Square Peg wrote:
> On Sat, 30 Aug 2008 15:19:42 -0700 (PDT), Rainy
gmail.com>
> wrote:
>>>
>>
>>Square Peg wrote:
>>> After following this ng for awhile, I have been encouraged to learn
>>> more about tea and brewing a really good cup.
>>>
>>> I have come to the conclusion that I need better tools. One that I am
>>> about to purchase is the ingenuiTea from Adagio. This looks like the
>>> perfect tool for loose tea and expecially for multiple infusions,
>>> which I am just getting into.
>>>
>>>
>>> I have a couple of questions and would appreciate any comments.
>>>
>>> 1. Infuser popping out. Several Amazon reviewers reported that the
>>> infuser would sometimes pop out or float up allowing tea leaves to get
>>> into the cup. However, most of these people also put the whole unit
>>> into the microwave, which I can imagine might warp things.
>>>
>>> Has anyone had a problem with the infuser not staying in place?
>>>
>>>
>>> 2. Multiple infusions. One reviewer said that it didn't work well for
>>> multiple infusions. Here's the exact wording:
>>>
>>> "The only problem I have is making that second cup of tea by reusing
>>> the same tea leaves. The leaves have a tendency to get stuck in the
>>> valve on the bottom and I occasionally have come back to dispense my
>>> tea into a cup and have found my tea all over my countertop! I have
>>> found that as long as I don't reuse the tea leaves, this product is
>>> perfect!!" By akh1060 "akh1060" (Oshkosh, WI)
>>>
>>> I assume that what happened was the wet leaves kept the valve from
>>> closing so when water was added a second time, the valve was still
>>> open.
>>>
>>> Has anyone tried this and/or had this problem?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 3. Separate infusers for blacks? One of the complaints against the
>>> automatic tea makers was that the pot & infuser would become
>>> impregnated with the stronger flavors, which would then affest the
>>> taste of greensd and whites.
>>>
>>> They sell replacement infusers for $3. Should I order a couple extra
>>> ones and reserve one just for the lighter teas?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 4. Are there any alternatives to this decide that I should look at
>>> before buying it?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 5. It comes in two sizes: 16 oz and 32 oz. Adagio advertises the 32 oz
>>> model as for *iced* tea, but I don't see anything to suggest that it
>>> is not just a larger version. Does anyone know if there is any
>>> dofference other than size? I am inclined to get the 32 oz model.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Here are some links:
>>>
>>>
http://www.adagio.com/teaware/ingenuiTEA_teapot.html?sid=bd4a511efe0c3df17fee401...
>>>
>>> and
>>>
>>>
http://www.adagio.com/teaware/ingenuiTEA_teapot.html?sid=bd4a511efe0c3df17fee401...
>>>
>>> They are also available from Amazon:
>>>
>>>
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000RJDX30/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
>>>
>>> The reviews on Amazon seem more substantive.
>>
>>It just feels very odd to me to pour boiling
>>water into plastic device.
>
> Glass does "sound" safer. I don't know if it really is.
>
>>The thing is that
>>very nice looking (better looking imo) glass
>>pots are available for the same price, from
>>Jenaer, Bodum, etc.
>
> I only found a few.
>
> Bodum has several models:
>
>
http://www.bodumusa.com/shop/group_lines.asp?MD=2&GID=7&CHK=&SLT=&mscssid=7CHNGV...
> Most of them are "presses". I think that means that the infuser comes
> with a plunger than "presses" the tea to the bottom of the infuser
> below where any holes are. This stops the brewing process.
>
> I am curious what advantages this offers. It seems much more
> complicated than a removeable infuser and less convenient as well.
With a removable infuser, you need some place
to put it after you take it out. Also with blacks
and pu-erhs, infuser can be pretty hot, and it
will drip so you have to be careful. Also you can't
rebrew the same leaves unless you put the
infuser in another matching pot and cover it,
otherwise leaves will quickly get oxidized by
air. On the other hand, with press you just press
it down and that's it, and you can re-brew after
a while, leaves there will be warm and away from
oxygen. The problem with presses is that they
do keep infusing a bit over time so you want to
drink the tea fairly quickly; the leaves are not
100%% separated.
Also, it seems that most presses don't use full
volume of pot to infuse leaves, at least in most
Bodum pots. Bodum also often makes them out
of stainless steel which may impart metallic
taste (or may not, I'm not sure.. I had one metal
infuser basket that did impart taste but it wasn't
well-made like Bodum ones).
I've never used a press pot that fills whole volume
(except for coffee), so I don't know how good it
is for tea and how long you can keep tea there
without over-infusing.
>
> They all have stainless steel infusers and claim to have very small
> holes so that no tea will escape into the cup.
Much bigger problem with them is that not full volume
of pot is used to infuse tea. That's pretty important.
I wouldn't brew a complex tea like that, for
simpler teas it's not a big deal. Holes in these
infusers are indeed very small.
They're fine except for the smallest cut teas. In fact
leaving a bit of leaves in the pot after you take infuser
out is not a bad idea, if the tea itself is not cut and
broken, without dust, it adds body to the tea, so there
are pros and cons here.
Generally I'd gladly use glass infusers if they only made
them full size of the pot, like in a mono filio pots (which
are too expensive and use steel mesh infusers anyway).
Small infuser is a deal breaker for me.
But you can still buy any of these pots and use it
without the infuser, but one bodum pot I have which
came with steel press infuser and steel lid could
not be used without the infuser because lid would
not go on without it. However if a pot is not a press
type, the lid has to fit without infuser because you
can't leave infuser in, so those are always good.
It looks exactly like jenaer pot I have, I doubt
they make them, they probably licenced
design and had some chinese company
make a copy. Check upton and specialteas,
they might have them cheaper. Might
be better to get original Jenaer, their
quality is very nice. Bodums are very
good, too, though.
>
>
>
>>For multi-brews you
>>can brew the leaves in full volume of the
>>pot and pour in two cups, (if you don't
>>have a second pot, which works even
>>better), and re-brew in the old pot.
>
> Unless I don't understand what you are saying, you can do this with
> the ingenuiTea as well, no?
My point was that you can have same
convenience without plastic parts.
>
>>There
>>are ceramic pots that have straining holes
>>on the inside of pot before the spout, or
>>tea can be poured through strainer, losing
>>a few leaves. If you're into tea you'll
>>eventually end up with 2+ pots, whether
>>you want to or not ;-).
>>
>>If you don't mind plastic it looks very
>>sweet though.
>
> You got me thinking. It may be that a regular teapot with a removeable
> infuser may actually be more versatile. I sometimes become attreacted
> to gadgets just because they are gadgets. The ingenuiTea is a clever
> design and I may have given it too many point for cleverness.
I really don't see it as clever, it'd
be clever if it boiled and infused
tea with timer and temp settings,
the only thing it does is filters tea
which is exactly as easy to do
with an infuser on a handle or with
a pot that has infuser mesh at the
base of spout, or with most good
whole leaf teas you can pour a little
slower and leaves will be left in the
pot.
This gadget is a solution looking for
a problem. At work, in a small office,
maybe, but otherwise I don't see the
point at all.
>
>>But I think they miss the point that
>>when making tea, the trickier part is
>>to boil water to the right temp and
>>to infuse it for the right time, so the
>>part of the process that they make
>>more convenient is already perfectly
>>convenient, and this pot doesn't
>>address the tricky parts.
>
> I plan to solve that problem with an electric tea kettle -- either the
> Digital Kettle Pro
>>The best thing about this pot is that
>>you don't need two pots or 2 cups
>>for small spaces like an office, dorm,
>>... .
>
> But that is also true of the glass teapots, no?
Not if you use it without infuser, as I do.
I basically settled on using 2 pots, one
ceramic to brew tea in, and a bodum
glass pot to filter to and keep hot and
then pour to cups as needed. The ceramic
pot has strainer holes at the base of
spout. When cleaning it, I just pour
water in and then pour it out through a
strainer with a handle.
The only trouble is that I need two pots,
as I make more than a single cup of
tea. For newbies who don't want to get
two pots at once (as I wouldn't myself),
I would recommend to have one pot and
pour tea out into 2 large mugs.
Just my opinion, YMMV!
By the way, aerating water by shaking
first is very important, too. I recently
forgot to aerate it for one pot of one of
the best teas I know - silver needles from
Hou De tea shop, and the taste became
flat and lifeless, completely different. I
was shocked that it made so much
difference. And that's on one of the most
reliable, excellent teas that always comes
out perfect even if temp is off or brewing
time is off!! This tea is very tolerant of
mistakes..
>
> For both, you need (a) a way to heat the water (stovetop kettle,
> electric kettle, microwave), (b) a place to brew the tea (ingenuiTea,
> glass teapot, etc.), and (c) something to put the tea (cup or
> thermos).
