The last few times I dumped the cup of boiling water into my ingenuiTEA pot the infuser has come 'floating' up. I have been taking the infuser out each time to clean out the leaves. Is this a mistake? Does it fit a little looser and as a result come up?
After the infuser floats loose I have to use a strainer over my cup to get out the leaves.
Or is my mistake in the dumping? I suppose I should be slowly pouring in the cup of boiling water. I boil a cup of water in a 12 oz. mug in the microwave, then dump it in the pot. I have tried boiling the water right in the ingenuiTEA but then when I sprinkle in the tsp. of leaves they stay floating on top and I find myself swirling the pot in the air to get them to mix.
How do you tea drinkers handle this?
How to fix your problem
I've had that happen to me a couple of times.
What you should do is pour in just enough boiling water until it barely covers the mesh of the filter and wait for a couple of seconds. Doing that lets the filter expand a little, then just pour the water in like normal. That way the leaves will float around as you pour it and will mix well with the water. Works for me every time. =)
You may also want to get an electric kettle to boil your water. You can get a cheap one for around 15 bucks at Wal-Mart. Got mine there and it works great.
Let me know if this helps.
What you should do is pour in just enough boiling water until it barely covers the mesh of the filter and wait for a couple of seconds. Doing that lets the filter expand a little, then just pour the water in like normal. That way the leaves will float around as you pour it and will mix well with the water. Works for me every time. =)
You may also want to get an electric kettle to boil your water. You can get a cheap one for around 15 bucks at Wal-Mart. Got mine there and it works great.
Let me know if this helps.
electric kettle
Do you leave the electric kettle plugged in all day? Guess I was thinking it was cheaper to heat a cup in the microwave than to maintain a kettle all day.
How long does your kettle take to reach brewing temp? Using a meat thermometer I can be brewing in less than 2 minutes. And I'm not for waiting around. When it's time for tea I want it ready.
Wondering____ thanks for your input. jamlover
How long does your kettle take to reach brewing temp? Using a meat thermometer I can be brewing in less than 2 minutes. And I'm not for waiting around. When it's time for tea I want it ready.
Wondering____ thanks for your input. jamlover
Re: electric kettle
You can leave your kettle *plugged in* all day--mine certainly is. But you definitely don't want to keep the kettle *turned on* all day. That's a fire hazard. You don't turn the kettles on just by plugging them in--you have to turn the switch too. An electric kettle is different from an instant hot water dispenser like Zojirushi's products. Those you leave plugged in and turned on at all times. Give them a google and you'll see the difference.
As for time, I have the cheap Wal-mart, Proctor-Silex pot, and it takes about a minute per cup to heat the water. So one cup, you're boiling in a minute or so. Two cups, two minutes, etc. At any rate, it is certainly comparable in time to the microwave, and I think you'll find it will give you better tasting tea.
If you're interested in electric kettles and can spend more than $15, you can get a kettle that you can set for a temperature. This is awful handy if you want a green tea and don't want to hover over the kettle to catch it at 180 degrees or wait for the water to cool. Adagio's Utilitea is just such a kettle, but with a little internet shopping you can find others if it is not to your liking.
As for time, I have the cheap Wal-mart, Proctor-Silex pot, and it takes about a minute per cup to heat the water. So one cup, you're boiling in a minute or so. Two cups, two minutes, etc. At any rate, it is certainly comparable in time to the microwave, and I think you'll find it will give you better tasting tea.
If you're interested in electric kettles and can spend more than $15, you can get a kettle that you can set for a temperature. This is awful handy if you want a green tea and don't want to hover over the kettle to catch it at 180 degrees or wait for the water to cool. Adagio's Utilitea is just such a kettle, but with a little internet shopping you can find others if it is not to your liking.
kettle
Thanks Mary. I know an elderly man who leaves a coffee pot without the basket plugged in all day for making instant coffee or tea. It rather scares me. And why heat water all day for an occasional visitor or to use once or twice yourself.
Feb 20th, '07, 12:48
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Before I had an electric kettle, I used to microwave my tea water until I realized that sometimes I was cooking the leaves. I would heat the water and then put the tea in the water. If there was any microwave energy that was unused, the energy would fizz all around the tea. At first I thought that was kinda cool, but a few bitter cups convinced me not to microwave water for tea anymore. Microwaves usually add odd food flavors to lighter teas also...yuck.
I have two electric water heaters. If I only need around a cup, I use a cheap Sunbeam Hot Shot, which has a metal lining. Very quick and easy.
If I need more water, which is most of the time, I use my kettle. I recently replaced my cheap plastic kettle with a really nice but very affordable adjustable temp stainless steel one. I love it and could never go back to a plastic one. It is so much easier to keep clean, and I do not stress about the whole "plastic issue" which I realize now was bothering me for years.
I thought I would use the adjustable temp feature more. I hardly ever use it, prefering to heat the water to boil even for green tea...and then using the hotter water to heat the brewing vessel and teacup...which we should do anyway.
I have two electric water heaters. If I only need around a cup, I use a cheap Sunbeam Hot Shot, which has a metal lining. Very quick and easy.
If I need more water, which is most of the time, I use my kettle. I recently replaced my cheap plastic kettle with a really nice but very affordable adjustable temp stainless steel one. I love it and could never go back to a plastic one. It is so much easier to keep clean, and I do not stress about the whole "plastic issue" which I realize now was bothering me for years.
I thought I would use the adjustable temp feature more. I hardly ever use it, prefering to heat the water to boil even for green tea...and then using the hotter water to heat the brewing vessel and teacup...which we should do anyway.