Teaware on a college budget?

[Schrammy]

I'm new to this (hi!), and I'm a junior in college. I just recently got interested in loose leaf, and I'm wondering what the best budget-friendly way of making tea is. I purchased the paper filters along with a few samples, but I was curious to know if there was a better way to do it on a cheap budget.

[olivierco]

A porcelain gaiwan or a little teapot. Denstea sells some inexpensive ones for instance.

http://www.denstea.com/index.php?main_p ... th=275_284

[LauraW]

I've found my infuser to be invaluable, and they're usually fairly inexpensive (and I'm a fan of reusable - the paper filters may be nice, but you have to buy them over and over, making them much more expensive in the long run). Gaiwan is a good suggestion; I also highly recommend the IngenuiTEA, which is well worth the (fairly small) investment.
I found a couple decent ways of making tea and I've been working with those (and gifted teapots, etc.) ever since, preferring to spend money on more tea than getting new teawares. But then, I'm also not the hoarding type, I don't have to have everything in sight (unlike my roomate).

[bsteele]

Can't get more budget friendly than my set up:


Although that infuser did cost me a pretty penny... since it's from the teapot I got from Tea***a

I also have a UtiliTEA to boil my water... but... that's not really necessary.

[Chip]

A porcelain gaiwan or a little teapot. Denstea sells some inexpensive ones for instance.

http://www.denstea.com/index.php?main_p ... th=275_284

+1 ... They are good for traveling college students as they are also bomb proof. Glazed so you can brew virtually anything in them w/o concern of cross contamination ... you would likely enjoy your overall tea experience more as well. Plus they are realllly kooool ...

But the infusers are even cheaper ... just not as good as a Kyusu or teapot. If you are near a Chinatown, you can pick the metal ones up for around 3-4 bucks. Measure your cup before you go so you can get the largest one possible so your leaves can expand.

[chicagopotter]

Ok, it's not cheap, but if you have any free electives you could take a beginning ceramics course and make something...

[Schrammy]

Ok, it's not cheap, but if you have any free electives you could take a beginning ceramics course and make something...

I would have loved to have been able to do something like that, but my school's art department is so pathetic that those classes are only open to the art majors.

That T****** store seems pretty darn expensive... and the free hot tea samples in really small plastic cups at napalm-like temperatures was never welcoming to me.

I like the idea of the two cups and the strainer. I may actually have to try that out.

[geeber1]

http://www.adagio.com/teaware/personali ... a469c6b8bb

The PersonaliTEA is a great little pot, and only $9! I use mine every day.

[Schrammy]

That's great! I never knew the price of it, since every time I looked out of it, the pot was out of stock. Now I know why.

[debunix]

In my local chinatown, there's a nice tea shop where gaiwans range from $2.99-4.99. My favorite porcelain gaiwans were in the middle of the range, $3.99 apiece:



That's as cheap as a tea ball infuser, and a whole lot more practical for anything from cheap to very fine teas, and leaves room in your budget for a cheap scale, and a thermometer.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/ ... dition=new

http://www.amazon.com/Taylor-Digital-In ... =1-1-spell

[bsteele]

In my local chinatown, there's a nice tea shop where gaiwans range from $2.99-4.99. My favorite porcelain gaiwans were in the middle of the range, $3.99 apiece:

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/...

Neither my farmer's market (with a huge section of kitchen supplies, some tea stuff, etc) nor an Asian Super Market (with a similar cooking supply like area) have gaiwans.

Psh... lame.

[gingkoseto]

This mug cost 33 cent new.


This metal infuser cost $3 new.


The metal infuser behind that cup can be bought for $1-2 and can be used for any mug or cup


This bowl, although not cheap, can be replaced with a cheap soup bowl


Or a shot glass (which is abundant in college dorm )


Without a gaiwan, you can always do this (however a real gaiwan last forever and is well worth of the price)

[bsteele]

(however a real gaiwan last forever ...

Not if you drop it

Haha

[Cinnamon Kitty]

A porcelain gaiwan or a little teapot. Denstea sells some inexpensive ones for instance.

http://www.denstea.com/index.php?main_p ... th=275_284

+1 ... They are good for traveling college students as they are also bomb proof. Glazed so you can brew virtually anything in them w/o concern of cross contamination ... you would likely enjoy your overall tea experience more as well. Plus they are realllly kooool ... .

Ditto....my Den's pot went back and forth between college and home with no issues and lived successfully in my dorm for many months. The lid was dropped a few times and didn't even chip. The pot even got banged (accidentally) on the bathroom sink in the dorm trying to clean it out. Now, in my apartment, my cats have been known to tip it over and it is still whole.

[nsudharsanan]

I recently asked a very similar question and I am also on a college budget (though I am about to graduate and get a real job...does that mean I get to buy more expensive tea stuff?) and I ended up getting a gaiwan and a beehouse teapot from Peets for 20 bucks. I use the beehouse for larger quantities and the gaiwan for whites, oolongs, and greens. Its working very nicely.

If you want to go the mug/infuser route you could always try the Finum infuser. I think its pretty cheap on amazon and it works very well. hope that helps