves out??? At home I would just rinse them all out of my IngenuiTEA and run the garbage disposal, but here I don't have that option. I'm trying to just shake them all out into the trash, but they of course stick, being wet. I'm afraid that if I just rinse them down the sink they'll eventually clog my drain, and I don't think Facilities Management wants a work order from me every other week saying "Pleeeeease unclog my sink so I can pour more tea leaves down it!" hehee...
Any ideas?
~the spoon
Welcome back, old thread (...and the memories rush forward...)!
At the office, we usually just shake the teapot over the trashcan until most of the leaves come out, then rinse the (few) leftovers down the drain (not enough that you shuold be arrested by the Dorm Troopers).
I'll admit, sometimes we shake too hard and the teapot itself falls in, but then we just pack it up and send it off to PeteVu (ahhhh, college kids will take anything for free!).
Keep shakin',
Chris
Adagio Maestro
At the office, we usually just shake the teapot over the trashcan until most of the leaves come out, then rinse the (few) leftovers down the drain (not enough that you shuold be arrested by the Dorm Troopers).
I'll admit, sometimes we shake too hard and the teapot itself falls in, but then we just pack it up and send it off to PeteVu (ahhhh, college kids will take anything for free!).
Keep shakin',
Chris
Adagio Maestro
I find a plastic fork works pretty well on getting the the black and gree teas out (carefully, of course). I try to only drink Rooibos at home where I can rinse them out since they are so small and stick really badly.
Last edited by LavenderPekoe on Nov 8th, '05, 14:02, edited 1 time in total.
Teas for trade:
I've been looking at these threads since I just got one of these. I haven't tried it out yet, but will soon. Normally I've put loose tea in empty filter bags or a tea ball, but I know letting them expand freely in a pot is best so I think this pot will be good. I'm glad there are some tips on keeping the ingenuiTea in good condition because I was a little concerned about that, not having used a device like this before. It doesn't seem too hard, so that's good.
Anyway, I guess if you can't shake the used leaves out of the pot, scooping them out with a fork, spoon, kinfe, chopsticks, or whatever should work for getting most of them out. Something else you could consider, instead of or in addition to the shaking and/or scooping, is putting a little bit of water in to loosen the leaves from the mesh and then shake all that out into the trash. As long as the amount of water is small, dumping it in the trash shouldn't create a problem. After all, there will be other paper products and stuff in there that should absorb the water anyway. But you don't want to flood the trash either.
P.S. -- Grad students like free stuff, too, particularly food.
Fortunately, I finally graduated and have a real job now, so it's not as big of a concern anymore. But I still like free stuff, who doesn't? 
Anyway, I guess if you can't shake the used leaves out of the pot, scooping them out with a fork, spoon, kinfe, chopsticks, or whatever should work for getting most of them out. Something else you could consider, instead of or in addition to the shaking and/or scooping, is putting a little bit of water in to loosen the leaves from the mesh and then shake all that out into the trash. As long as the amount of water is small, dumping it in the trash shouldn't create a problem. After all, there will be other paper products and stuff in there that should absorb the water anyway. But you don't want to flood the trash either.
P.S. -- Grad students like free stuff, too, particularly food.
Fortunately, I finally graduated and have a real job now, so it's not as big of a concern anymore. But I still like free stuff, who doesn't? 
for the minimal ammount of heat you save, you lose the most wonderful smells. the cost/benefit ratio is too high! open up that pot and inhale... you wont want to close it. ive always steeped my tea in a pot with the top open and it only exploded once or twice... ^^
There are four advantages to green tea... Its beauty, its taste, its aroma, and its health benefits. Learn to enjoy the first three and you'll forget you drank it for the fourth. ^^
I agree -- I haven't noticed any difference in taste between covered and uncovered, and the smell is definitely worth it. =)
As an aside, if you remove the top from the 16oz IngenuiTea (a flathead screwdriver worked for me), it makes a great lid for the Bella Pitcher: it's a perfect fit, and helps keep hot tea warm for a little longer. The lid-free IngenuiTea is also a lot easier to clean. =)
As an aside, if you remove the top from the 16oz IngenuiTea (a flathead screwdriver worked for me), it makes a great lid for the Bella Pitcher: it's a perfect fit, and helps keep hot tea warm for a little longer. The lid-free IngenuiTea is also a lot easier to clean. =)
I've been keeping the lid open, mainly because I like to stir the leaves around once or twice during steeping. Then I started wondering why the lid was there. Draining off one cup and leaving a second in the pot, closing the lid to keep it warm, would make sense if the tea leaves weren't staying in the pot. But they are and I don't think anyone wants to drink a cup of tea that's steeped for like 20 minutes or more. So if that's not it and closing the lid while steeping isn't it (because it makes little to no difference), what is the lid for? Well, I suppose it keeps the dust out when not in use. But anything better than that? Or is it more for appearance than function?
stirring your tea makes dust appear and is completely unecessary for the tea to brew. thinking of that reminds me of when a guy on food network prepared tea with just about every mistake you can make without a teabag. watching him probably would have given chris a heart attack.
There are four advantages to green tea... Its beauty, its taste, its aroma, and its health benefits. Learn to enjoy the first three and you'll forget you drank it for the fourth. ^^
Re: Diameter?
Measuring mine, it appears to be no more than 3.75" diameter at the top, about 5" total height, and it looks like a 1.75" radius at the base that you'd put on a cup (radius since the spout/valve is in the center of the base). I use mine with a cup that has a mouth about 2.75" in diameter. It's too small to fit the entire pot on the rim, like you see in the video, but at least half of it fits, so it works. I think that as long as the center of the base is over the cup/mug and enough of the base is touching the cup/mug to open the valve, it will work. If you really have to, you can press the base with your fingers to open the valve and hold the pot over a cup; just watch your fingers in that case. Hopefully this helps, but perhaps one of the Adagio staff members can give you better numbers.ribex wrote:I'd like to know what the dimensions are, particularly what the approximate range of mug diameter can be used with it.
Oh, Chris, I have a mug it doesn't work well with. It's an oversized one, with somewhat of a fluted rim. It does not like the IngenuiTEA, and the IngenuiTEA does not like it. But then it is from Starbucks, so that could be why...
~teaspoon
~teaspoon
"My sister and I have this wish before we die...
Tea in the Sahara with you."
~The Police, "Tea in the Sahara"
I am the size of 1 tsp.
Tea in the Sahara with you."
~The Police, "Tea in the Sahara"
I am the size of 1 tsp.