tea at the office?

[snowwhite]

Over the course of a work day I drink 3 or 4 cups of tea. I work in a semi-dreadful office and drinking tea is kind of an escape.

I drink loose Taiwan Oolong and I use a spoon tea infuser. Its not great, I often end up with leaves in my cup. We have a water cooler that dispenses hot water that seems a nice high temp for my Oolong. But I'd like to be able to make a pot or perhaps have an electric kettle at my desk. Also often times it goes cold before I finish.

Does anyone have a good simple "at the office" technique for preparing tea?

[Mary R]

A tiny electric kettle dangerously perched on top of a paper shredder, a cup kinda like the mug/infuser combo Adagio sells, and a timer widget for my computer.

[xine]

Well, I guess I am cheating, since I work at a tea company, and we have the triniTEA and the ingenuiTEA and etc at our disposal, but I tend to use the cup and infuser, and just like Mary, the Stop It! widget on my computer to time the tea. I like the cup and infuser, because I usually like drinking an assortment of tea throughout the day.

[Space Samurai]

I highly recommend using a gaiwan; it's what I use. I love, love, love gaiwans. (I started ranting about gaiwans here, but deleted it once I realised I was ranting).

I work with tea, but we have no real way of brewing it well, so I leave a gaiwan at work. Before that I improvised with tupperware and disposable coffee cups, both using the basic principle of a gaiwan.

In my experience many people are intimidated by loose leaf tea, but using a gaiwan, jurry-rigged or otherwise, has shown me just how simple it really is, and how superfluous all the tea balls and spoons and strainers are.

Unless you like gadgets, in that case, go go gadget tea ball.

[sygyzy]

I drink two cups of dark tea first thing in the morning (black or dark oolong) then after lunch I have green, whites, and lighter oohlongs. Probably average of 4 cups a day. Probably more.

Today I tried gong fu, using a gaiwan. Totally not worth it in a work environment. Having to get up every 5 minutes to reheat the water, then pouring it into a staging vessel so it could drop in temperature (I was brewing white tips), then trying to figure out what temperature and time change I should be using for subsequent brewings.

Rediculous. I am sticking to my Beehouse pot or the trusty cup and filter, or french press.

[SnapshotCat]

I've got an electric kettle and a Bodum travel french press to make my tea in.

It works out pretty well since I've got my own office.

[augie]

Count your blessings one and all. I share an office with two male buffalo and 6 teen-agers. None of whom are housebroken. There is nothing worse than trying to wash out my IngenuiTea in our combination bathroom/kitchen sink. Monday, I started a cup in my IngenuiTea, only to find out I'd thrown out the little filter on Friday.
What do you do with a gaiwan when you are finished. maybe that would be easier to clean?

[scruffmcgruff]

Gaiwans are super easy to clean, as its nothing more than a glorified cup + saucer with a lid. Just rinse, dry, and you're set. You can use soap if you want, but it's not necessary.

[augie]

OK, so I hate to ask a stupid question. I've seen gaiwan used with the lid like a strainer. You steep the tea in the cup and use the lid to hold back the leaves while decanting the tea into another cup?

I had a brew basket at work, but it got nasty b/c I had to bang it against the side of the trash can to eject the leaves. Trash can is full of magenta toner. Copier toner makes nasty tea, incidentally.

I have to order a few extra replacement filters, maybe I'll look into a gaiwan. Thanks. It's been a bad week at work and no tea!

[scruffmcgruff]

Yep! Thats how it works. It's a bit more difficult for really small leaves, but even then it works surprisingly well. You might get a couple leaves in your tea, but no big deal.

[himthatwas]

Try using some of those 'fill your own' bags. I think you can get a pack of 100 for like $8 or so if you shop around. They do the trick and are a great way to introduce your co-workers to a better cup of tea without their greasy tongue germs getting all over your infuser. It may sound expensive but I've never had leaf bits in my cup and since you can just toss them when your done they're one less thing to clean up. I was going to get a brew basket but eventually they get pretty nasty - or you seem to spend more and more time cleaning them.

My dishpan hands say NO!

[guitarfreak2641]

Try using some of those 'fill your own' bags. I think you can get a pack of 100 for like $8 or so if you shop around. They do the trick and are a great way to introduce your co-workers to a better cup of tea without their greasy tongue germs getting all over your infuser. It may sound expensive but I've never had leaf bits in my cup and since you can just toss them when your done they're one less thing to clean up. I was going to get a brew basket but eventually they get pretty nasty - or you seem to spend more and more time cleaning them.

My dishpan hands say NO!

That would work but in the long run the gaiwan would be cheaper, and bags dont give the tea much room to expand. But it would be a lot easer to clean up.

[LavenderPekoe]

Those bags are only $3 for 100 at Adagio. That is the best price I have seen. They are great for things like rooibos that don't need the extra room because they don't expand. I think and CTC teas demand these bags as well.

[lenny7]

Those bags are only $3 for 100 at Adagio. That is the best price I have seen. They are great for things like rooibos that don't need the extra room because they don't expand. I think and CTC teas demand these bags as well.

I use these as well. The closest price to Adagio I've seen is $5, so even if I buy two packs, it pays for the shipping. Of course, I can't just stop at two boxes of bags...

[Dolly]

You may want to try what I use. It's a double walled-glass (they also sell plastic ones) cup with a mesh filter in the top. It keeps the tea leaves in the cup while you drink your tea. Worth their weight in gold!!

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