Colleen’s post on Teavana’s nifty tea-making gadget reminded me that I had been meaning to find a tea thermos for work. A little bit of random net surfing happened to bring me to Yellow Mountain Imports, an online retailer specializing in Asian games such as Go and Mahjong. 
Their small Tea Shop focuses mostly on Yixing teapots, but they also had a really cute chinese tea thermos. I had intended to buy something a bit more utilitarian, but this little guy was just so pretty that I couldn’t resist it — especially at the very modest price of $10.00.
I wasn’t really expecting all that much from this purchase, but I have to say that I have been pleasantly surprised to discover how handy it is. The two part top consists of a cap that keeps the thermos sealed for brewing or transporting, and a middle layer with a built-in metal strainer. You drop some tea in, add water, screw on the strainer and the cap, and let your tea brew. Once it’s ready, you screw off the cap and drink the tea right through the strainer. The double-walled plastic body keeps the tea hot but the thermos cool to the touch.
The cap of the thermos has a hologram image of a bonsai pine tree — which is kind of silly, but also charming.
I enjoy green tea, but I tend to be very erratic in my consumption of it. I brought the tea thermos to work, along with a bag of nice gunpowder tea, and now find myself drinking green tea all day long. I fill the thermos with a single teaspoon of tea, and then brew it several times during the day. The tea doesn’t get bitter if I drink it quickly enough, and the tea leaves hold up well to multiple brewings. I really like gunpowder, but I’m also finding that this works quite well with low caffeine green teas like hojicha and genmaicha. It’s a good (and low cost) way of keeping my tea consumption up and my caffeine consumption down.
I tend to get called away from my desk frequently at work, and that often means abandoning a nice, freshly-brewed cup of tea. Now when I need to run off to fix something, I just grab my tea thermos and take it with me. No more returning to sad, cold cups of forlorn tea …
[Sadly, it looks like Yellow Mountain Imports is all out of this tea thermos. It's available from Strand Tea in two different sizes, but it's also more expensive ($15.95 for the 8 oz. version I purchased, $19.95 for the larger 12 oz.).]
Possibly Related Posts:
- Indonesian Teas
- Chado: The Way of Tea, at ArtXchange
- ATB Blog Carnival: AdagioTeas’ “Roots Campaign.”
- Da Hong Pao among the mists
- New storage for pu’er
That type of tea thermos is very popular in China. I saw many people on the busy streets and busses of Guangzhou carrying such thermos.
[Reply]
Left by Phyll on February 4th, 2007
That’s neat — the thermos certainly doesn’t feel like something designed with an American audience in mind.
Do you know what sort of tea is normally brewed in these thermoses in Guangzhou?
[Reply]
Left by Cat on February 5th, 2007
Most likely, Lipton! : )
I’m sorry, I didn’t pay attention to the type of teas they brew in those thermoses. But the idea of using those thermoses is to brew the tea in not so hot water to begin with…and as the day progresses, they’d refill the thremoses many times with hotter and hotter water each time to force the tea’s flavor out. This way, a dose of dry leaves lasts all day. If the tea gets too weak, add just a little more dry leaves on top of the old, soggy ones and rebrew. “Get the most out of the leaves” is the name of the game, and certainly the objective is not to make great tea.
While I’m here, may I have the Gongfu Girls’ email address(es) please? I am sending out an invitation to an online tea tasting, and I didn’t have your contact info. Thanks. My email is phyllsheng@hotmail.com
[Reply]
Left by Phyll on February 5th, 2007
Thank you for thinking about us for an online tasting! We would love to be invited.
You can contact us at our Gongfu Girl email addresses:
cat@gongfugirl.com
cinnabar@gongfugirl.com
colleen@gongfugirl.com
[Reply]
Left by Cat on February 6th, 2007
The last time I was at The Crumpet Shop they had several of those tea thermoses back in their tea accessories section. I wasn’t in the market for a device of that type, but I noticed them because of the strange holograms on the lids and then investigated what they were.
[Reply]
Left by Cinnabar on February 8th, 2007
We found large versions of these at Teahouse Kuan Yin in Wallingford on Friday!
[Reply]
Left by Colleen on February 12th, 2007
[...] a few people with them in the International District in Seattle. Cat wrote about one last year in this post. I had found them interesting, but had not felt any strong inclination to buy one until I found one [...]
Left by In My Other Hand, The Little Red Book… --Gongfu Girl on August 28th, 2008
I have this same tea thermos! The hologram is of a sun flower though. Since I went to Beijing I have been looking for such a thing and on eBay is where I found this one. Does anyone know what these are called in Chinese? I attended a class at BeiDa and the professor had one that had a red strap attached to it. I am seeking that one now but have been unable to find anything similar to it stateside.
Please if anyone can point me in the right direction I will be extremely grateful!
sawyer.luv@gmail.com
[Reply]
Left by Zee on December 7th, 2008
OMG! Just thought I’d give a heads up…the tea thermos you got at Blue Mountain Imports is ON SALE for only $4.99?! WOOT WOOT!
[Reply]
Left by Elizabeth on June 16th, 2009
Sorry…spazztic me…I meant Yellow Mountain Imports…lol
[Reply]
Left by Elizabeth on June 18th, 2009
There are three places in Seattle that carry the glass tea tumblers: The Herbalist on 65th in Ravena http://www.theherbalist.com, Dandelion Botanicals on Ballard Ave in Ballard http://www.dandelionbotanical.com and the Bastyr Dispensary on Stoneway in Wallingford http://www.bastyrcenter.org
A great product for enjoying tea – double wall borosilicate glass with stainless steel filter and lid.
[Reply]
Left by Marji on June 29th, 2009
I went to China last summer and fell in love with the tea. I bought one of these tea thermos’ . Last week I broke mine. I went to the website for yellow mountain imports and I can’t find them. When I click on the “Tea Shop” it is empty. This looks exactly like the one I want. Please help!!!
[Reply]
Left by Jana on November 17th, 2009
Awesome! I just got one from Teas Etc and love it so far. It’s a much more engaging way to drink tea.
[Reply]
Left by Kat on March 4th, 2011
[...] Chinese Tea Thermos –Gongfu Girl февраль 2007 14 Responses to “Chinese Tea Thermos” That type of tea thermos is [...]
Left by tea thermos | Lady Doma on August 22nd, 2011