Just starting to enjoy tea, need proper equipment!

[fleshdunce]

Recently, I've stumbled upon a couple of "teas" that I've found to be quite delicious and a great addition/alternative to coffee. Now, I know these are technically not teas, but herbs, but still...they are delicious hot beverages.

I have bought some Yerba Mate and Red Rooibos and both are absolutely delicious. I have been loving a good cup of Rooibos before bed and Yerba Mate during the day, especially if I need a bit of an energy kick. I love that Rooibos is delicious and caffeine free (plus it has all sorts of other healthy stuff) and that Yerba still gives ya a boost without tons of caffeine. I've also just recently picked up some loose English Breakfast tea from the same vendor from which I purchase my coffee and I look forward to giving that a try.

With that said my equipment is sorely lacking. I have been making my coffee for a while now, years, with a French Press and a Melitta manual drip. Soon, I will be getting the Adagio UtiliTea electric kettle to add to my setup. Seems great for boiling water for coffee, and now tea as well. For my infusion method though , for tea, I've been using this thing. While it gets the job done, I feel as though I could definitely have something more effective and convenient than this thing. Only problem is that there are so many options to choose from!

What do you tea enthusiasts suggest? I don't need the fanciest thing under the sun, but I'd like something that gets the job done well and won't break the bank. A couple of options I was eyeing up are as follows:
Adagio Teas Ingenuitea Teapot
Adagio Teas PersonliTea pot

I am not specifically attached to the Adagio brand but they seem to offer good bang for the buck. The Ingenuitea also seems like it would be convenient as I could take it on the go (to my soon to be started student teaching position in the spring semester.)

Tea recommendations and vendors are also more than welcome. Thanks for any suggestions I receive.

 

[_JP_]

Which ones do you need help with?

The French press works well for brewing up Yerbe Mate.

Teas can brewed using a number of methods. Choosing the method can depend on the tea itself for the proper method of handling it.

 

[Erik]

Tea recommendations and vendors are also more than welcome.

For starting out in the world of Yerba Mate all you need is the Yerba Mate, hot water, a mug and a straw and some Yerba Mate.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004CBPYDG/ref=asc_df_B004CBPYDG1349718?tag=thefind0118752-20&creative=395261&creativeASIN=B004CBPYDG&linkCode=asn

For starter tea equipment I'd suggest:
a 14 ounce teapot
a 14 ounce mug
two 7 ounce tea cups
a tea stainer
a rest for the stainer
a scale
a water temperature thermometer

With tea you don't want it to seep in the teapot while you are drinking some of it. In other words, when the tea is ready pour it all out of the teapot. The 14 ounce teapot will pour into a large coffee mug or into two regular tea cups. Use the coffee mug when you are drinking alone. Use the tea cups when you are sharing a cup.

Don't use a teapot's stainer as the tea leaves need their space to expand and release their goodness.
A scale is an important tool when starting out. It will help you achieve repeatable seeps, use suggested ratios and it will help train your brain as to what amounts of the tea that you use look like.
A water thermometer is essential as not all kettles heat water to the same temperature and different teas do better at different temperatures.

a 12 ounce teapot
For a high quality Japanese Pot
http://www.specialteas.com/Tea-ware/Tea-Pots/Japanese-Teaware/Japanese-Ceramic-Teapot.html

a scale
http://cgi.ebay.com/M-500g-x-0-1-Jewelry-Gram-Coin-Digital-Scale-Gold-New-/380298120789?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item588b88ce55

a water temperature thermometer
http://uptontea.com/shopcart/item.asp?itemID=AR2&from=searchResults.asp&searchString=thermometer&searchOptionMatchAll=1&searchOptionCategory=1&searchOptionItemName=1&searchOptionItemDescription=1&searchOptionDocuments=0&searchOptionLimitCategory=&searchOptionPriceRange=0&sType=new&begin=0

The above links include SpecialTeas and Upton, I've had good experiences with either of them and I enjoyed their products. At the moment I mostly drink green puerh and oolong. I generally buy oolong off ebay and I get my puerh from Steve and Jim.

 

[fleshdunce]

Which ones do you need help with?

The French press works well for brewing up Yerbe Mate.

Teas can brewed using a number of methods. Choosing the method can depend on the tea itself for the proper method of handling it.

I suppose just any tea in general...I will definitely be continuing to enjoy Yerba Mate and Rooibos but I think I will start to try out other black teas as well. I am sure I will keep finding more to try as I go along.

I'd like something that I can use generally, I guess, with most teas that I might try...not ready to go too crazy yet but I think I could find something better than that crappy little strainer thing I have now. Right now I just boil water, let it stop boiling, then add my tea and strain it.

 

[Proinsias]

The ingenuitea should be fine for most teas, a glazed kyusu is also a very versatile option. Den's have a few around $20 which have had good reviews, at the bottom here:
http://www.denstea.com/index-main_page-index-cPath-275.html

Den's sample pack is definitely worth a shot at $3 inc p&p, they'll discount the $3 on your next order so you could get the sample and then 3$ off a cheap kyusu.
http://www.denstea.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=377_386

Adagio's sample packs are a great way to try a wide variety of teas, quality is pretty good and if anything really grabs your attention there are plenty specialist vendors out there.

Thermometer and scale are optional, I've never used a scale and only recently have used a thermometer for group tastings of Japanese teas. If you like measuring stuff get them, if you're happy to play around don't. Most herbal stuff only calls for boiling water anyway.

 

[SiBurning]

I wasn't thrilled with the Adagio samplers. Many of the teas were on the stale side, and overall they were rather mediocre. I've been happy with the fine pickings from http://www.specialteas.com/, but I chose the best they have to offer, and at the peak of the season. The blends were superb, and the estate teas were even better. I also got some rooibos from them. I also really like oolong, especially from Taiwan. http://Jas-etea.com keeps a nice stock. He also has some nice puerh teas, which you should try.

 

[jwhite]

It sounds to me like you're drinking primarily herbal tisanes, or fannings and ctc black teas. All of the above do well brewed in the western tradition, or a single brew with longer steep times of anywhere from 3-9 minutes. Most do well with a infuser basket in a pot. I would get a good glazed stoneware or ceramic pot. Whatever style you choose is a matter of personal preference, but the materials and size is important. That doesn't mean it has to be costly but for western style brewing a sturdy pot which will hold temp, that pours freely with a course ceramic filter at the spout, and is of a useful size will add much to the quality and convenience of the brew. If your brewing for one or two I would not get a pot larger than 500ml that will give you about two 8oz mugs of tea, 300ml for a single mug. Tea can go stale pretty quick after brewing so big pots are useless unless you're going to entertain, or are serving a family. For whole leaf teas including those I enjoy brewed in a western style I don't like to use a strainer in the pot because they don't allow the leaves to fully open and the water cant flow for a good steep. If you have a good pot like I've described above you can brew without the strainer and they'll stay in the pot. You might use the strainer over the mug to catch any that get by. If you'd like to just brew a mug at a time my favorite style of brew mug is here the style is unimportant, but the ceramic filter fills the wall of the mug closely so it won't interfere with the leaves no matter what your brewing, because its ceramic it won't flavor your brew, and has a lid to keep it at temp for long steep times. I don't do much on the go brewing anymore but I've found that style convenient.

edit: I wanted to add that I would probably get one of the $20 pots from Dens, that looks like pretty good bang for the buck and they have a fine filter at the spout and a good size, best of both worlds really.