So. I have been having all these discussions online recently that involve tea. Since I am supposed to limit my caffeine intake, I have not been actually drinking much tea lately–just talking about it. Then a friend suggested rooibos as a caffeine-free alternative that I might like. (Thanks, Kate!)
Well, yesterday, the tea fairy visited my house and left an interesting selection of teas for me to try (including some rooibos). So, I have to take stock of my tea-making paraphernalia so that I can try one of these scrumptious sounding brews.
The first stop was the kitchen gadget drawer to look for my old tea infuser (commonly known as a tea ball). However, much to my chagrin, somewhere between the re-lining of the kitchen drawers, kitchen remodels and general gadget pruning, my tea infuser seems to have disappeared. It may be in a box in the basement somewhere, but since that’s roughly the equivalent of residing in an alternate dimension, that meant it was time to shop for a new one.
That’s when I found out that I wasn’t in Kansas anymore….
A few of the items I found were unsurprising. You can still get an ordinary mesh tea ball:
classic, simple and functional. If you say tea infuser to me, this metal ball (or a close variant) is the thing that comes to mind.
I also saw a brew in mug tea infuserwith a lid: This is similar to the Melitta single cup coffee brewer.
I keep one of these around the house for use during power outages.
Years ago, I remember seeing an electric set called a Mrs. Tea (similar to a Mr. Coffee electric drip pot, but designed for brewing tea). I actually still found some of these for sale on Amazon and eBay. Back in the day, these were all the rage for people who were die-hard tea drinkers, LOL! Now, they have them that make iced tea as well.
Now for the unusual and the kitsch – the selection here was really widely varied and really interesting:
How about tea infusers that look like tea leaves? Or, what about your very own Tea Rex?
What about a little something for the Sesame Street fan? Bert and Ernie would be so thrilled with a yellow rubber ducky tea infuser, no? Especially one that floats in your cup!
And while we are on yellow, for that special tea-drinking Beatles fan, yes, there actually is a infuser shaped like a Yellow Submarine!
In fact, you can get almost any kind of infuser you would like: robot? Check. A monkey?
Yep! What about a “Deep Tea Diver”
or a sea shell?
They even have one that actually looks like a teapot.
But my personal favorite is one that seems no longer to be available: A shark infuser that floats in the cup.
I mean seriously, who could resist this? Do I hear the music from Jaws playing as I sip my tea?