I recently came across a pretty nifty tea accessory for enjoying loose-leaf tea on the go.
From Seattle-based Tovolo, makers of a wealth of kitchen gadgets and cookware, comes TeaGo, a mobile tea press that stores, steeps, and plunges excess water straight from your backpack or purse to a tea cup.
I received a TeaGo to test drive and found it pretty easy to use, once I got the hang of its parts and construction.
The package arrives with a few diagrams printed on the box and no user guide, so it’s a matter of taking the press apart to learn where the tea is stored and how it all fits back together again.
The green cylinder is meant for tea storage. After removing the cylinder from the rest of the tea press, screw the top cap off and pour the desired amount of tea into the mesh filter.
Replace the tea chamber into the rest of the unit and the chamber will act as a tea plunger when your tea is done steeping.
Just tap TeaGo’s filter onto a paper towel to remove used tea, then rinse the rest out with water.
The clear bottom part of the press keeps the filter free of dust. I like the slim, functional design that doesn’t take up a lot of room in my bag.
TeaGo is available via several retailers in the US ($12.99 in shops; $11.85 on Amazon.com), and on Amazon.ca (approx. CDN $20) in Canada. I’ve also seen it in newly-opened Neverland Tea Salon on West Broadway.
Tovolo has sent me a second TeaGo to contest for a lucky tea lover! Simply comment on your favourite loose-leaf tea blend and for an extra entry, follow both @TovoloHome and @Vancouverscape and RT the following:
Enter to win a TeaGo Mobile Tea Press from @TovoloHome and @Vancouverscape http://ow.ly/oPt1G
I’ll draw a winner on Wednesday, October 2 at 5 pm. Happy brewing! Oh yeah, one more thing: winner must reside in Vancouver and be able to meet me on the Westside in order to collect the prize. Congrats to Zoe @woodwardsmile whose name I drew at random this afternoon. Enjoy your tea-on-the-go!