Tag: Teaware

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Teaglass’s Teaglass

Teaglass by Teaglass
Borosilicate Glass
$29.99USD

Teaglass has provided me with Teaglass for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

When I first saw the Teaglass on Instagram, one of the first things I thought to myself was “What is that?” in a really intrigued way. The Teaglass is designed for drinking yerba mate, a caffeinated plant that is steeped like tea is and traditionally made in a cup that’s fashioned out of a gourd with a metal straw, or bombilla.  This Teaglass is thankfully not a gourd (I don’t think that would have made it through customs), and is made out of borosilicate glass that is hand-blown.

Teaglass boasts on their website that they are the first all-glass yerba mate cup that has a built-in straw and strainer – which I think is really neat. If you’re not familiar with borosilicate glass, it’s the same type of glass that was used in vintage Pyrex-ware and in vintage and modern day laboratory glassware.

The Teaglass came in a sturdy cardboard box, and wrapped in some bubble wrap for safety during transport (and survival when in the hands of the postal service!). The first thing I thought when I opened the box was that it was just really cute. The Teaglass fits nicely into my hand (and I have small hands) and it seems quite solidly made. It features a double-wall for the cup portion of the Teaglass, and the straw curves away from the cup for when you’re drinking. The Teaglass logo decorates the bottom of the glass, it’s not intrusive by any means. I’m not a huge yerba mate drinker by any means, so I will actually be testing this neat cup out with some chrysanthemum tea.

Preparation

Teaglass states that their Teaglass is dishwasher and microwave safe. I washed it in some soapy warm water before using it. I think if you were really concerned, you could use a thin bottle brush for cleaning the straw portion.

First Use

I dropped two huge dried chrysanthemum flowers into the Teaglass and then poured in my hot water to allow it to steep. I do want to say that the holes aren’t like a fine mesh, so I wouldn’t try a very fine loose leaf tea in here as I think it might go through the holes or clog it (but you can always just rinse it out). After steeping, I drank the tea out of the straw. I think due to the size of the cup, tea does cool down fairly quickly. The double-walled feature of the cup means no burning your hands on a hot cup of tea, which is really nice. I think this would be great for steeping sessions of oolongs, blooming teas, pu’erh, or any straight teas that don’t have added oils to it. For instance, I don’t think that I would steep an Earl Grey in this, only because I think it’d be a pain to clean any residue of the bergamot oil.

There were only smooth edges to the Teaglass, for anyone concerned about that. The size is a comfortable hold for me, and it was a fun experience. I’m definitely going to try some dragon pearls in it next, I think. Just the nature of being able to do some short, small steeps in this cup makes it quite ideal for more delicate teas. And the fact that your tea sits with the leaves, it makes it nice for grandpa-style tea steeping.

My Overall Impression

I loved Teaglass’s Teaglass. I just found this to be a very clever cup. It was easy to use, easy to clean, and made drinking tea quite fun. I found myself just resteeping over and over again because it was just fun to use. The small size makes it easy to do multiple steeps of the same tea, since you don’t have to go through a whole teapot, and the double-walled feature in the cup saves your hands from getting too hot. The fact that it’s hand-blown just kind of puts it over-the-top in the ‘cool’ category, because I just really appreciate the craftsmanship that went into it, it’s so detailed and if you head over to Teaglass’s Instagram page, you’ll also see how uniform the cups are between each other (which is doubly amazing).

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Tealish’s Perfect Tea Spoon

Perfect Tea Spoon by Tealish
Stainless Steel (?)
$9.95

Both Perfect Tea Spoons came to me in subscription boxes by The Sugared Teacup.

First Impressions

I received the Gold and Rose Gold Perfect Tea Spoons via The Sugared Teacup subscription boxes. They came in retail packaging – a simple clear plastic box with a cardboard sleeve. The spoons feel quite durable, and it doesn’t feel like a coloured coating – I’ve had no issues with any chipping with use or washing.

The Perfect Tea Spoon holds a little over 1 teaspoon (upon measurement, I found that it holds 1½ teaspoons of water). The spoons have a beautiful mirror finish to them. The weight of the spoons just makes it feel like really good quality.

Preparation

I washed the spoons in warm soapy water prior to use.

First Use

The packaging suggests that the Perfect Tea Spoon holds the perfect amount of tea for a cup of tea. Because teas do vary, I think it really depends on what type of tea that you’re wanting to steep. In general, it holds on average the right amount of dry leaf for one cup of tea. I use less than full spoonful for more dense teas (e.g. oolongs) versus more airy teas (shou-mei or silver needle).

My Overall Impression

I loved Tealish’s Perfect Tea Spoon. It functions as expected, and holds a good amount of tea per tea cup/mug. I do think that it is on the pricey side. It’s definitely something that I would buy as a gift and for fancy tea party usage. The beautiful mirror finish and quality of the spoon makes it feel luxurious.

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DavidsTea’s Perfect Spoon

Perfect Spoon by DavidsTea
Stainless Steel
$7.00

First Impressions

So this was not the first time I used the Perfect Spoon from DavidsTea. I may have several (and a few that didn’t make it into the photo). The spoons themselves are stainless steel – they frequently release coloured ones that are either sold by themselves or as part of a set. I got the red and green ones from the past winter collections as part of sets. I typically only use the silver one because it was my first Perfect Spoon.

The coating on the coloured spoons are not durable or dishwasher-friendly. I’ve seen many complaints online of the coloured spoons getting damaged and the coating flaking off. I think this is part of the reason why I don’t use the coloured spoons. For reference, the price of the silver/plain Perfect Spoon is the same as the coloured Perfect Spoons (at the time of writing). There’s been limited edition spoons that have been more expensive in the past and some of them come in boxed packaging (e.g. rose gold).

A Perfect Spoon is 2½ teaspoons.

Preparation

I hand wash all of my Perfect Spoons after use, and I store them in a cup. Since I only use them for tea, I generally just rinse in warm water and use dish soap when I use it to scoop an ‘oily’ tea (e.g. Earl Grey, some herbal/fruit infusions).

First Use

The Perfect Spoon performs its job well. It’s a spoon, it scoops! That said, not all teas should be measured out by how many spoonfuls. As you can see in the photo, an airy tea like Sau-Mei will have a lot of ’empty’ space between the leaves – which is why I do a heaping spoonful. For teas that are denser or have larger pieces (e.g. teas with dried fruit pieces, a rolled tea like Jasmine Pearls) will need more or less tea. Fancier tea connoisseurs than I am will use digital food/kitchen scales to measure out their tea instead of spoons. Since I’m not that fancy yet, I typically use my Perfect Spoon and just eye-ball it.

My Overall Impression

I loved DavidsTea’s Perfect Spoon. I’ve used it pretty much consistently since I’ve gotten it – with zero issues from the silver Perfect Spoon. I’m too leery about having the coloured coating come off in my tea, which is why I opt to not use them. I mostly just have the coloured ones because they came in gift sets that I had bought (for myself). That said, it isn’t the cheapest of spoons. If you already have a teaspoon-sized measuring spoon in your kitchen, you might not want to get it because who needs another spoon that isn’t a standard unit of measurement? I’ve gotten all of my Perfect Spoons as part of promotional sales or as part of a boxed gift set, so I haven’t purchased a Perfect Spoon by itself just yet (pro-tip if you’re wanting one but don’t want to spend $7 on a spoon…).

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.