Camping and Tea

 

 While the still unnamed TEAM DARJEELING Tardis teapot came along up to Point Roberts, she was a bit tired from all that border crossing.  I let her rest, and made tea in my favorite travel tumblers instead.  It was a bit more convenient as well, since I was camping and wanted to prepare my tea at the campsite and take it with me.  Mind you, it was more "Glamping" as although we were tent camping we had electricity and shower available.  The tea I made for this hot summer day was not iced, but hot tea.  I enjoy white teas or oolong teas in the summer, and 99% of the time I still drink my tea hot.  I reused a tea tin from Queen Mary Tea Room, and labeled it with my handy dandy label maker.  I purchased this "Pomegranate Splash" White Tea from Market Spice which is in the Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle. 

When using a tumbler (which I really much prefer a nice English bone china teacup) I have found that plastic just won't do!  The tea just does NOT taste the same at all.  After much (and I do mean much) trial and error, I have found some tumblers that work well for me when I'm drinking tea on the go (or it isn't practical to use a cup and saucer) 

My newest tumbler is from Teavana.  Like everything at Teavana, it was a bit overpriced, but I will say that I am happy with it so I find it is worth it.  The inside is all ceramic- which I find to be right up there with drinking from porcelain. I find it easy to take this tumbler in my car and drink tea on the way to work or running errands.

 It has this handy infuser that fits right in and you can put the lid over it with the infuser still inside.  I usually infuse the proper number of minutes according to the tea I'm steeping, and take it out (or dump the leaves and put it back in)

 I didn't take a picture of it with the lid on, but it has an area to drink from.  It doesn't close all the way and isn't leakproof...but it is perfect for making tea to drink right away.  It doesn't keep the tea so hot that you have to wait a long time to drink it. 

The other tumbler I've found that I like is the stainless one below. It has many advantages, but a few disadvantages.  Advantages are that you can put your tea in and leave the house right away because when you are done steeping you can push the plunger down and it stops the infusion.  I used to have a Bodum press tumbler that was plastic- but besides it being plastic, you would waste a lot of tea at the bottom with the leaves.  This one you just put the leaves in the infuser (which goes all the way down to the bottom) and when the proper infusion time is reached you just push the plunger and voila you have tea.  The only problem is it is too hot to drink, and stays that way for hours!  This is an advantage if you want to take it with you for the day and drink later, but if you are driving to work, you can't drink it on your drive!

 The lid is flipped open and uncovering the drinking hole, but you can close it once you push down the plunger, and it is leakproof! It is by Planetary Design and is the 16oz tea tumbler.  I purchased mine from Bed Bath and Beyond, but Amazon has it as well.

 Here is the (still unnamed) TEAM DARJEELING teapot, jealously watching the other vessels filled with tea.  I promised her that she would be next!