Thursday TeaDay 11/12/09 TeaPrep at work, school?

[Chip]

Welcome everyone to TeaDay. Please drop in and share what is in your cup throughout the day.

Yesterday we discussed whether we had "imported" teaware ... or not. You can still vote and discuss yesterday's topic.

Today's TeaPoll and discussion topic is about tea and "work" (or School). Whether you work at home or away from the house, how easy is it to prepare your tea and enjoy it at work? Please share about you, tea, and "work."

I am looking forward to sharing this TeaDay with everyone. Bottoms up.

[Victoria]

Tea Prep is fairly easy, enjoyment is not. Although I have my own office and tea area, there are always a lot of distractions and interruptions. People just walk in and sit down at my desk. And then there are the phones constantly ringing. Oh and people standing at the counter needing help, causing me to return to a cold cup. But over all I have it way better than most so I can't complain. My tea brewing area is sweet, and I can make most tea fairly easily.

[Drax]

I'm very lucky in that usually tea prep is quite easy and enjoyable at work. I have access to hot water (from the coffee pot system) and I use a glass thermos to enjoy tea (though not too often). I also can enjoy the tea at my leisure, or bring it to meetings. Not too shabby!

Off to the gym this morning. It's rainy and windy and cold here. And it's going to be rainy for the next 3-4 days! Ugh! Not sure if I'll have a chance to have tea when I get home, as I'm heading to the birthday dinner for a friend. Ah well.....

[KellyJ]

Making tea at work got a lot easier when we got an electric kettle. (I brought mine in so I could justify buying the utiliTea for home.) Using the microwave for heating water was a pain, and it always seemed to taste like whatever had been in the microwave previously. (yuck!)
Now the only problems I have are forgetting to take the bag out, leaving the tea to steep too long and getting too involved in my work and forgetting to drink the tea before it gets cold.

[Trey Winston]

I work at home a lot, so both are breezes.

SN today.

[JBaymore]

I work at home a lot, so both are breezes.

Ditto. The studio is attached to the house. Walk out of the kitchen into the studio. Walk out of the studio into the kitchen. Walk past the tea room and decide if a little "mental health break" is in order, or sip while working.

best,

...............john

PS: Have a couple of folks from Japan who run pottery tours over there visiting my home/studio later today. Tea is ready!

[brlarson]

I work from home most of the time and tea prep and enjoyment are easy from here, but when I have to go into the office tea prep becomes difficult. At work, the water quality is low and there are safety rules against having electric kettles. My only hot water option is to use the ``hot water'' spigot on the coffee machine which spews astringent water at 180F. Every now and then I bring in good water and proper brewing vessels and smuggle in a spare electric kettle, but I don't do that very often.

More Den's Yame Fukamushi today.

[clareandromeda]

Good tea is impossible at work. I have neither the time or the equipment. I work with special needs children so if I ever have a minute, it is literally a minute to use the hot lever on the water cooler for a bag tea.

More experimenting with the tsuru today since I'm home sick.

[Chip]

Ever since I began drinking tea, I have been fortunate to be able to pretty much brew as I please. Heh, I never realized how much noise the electric kettle actually made until I heard it clear across the office as it bubbled away in my office. I suddenly became rather self conscious of this as everyone would know when I was brewing ...

Began the TD with Hatsumi from O-Cha in a Deishi Shiro Oni-Hagi Wan with DW. Now enjoying home roasted genmai/mugi sans cha blend in a ChicagoPotter Yunomi, yum.

[beckynoel]

I work at a horse stable. Actually, three of them. It's pretty much impossible to brew tea while I'm working, so I go to work with a large, insulated mug of tea. I'm only at each job for about two hours and go home between jobs to brew more tea. It actually works out nicely.

I really enjoy working outside. It's quite frigid in the winter, but it makes my hot beverage all the better!!

[olivierco]

Brewing tea is impossible at work. Handling boiling water in my classroom would be too dangerous.

Kaboku sencha in a few minutes.

[leiche2]

I too work from home, so both enjoyment and preparation are a breeze. Walk out of my bedroom/office, and the kitchen is right there. It's quite convenient.

Soon to be in my cup: Fujian Baroque.

[Intuit]

If working at home, brewing is relatively simple and enjoyable. Otherwise, it's a challenge best met with the right tools and techniques. Grampa-style, cold-brewing, glass thermos, electric cup-warmers (underpad or imersion heaters). Employers usually restrict kettles and hotplate use to common break rooms, for safety code reasons.

Den's Miyabi matcha earlier followed by Organic Matcha. Really liking both.

[RachelC]

I really can't prepare the tea at work but I bring it already prepared when I start the day and so long as it isn't too busy I still get to enjoy it without it getting too cold. Regardless, I will still drink it.

Den's Matcha Kaze earlier, and now Miyabi! I quite like them both.

[Janine]

I work at home, so that's a no-brainer

Today I am trying Den's Yame Fukamushi and Zuiko. A smooth flavor. Has a good aroma, has a richness to it. So far, I like them, but I will keep testing!