All Things Chill

I love tea. It’s calming effects have kept me running on chill for most of my life. You won’t see any bags in my cupboard any longer, it’s loose-leaf only. It’s a te(a)dious (pun intended) process which requires almost 100% attention and a lot of hand holding. The Gamila Company has developed a product (seen above) to end all of that nonsense. Their “Tea Stick” allows tea aficionados to enjoy loose leaves without all the hassle.

Gizmodo has the story:

Much to the chagrin of tea-snobs everywhere, I’ll admit to using tea bags to brew tea. Yes, I know loose tea leaves are superior and more flavorful, but tea bags are just so much more convenient for a single cup of tea — brewing loose tea leaves usually require a large tea pot, and is often cumbersome and time-consuming.

Well, not any longer. The Gamila Teastick allows you to brew a single cup of tea using loose tea leaves with as much ease as using bagged tea. Simply scoop the leaves until the fill line, slide down the perforated sleeve, and let the stick steep in hot water. After a few minutes, your tea is done.

Directions from Gamila’s site are as follows:

Usage Tips
Slide back the sleeve
Scoop from tea tin to the fill line (perfect for 10-14oz cups)
If you have a smaller cup, simply put less tea in
Be careful not to overfill, as tea needs room to unfurl
Remove teastick when steeped to desired strength

Care Tips
Remember to empty tea from cylinder when done steeping
If the sleeve sticks due to dried tea leaves, run under cold water
Rinse well with soap and water
Safe for the dishwasher
Buff and shine to impress friends

Brewing Tips
Use filtered or spring water for best taste.

Experiment with brewing time and water temp. for different teas.
Black: app. 5 minutes just at boil (200+ degrees)
Oolong: 3-4 minutes just off boil (180+ degrees)
Green: 2-5 minutes just steaming (170+ degrees)

Treated right, most teas are good for a second steeping

Alton Brown has some different ideas on how to brew a proper pot of tea, but I wouldn’t mind having a one-cup option for lazy sunday mornings. Steep your teastick in CB2’s beaker mug (cause we all love borosilicate) to remind yourself that you’re geek first and zen master second. I’ll get my hands on one when they come down from their $20 pricetag unless someone wants to send me one as a product demo.

Chill to the T.

~Spec

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 27th, 2005 at 6:10 am and is filed under Cuisine, Design Culture, Gadget Sightings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.