(Note: Harumph! Just in time for the holidays I have come down with a horrendous cold and am battling both it and a nasty headache. No tea reviews until I am completely recovered. . .going to focus on other tea-related topics for now.)
Like many tea drinkers, I tend (emphasis on tend) to prefer loose leaf tea over bagged varieties. I even confess to taking great pleasure in each step of making tea: Boiling the water, heating the teapot, measuring out the tea, letting the tea infuse, decanting through a strainer, and then finally pouring my cup. It is a lovely and soothing ritual.
I also confess that sometimes all this lovely ritual can get a bit tiresome. Sometimes I’m just tired or busy and need a cup of tea. . .NOW! Preparing loose leaf tea is an even more difficult task at work, where the appeal of teabags can be felt strongly.
So for those times when preparing loose leaf tea is impractical, I have contented myself with loose leaf teas packed in silken pouches (such as Mighty Leaf
Paper Filters to infuse my loose leaf tea quickly. All the while, though, I’ve been looking for a better solution.
And then I found it.
It came in the form of the IngenuiTEA, a lovely little gadget from Adagio Teas that makes infusing loose leaf tea almost as convenient as dunking a teabag. The IngenuiTea consists of a handled, lidded carafe (looks like a large, clear plastic mug) with a detachable filter at the bottom along with a one-way valve. It also includes a coaster to rest the carafe on. Here is how it works:
1. Put the desired amount of tea into the IngenuiTEA.
2. Heat your water.
3. Pour water into IngenuiTEA.
4. Place IngenuiTEA on its coaster (included) and allow tea to infuse.
5. When the tea is ready, set the IngenuiTEA on top of your mug, cup, or teapot. The one-way valve automatically opens to allow the tea to quickly flow into its receptacle. If you wish to stop the flow of tea, just lift up the carafe.
That’s it…no muss, no fuss, the tea leaves are contained in the carafe and you don’t even have a dripping wet tea bag to contend with!
What I Like About the IngenuiTEA:
1. The carafe is clear so one can watch the tea leaves unfurl and swish around whilst steeping. The clear carafe also lets me watch the tea’s color so that I have a better idea of when it should be poured.
2. The IngenuiTEA is large enough to allow for the complete unfurling of the tea leaves. It’s size also makes it very easy to clean: The strainer at the bottom can be removed for separate cleaning, though I find that I don’t always need to do this.
3. It is just super easy to use. There are no spouts to get clogged up, no strainers to hunt down, no second teapots necessary for decanting: Just put your tea and water into the carafe, let infuse, and set on your mug. Incidentally, the infuser empties VERY quickly, so you will get your tea within seconds of it being steeped.
Cautions and Quibbles:
1. The IngenuiTEA does not fit over every mug, cup, or teapot: You need to test the IngenuiTEA over your receptacle while it is empty in order to learn whether it can be accommodated by the IngenuiTea. Doing this when it is full of hot water can be dangerous: You risk spilling hot water and getting burned.
2. The small IngenuiTEA holds 16 ounces of liquid and as such, may overwhelm the capacity of a cup. While the carafe is clear, its base isn’t, and you can’t see how full the mug is getting as the tea streams into the cup. My advice is to either do a test run with cold water or just lift the IngenuiTEA off the cup a couple of times during decanting to ensure that your cup won’t runneth over with scalding tea.
3. The valve opens in response to being set on a mug or cup. Thus, any upward pressure on the base of the IngenuiTEA will result in tea pouring out. This can result in burns: Resist any urge to support the IngenuiTEA by cupping the base with your palm, as this is exactly the sort of pressure that will cause the flow of hot tea.
Where to get the IngenuiTEA (Hint: It makes a great holiday gift!):
1. You can get the IngenuiTEA from Amazon
2. You can also get the IngenuiTEA directly from Adagio Teas: They are currently running a special where you can get a 16 oz IngenuiTEA, a book on tea, and four one-ounce sample tins of tea for only $19.
3. Many fine tea shops and tearooms, such as Tea Lula in Park Ridge (a suburb of Chicago), are not only selling the IngenuiTEA, but are using the IngenuiTEA to brew up tea for their customers!
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IgenuiTEA was the first tea maker I found, and like you, I thought I was in heaven. But then I realized that tea *does* get stuck in the bottom, and it’s really not very well made for the long haul (meaning, for a tea drinker like me who drinks tea more than anyone I know).
But then I found the Perfect Tea Maker from Teavana, and all my challenges were resolved. It really is a superior product.
Now, having used tea makers for a couple of years, I can give you a tip about how to use it on any size cup without a problem–just sit it off side and hang on to it while it drains. As long as the drain sits over the mouth of the cup, part of the base can overhang the rim with no problem. The additional upside to doing that is that you can watch the tea drain into your cup, and never fear overfilling, because if the cup gets full, you’ll see it and can just remove the PTM or IngenuiTEA.
Oh, and while I’m here, I have to mention my current fav tea: White Ayurvedic Chai from Teavana. No one else I know likes it, but my local store sold out of it a couple days after it’s release two weeks ago. I adore it, and it’s the first tea, ever, that I can honestly say I can’t seem to get enough of!
Get better soonest!
Hope you feel better soon! Thanks for the review and great tips on using the IngenuiTea.
Reeni’s last blog post..Traditional Thanksgiving… Or Not?
Hi Stacy,
Thanks for the tip about using the tea maker. I know that both Teavana and Tea Gchwendner make similar tea makers, and I will be buying and testing those in time as well.
Also good to hear about the Teavana White Ayurvedic Chai…Teavana does some really superior flavored teas, and I look forward to trying that one!
Reeni! Good to see you here! Folks, if you haven’t seen this woman’s food blog, get over there. She has some great recipes!
I hope you do feel better…I drank some wonderful orange tea, but not sure the name out on LI this weekend. They threw out the box, but was wondering if you could recommend another orange blend (my favorite flavor) for me to try?
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Chef E:
Mighty Leafe does a great orange flavored black tea called Orange Dulce, also, Rooibush Orange Peppermint from http://www.teamerchants.com is delish. Just keep in mind that Rooibush is not a true tea…still really good though!
Ahem. Mighty Leaf. . .without the extra “e” at the end.
I used something like that at a friend’s house the other night. At first I didn’t get how the tea was going to go from the carafe into the cup below. I made a bit of a mess before she showed me how it worked Then I was amazed at how fast it drained.
Overall, though, I think I prefer my fillable tea pouches. I’m not afraid of a wet, used teabag. To me, it’s easier to handle than having a pile of loose tea leaves at the bottom of a carafe to deal with.
Nate’s last blog post..Homemade Li Hing Margarita
Well I have to get on the loose tea wagon. i just tried my first batch of loose tea about 10 days ago. The tea was fantastic a vanilla/apricot. But using that metal tea ball strainer is for the birds.
so now that I have more tea arriving shortly i need to find a better solution to getting the loose tea measured out in a more efficient way that doesn’t drive me meshuga in the process.