Taking your Tea on Vacation?

[joelbct]

So tonight after work I'm heading out to one of my fave places for a week, the Beach at the East End of Long Island...

Packing up the following:

UtiliTEA
Bodum glass carafe
Handheld Strainer
Tea Timer
10-15 types of Black and Green Tea
my trusty oversized Porcelain Mugs,
perhaps a couple Sushi-style Porcelain Yunomi
A large heat-resistant Glass Pitcher for brewing iced tea.

lol, am I forgetting anything? I won't bring any handmade Japanese TeaWare, but I'm bringing pretty much everything else... will basically be a duffel bag for Tea

Does anyone else travel like this?

[Proinsias]

I travel with one of these:

Travel gong fu set

If I'm heading to the wilds I take a gas stove and camping kettle.

A few days worth of tea can also be put inside the box and keeps things a little more secure.

edit: looking at the link again mine is slightly different, more secure latches at the front and another few minor things, but you get the idea.

[tenuki]

I do bring tea, but take it as a personal challenge to make do regarding tea ware. I've been known to wander around strange locals perfectly happy with a crappy ceramic mug filled with $40/oz tea leaves just sitting in lukewarm water.

[tenuki]

For camping I just use my jetboil, a plastic thermos camping mug I have, and a metal bodum strainer.

[Chip]

Jet boil, pretty cool tenuki!

Have tea will travel, but wow, Joel.

I take some teas that are easier to brew w/o all the teaware and accesories. So, I rough it a bit, but part of enjoying or surviving time away is to have good tea. And good tea I will have.

I try to have a decent selection to choose from. This was a lot easier when I started drinking tea and used teabags.

One of the greatest travel teas as long as there is boiling water are small tou cha. Even after the tou cha falls apart, the leaves stay on the bottom making decanting w/o any accesories a cinch. Now if only there were sencha tou cha.

[hop_goblin]

I use a travel gaiwan that I had bought from DTH. It serves me well.

[kymidwife]

I'm in Chicago at the moment... and I traveled with my 16 oz. Perfect Teamaker from Teavana (like the ingenuitea from Adagio)... my small electric kettle to boil water... a small assortment of teas (ok, that's a lie, I am counting about 12 teas on my counter, but mostly sample sizes)... and a double-walled Tervis Tumbler which is perfect for keeping tea hot or cold, and is essentially unbreakable as opposed to the Bodum I love but have already managed to break once.

Oh, and at the hotel, I swiped a pitcher from the hotel conference room and brought it back to my room, so now I have a pitcher of iced tea made all the time in my room. If the maid takes it away tomorrow, there's gonna be trouble.

Sarah

[joelbct]

Ha thanks for the replies and stories. Gotta finish packing and get out of here, have a great week everyone!

[Salsero]

You too, Joel, looks like a dream location. I bet you're going to be sailing.

[henley]

I travel with one of these:
Travel gong fu set

Cool set! Newbie question, though. What's the purpose of the plastic tubing?

Does anyone else travel like this?

Guilty as charged. Each time we've traveled, my tea & teaware have had their own special tote bag. The teapot in my avatar goes w/me as well as a cup & saucer or my floral mug & a porcelain spoon. If we're staying at a hotel instead of a condo or house, I'll take my hot pot. I only take 2-3 different teas & they're always blacks or dark oolongs so I don't have to fuss w/water temp. T-sacs & measuring spoons are tucked neatly in there, too.

One time I tried drinking my tea out of a styrofoam hotel cup & it just didn't taste the same so it's definitely worth the hassle!

With the responses & stories, this would've made an interesting TeaDay question. Have a great trip, Joel!

[witches brew]

This is my nodate, a small travel basket with everything necessary to whisk up a bowl of matcha.

[Proinsias]

I travel with one of these:
Travel gong fu set

Cool set! Newbie question, though. What's the purpose of the plastic tubing?

The tubing means the water can go straight from the drain on top to an under table bottle or container. I've heard a quite a few stories telling of problems with water being kept in the bottom section of the wooden tray. I never drain water into the tray, always through the tubing and sometimes right onto someone's foot by mistake.

[Riene]

I take a small two-cup ceramic pot stuffed with an assortment of quality tea bags, a strainer basket, a good mug, and a box of loose tea. Most of the hotel rooms in which we stay have either a microwave or a tiny kitchenette with a stove, so hot water is easy to obtain.

Styrofoam cups for tea should be banned like asbestos.

[chamekke]

This is my nodate, a small travel basket with everything necessary to whisk up a bowl of matcha.

Beautiful nodate set! Spanking new, too - judging from the chasen. May I ask where you got it?

Does your nodate natsume include an inner plastic lid? Mine does. I was very surprised when I first saw it, but of course it's meant to ensure that you can securely carry matcha in the nodate with you without having to decant it from its own container.

[witches brew]

This is my nodate, a small travel basket with everything necessary to whisk up a bowl of matcha.

Beautiful nodate set! Spanking new, too - judging from the chasen. May I ask where you got it?

Does your nodate natsume include an inner plastic lid? Mine does. I was very surprised when I first saw it, but of course it's meant to ensure that you can securely carry matcha in the nodate with you without having to decant it from its own container.

The basket, chasen, folding chashaku and the bamboo holder are from an ebay store, http://stores.ebay.com/LA-Bamboo-Direct I added my own natsume and chawan. The natsume does not have an inner lid. That is a very nice touch. Are they available without the rest of the set?

Yes, everthing is new. It's going on holiday with me later in the month.