Chinese Tea Thermos

[tealeaf]

The Xiu Xian ones do have a rubber/plastic/silicone seal, and I've never noticed any taste from it.

To be honest, I'd imagine that all thermoses would have this, as they would be likely to leak without it. I can definitely say that I've never had a problem with the Xiu Xian thermos, though.

[Cha Nacho]

Hey fellow glass thermos users, thanks for your inspiration. After following this thread for some time I decided a glass thermos would be a great addition, especially for extended periods of studying. I have been using a gaiwan most of the time or sometimes just a big mug, but the glass thermos is more convenient than the gaiwan, and keeps the water warmer much longer than the cup. Not to mention it looks pretty spiffy!

I went down to China town to see what I could get and luckily found something very nearly the same as the one xiu xian offers. Only difference is that it has a handle. I'm enjoying some dan cong in it right now and it tastes great. Just for reference I go with the 1.5g of tea per 100 ml of water and so far so good. The thermos holds 12 fl. oz, so I used about 5g tea.

Enjoy the pictures.
Cha Nacho

PS To the translators out there, if anyone wants to take a crack at the inscription please do. I asked the guy in the store, he read it, laughed, and said it was hard to translate!

[tenkaichi]

Thanks for your tea proportion suggestion. I received my glass thermos from Xiu Xian not too long ago and am still experimenting with it also. Is that a thermos with a plastic outer wall and a glass inner wall or is it all glass? Xiu Xian has a plastic outer and glass inner, but the feel of the all-glass thermos is a nice weight in my hand.

I have some pictures to share of the characters on the dragon thermos. Can't be read by me!

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dragon2.jpg (24.15 KiB) Viewed 1051 times

Closeups of the characters and dragon.

Bonus pic:
I ordered two thermoses - one of the dragon and one of the tree to give to a friend of mine. Well, I opened mine and was really happy! Then I opened the second one and inspected it...

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No, that's not a trick of the light (it just makes it look worse)... somehow, there are numerous scratches on the inside wall! I can't feel them at all, but needless to say this cup is packed up and ready to ship out. The guy at Xiu Xian was very prompt in his response, so I'm sure I'll be happy again in a few days. He was amazed too - out of over 22,000 cups, he's never seen anything like it! Haha, I'm special.

[Cha Nacho]

Hi tenkaichi,

Mine is all glass. Thats weird about the scratches on your thermos, good to know they are dealing with it though. I'm loving mine, use it everyday almost. Cheers!

[tenkaichi]

I enjoy using it all the time also, though I get some mixed looks at my work - some people just don't understand.

I did come upon a horrible thought though... It's winter now, and since the thermos IS glass, won't the glass have a good chance of breaking (when full of not-quite boiling water) due to the drastic change in temperature once I walk outside?? Please tell me that I'm wrong, someone... I'm really scared to have that happen on me...

[tealeaf]

You'll be fine with the hot/cold.

For a start, the glass is insulated so only the interior is touching nearly-boiling water. If you were to fill it with boiling water for a while, then tip it out, then pour in ice-water (and do it regularly) then I'd worry! For just walking outside with the thermos I'm sure you'll be fine. (I do it with mine.)

It's also nice thick glass, and really doesn't seem that fragile. I'd be very surprised if you had any problems.

I also get the "what are you drinking?" comments. I usually tell them that it's a science experiment.

[C7rFt]

I'm really new to Tea, just started drinking it for the first time in my life roughly two weeks ago. So this is probably a stupid question but, why doesn't the tea over steep in these?

Say it takes an hour to finish the first cup, wouldn't that cup have been steeping for an hour? Wouldn't an subsequent cup be much much weaker?

Thanks for any answer.

[tealeaf]

It's not a silly question!

If you leave the tea, it can get very strong. I tend to drink the first half a flask quite quickly after first adding the water. The rest steeps quite a lot before my second filling, but is then diluted.

So there is a bit of a craft to drinking it.

[beachape]

Sometimes I will fill only half with hot water, let it brew for a few minutes then add cold water to stop the process. This trick works well if you are taking the tea with you to work/class. Otherwise by the time you arrive the tea will be a quite potent. Experiment. If it tastes good, you're probably doing something right.

[wyardley]

I'm really new to Tea, just started drinking it for the first time in my life roughly two weeks ago. So this is probably a stupid question but, why doesn't the tea over steep in these?

Say it takes an hour to finish the first cup, wouldn't that cup have been steeping for an hour? Wouldn't an subsequent cup be much much weaker?

Most people I've seen just don't brew tea very strong in these devices. They're designed more for sipping to quench thirst than for serious tea drinking to enjoy the taste. A combination of that and being used to drinking fairly bitter tea. I would guess that, aside from topping off with some additional hot water, no more than one or two full brews are done with the same tea most of the time.

I have seen folks in the parts of China I've visited add other (non-tea) stuff to these thermoses too.

[IPT]

Wyardley is right. For many people here, tea is thought of as just a beverage and it the tea thermos are just to have something to drink. Not to brew good tea. Cheap tea is usually brewed in it. Most people have both good and cheap tea. One for appreciating and one for just a beverage.

[depravitea]

I definitely don't brew strong tea in mine, I actually don't brew any black tea in it at all.
My friend, who tries to be interested in tea for my sake, but really isn't, asked why I don't brew pu erh in my thermos, since I've been drinking a lot of it lately. I didn't even know what to say to that.
I imaging it would be like drinking mud. Typically my first steep wit pu erh is 5 seconds, imagine letting that sit in there for a good 45 minutes or so, until it was time to reload the water lol

Anyone successfully brew a black in the thermos? I would imagine it tastes a bit stewed after a while...

[Maitre_Tea]

I don't have one of these, but I usually dump spent leaves from pu-erh (sheng/cooked) into a large thermos, and drink it grandpa-style. It's also a good way to "get your money's worth" from more expensive aged stuff.

[IPT]

A lot of the tea thermos in China have baskets in them so you can remove the tea leaves to stop the brewing. Of course, the question is where to put the dripping basket of tea leaves.

[depravitea]

A lot of the tea thermos in China have baskets in them so you can remove the tea leaves to stop the brewing. Of course, the question is where to put the dripping basket of tea leaves.

Exactly. Not really an option where I work, which is why I got the thermos in the first place lol