I have been a tea drinker for several years now. I tend to stick with the green tea varieties and the occasional blend that I pick up at my local supermarket.

I’ve known about loose teas since I started drinking tea but I haven’t tried them because it looked like a lot of extra work to prepare. Using prepackaged tea is so easy to make - just get a mug and some hot water and drop in the teabag. As easy as it is, it also seems like kind of a waste. Plus I was missing out on some interesting teas because they simply aren’t available in prepackaged form.

A few months ago I finally decided to broaden my tea “experience” and splurge on a Tea Maker from Teavana. I bought the 16oz tea maker (it also comes in a 32oz model) and a couple different teas. I also bought some tins to hold the loose tea in. Teavana is specialty tea retailer that operates a website for ordering teas and tea-related products.

I included the directions here so you can see how the Tea Maker works. It’s pretty slick actually; just add your loose tea, fill it with some hot water, steep, and set the tea maker on your mug once you are done steeping. The Tea Maker has a release mechanism that activates once you place it on top of your mug. Just make sure your mug is big enough to hold all the water or you will have a mess on your hands.

I had no idea what I was missing out on. There is a whole new world of tea out there I didn’t even know about - Oolong, Rooibos, Pu-Erh, and Yerba Mate just to name a few of the varieties.

I love it when I get a chance to improve upon an experience like tea. Whether it is tea or food or fitness it usually pays to experiment. So put down that boring tea and brew up a batch of something new.

Links:
Teavana Website
16oz Tea Maker