Vacuum pots?

[jano]

Hello,

I stumbled onto adiago while searching the internet for how others brew tea at work and allow myself a short break during stressful days. I'm sort of knew to the whole tea thing, with a few delicious samples of entry-level black and green teas. My fascination with this started when my little brother demosntrated a "hario" coffee vacuum brewer pot thingy a couple weeks ago. Mesmerizing little thing.

Because I don't drink coffee, I wondered how well it would work with teas? Has anybody used a vac pot to make tea? Seems like this method would work well for the green/white/oolong teas which need water temps slightly below boiling. They are somewhat expensive, so I hesitate, and perhaps that "triniTea" thingy is a more useful tool, but the vac pots do look cool.

Thanks for your time!
Jano

[MarshalN]

Well, for a beginner interested in loose leaf tea, the best way, IMHO, is to use a gaiwan. Unfortunately, Adagio doesn't sell any (hint hint). You can google it to find out all about it.

It requires you to pour water into the thing multiple times, but I think it's worth the trouble to experience all the subtleties in tea.

[Chip]

Hey Jano, welcome to the world of tea. I checked out the hario on line at coffee geek. Looks overly complicated for a simple process of brewing tea. But then again, when I was starting out I used coffee presses which actually worked ok.
I don't know how much control you have with the Hario over certain variables such as time...and would it allow for multible infusions of the same tea leaves...
I would recommend a simpler and probably less messy plan especially if you want to brew tea at work as you mentioned.

You could get a gaiwan as Marshall recommends as the best way (by the way every tea drinker believes his/her way is not only the best way...but the only way It's a source for much debate in this forum)

A small teapot with a large infuser or a screen on the inside covering the hole leading to the spout, or even just a teacup with an infuser would both work for you especially at work.

Eventually, you will develope your own personal "tea ceremony" that clicks for you, and you will then say my way is the best way. But do a little investigating on what is out there...or you will end up like me with a bunch of teapots on a shelf that are now just decoration.

By the way, I use a Japanese one handled teapot that has a screen on the inside that covers the hole of the leading to the spout. And my way is the best way Seriously, it just feels right in my hand and I like the simplicity of it. It has tradition which is cool too. You can find these on line also.

[jano]

Chip, it does look overly complicated, but that's kind of the fun of it. As I understand it, the water is boiled in the bottom bowl, then rises into the top chamber as steam. Once you remove the heat, the liquid strains back down. Reminds me of chem lab in college The thing apparently keeps water at roughly 170-180F in the upper chamber.

I looked up gaiwan on google, and.. I'm concerned I'd over-brew the tea unless I drink it quickly -- and the thought of that makes me gag a bit, because my very first cup of loose-leaf tea was way too strong (I used three heaping teaspons of a darjeesomethingorother in just 10 oz of water) Left me dizzy and buzzed all weekend without much sleep. I'm rather sensitive to caffeine. That, and the thing looks a little, well, not my style. :p

Guess I'll look at an electric kettle and some sort of large-cup serving thing.

Thanks!
Jano

[Chip]

Jano, here is a link for the style pot I use...there are many others available if you do a search. http://www.o-cha.com/green-tea/Teapots-c-257.html.

Users of gaiwans usually pour their tea from the gaiwan after a very short brew time into a small teacup and are able to get many infusions from the same leaves. The first infusion may only be 10 secinds...not much caffeine leaches out in that shrt period of time.

That usually doesn't work for me because I only want a couple infusions so I can move onto another tea...I use much less tea than users of gaiwans...but they do offer a unique tea experience as long as you don't mind drinking the same tea most of the day. I am actually looking for the right gaiwan for me...looks like I would enjoy using one but not all the time.

I am sure Marshall will chime in here again soon to offer more info on gaiwans because he loves using them.

The Hario pot does seem quite interesting, but I would still be concerned about lack of control...plus I like to smell my tea before I terminate the brewing process.

Good luck...I am sure others will also post ideas....

[MarshalN]

Actually, I love my yixing pots, but I won't recommend that to anybody who's new to tea.

Now I know what you're talking about -- those vacuum things. My concern with that is that your brew time will be too short, unless you put in a decent amount of leaves in there. It might work well, I don't know, but I've never tried (or even though about) using one of those. Could be kinda interesting.

Gaiwans are just better for getting all the different infusions, whih each have their own flavours. If you only brew it once or twice you don't get the same depth as you would doing it multiple times.

[Chip]

Jano, are you concerned with how to heat the water??? You mention kettles in your last post.
If so most tea drinkers I spoke to use something like a Braun unit that simply heats the water up very quickly. Then we pour the water into whatever we use to brew directly over the leaves...cooling the water first for greens and whites.

[daughteroftheKing]

Welcome Jano!
I don't know what your workplace situation is like, but I work in an office and my personal "tea ritual" does well for me:

I have Adagio's IngenuiTEA and a cordless hot-water-pot from Oster (it plugs in, but then the pot lifts off for pouring. It boils the water then shuts off so you can catch it before it gets too hot for teas that need cooler water).
These sit on a tray on top of a short file cabinet (1 file drawer is dedicated just to tea & tea stuff!). The IngenuiTEA will fill a nice-sized mug; 2 infusions will fill an English-style teapot.
Not much mess and I can take my time drinking tea at my desk this way.

You mentioned an unfortunately introduction to Darjeeling; I hope you'll try it again! Adagio has my favorite one -- Darjeeling #22 (it isn't even the expensive one). One good teaspoon does pretty well for me in the IngenuiTEA, steep it for 4-5 minutes, and will make 3 nice-tasting infusions.

[Snow on Cedar]

Ingenuitea all the way!

[rabbit]

http://www.affinitea.com/page0008.html

[jano]

Hmm, this is weird, I could swear I wrote a response earlier today. Oh well.

Marshal, I guess maybe I'll take a closer look at the gaiwans. They just look funny and awkward to me, a simple cup with a saucer on top to keep the leaves inside when you pour out (seems bass ackwards to me? doesn't the saucer belong on the bottom?). Perhaps a larger cup with a net that nearly covers the inside would be more useful and cleaner. I'm not really into the "ceremony" part, I'm just looking to enjoy the smell and taste.

Chip and DotK: Yes, water heating is the issue. To describe my work environment: microwave, full-sized fridge, water cooler, three coffee makers for instant coffee (eeww). Outside the complex we have the restrooms, to which a drinking fountain is attached (I'll probably use this once I get past the grossness factor). Although I'm a decent cook, I have this problem with explosions and microwaves and I'm currently under restraining order of 100ft. My office itself is filled with various amusements such as toys, vintage surfing photographs, and gadgets from a geek-related website. Hence my attraction to the Hario vac pot Guess I'll pick up a cheap electric boiler at the store and probably get something like the ingenuitea or the one-cup thingy in the wares section.

DotK: Although way too strong, the dardinglejingle tea smelled and tasted very good. It was the dizziness and spaced-out-ness that got to me. Plan on trying it again, this time a far milder solution!

Rabbit: a bit beyond my price range :p

Thanks to all your patience

Jano

PS: reading through the posts hear reminds me of Leica users

[jano]

Oh.. yeah.. forgot to mention.. I hate cleanup! So actually it appears the gaiwan thing might be best because it's easy to clean.

[MarshalN]

There's very little ceremony involved in gaiwan drinking, although, if you are in an office, gaiwan brewing can be a little time consuming. Where will you be drinking your tea?

Yes, clean up is a real breeze. Dump the leaves, rinse, you're done.

[jano]

In my office. I'll have to get up, go outside, get some water, and come back in. Washing up means going to the bathroom and using the sink in there. Yuck.

[procarel]

Jano, I have to agree with those that have recommended the IngenuiTea for simple, yet quality tea preparation. I've got numerous types of tea brewing devices but the one I use, by far, the most often is the IngenuiTea. I use it for all types of tea. Works great for multiple infusions. Cleanup is'nt too bad. If the sink has one of the drain screen things that catches food particles I just swirl the IngenuiTea with water and dump it in the sink. The basket catches all the used tea and is easily dumped in the trash.