Christine Misiak Tea Sets
I love tea. And when people and businesses come up with eco-friendly tea products, I’m able to love tea even more. Christine Misiak is one of those people. She’s a British product designer who has given new life to old tea sets. While I tend to prefer minimal Asian tea design to traditional British tea style, at my core I’m a design geek who can appreciate good design, wherever it comes from. On her site, Christine explains: My tea sets aim to preserve and portray important aspects of the past, and reminding us of the importance of past objects by using features from old neglected tea sets and blending them with the new and modern. Updating old tea sets and reinventing them to make them current and fashionable for today’s market. . . . Therefore the idea of reusing these old things acts as a way of giving them a new lease of life. Reusing and reinventing old tea sets to make them current and fashionable again rather than just a forgotten thing of the past. Christine has recreated/recycled several different tea sets. One’s an exciting kelly green, one is a bold orange, then there’s a mod citron, and a black one… see them all here! (via Inhabitat)
Posted by Rachel at Monday ~ September 24, 2007 | 3 Comments
Category: Tea Tools, Tea Technology, Tea
Bagged Tea
A plain ol’ tea bag. I can be a bit of a tea snob sometimes. Looking at a tea bag, I usually can’t help but wonder, what’s really in there? When sniffing a cup of tea made from a tea bag, I might even have a hint of a frown. As bad as that might sound, I used to be worse. I wouldn’t even consider drinking tea made from a tea bag, regarding it as grossly inferior to loose leaf tea. In fact, that kind of tea was just a drink. In my mind, it could not possibly create an experience worthy of the word tea. But since then, I’ve had a lot of bagged teas. All kinds of teas and tisanes in all kinds of bags. Let me tell you, all tea bags are not created equal. The Mighty Leaf Tea Pouch If I had to point to a particular tea bag that changed my mind, it would have to be the tea pouch from Mighty Leaf. These pouches are larger than the usual tea bag (which means they allow the tea enough room to expand) and are filled with whole leaf tea (unlike typical tea bags that often contain dust and tea particles). The first time I saw these pouches, I was intrigued. They were aesthetically appealing in their design, and I really, really liked that I could actually see what the tea looked like. I tried the Ginger Twist, “a harmonious mix of lemongrass, tropical fruits, and mint fueled with a touch of ginger and ginseng.” Fragrant and soothing are the words that come to mind. In addition to several herbal and fruit blends, Mighty Leaf offers green, white, and black teas. They can be ordered as loose leaf teas or in tea pouches. I think the tea pouches in particular are a terrific introduction to “real” teas for people who might be intimidated by loose teas, scales, timers, and thermometers. Plus, though the pouches look like a silken nylon, they’re actually made of GMO-free polylactic corn. I’m not sure what that is, but it is biodegradable!
Posted by Rachel at Wednesday ~ September 12, 2007 | No Comments
Category: Tea Technology, Tea
Ineeka Tea Design
The following link will take you to a blog post about Ineeka Tea’s new tea bag design: http://www.arghyle.com/2007/03/26/great-design-ineeka-tea/ While innovative in the industry, and a creative and fresh idea, this new design is a slap in the face to what many tea drinkers believe in: conservation of resources in this world. This innovative design could easily be replaced by a reusable strainer, and the tea could basically be sold loose. This tea will probably sell well because schmucks will buy it for its “cool” factor. Just an interesting tidbit of news!
Posted by CB at Friday ~ March 30, 2007 | 9 Comments
Category: Tea Technology, Tea News, Tea, Uncategorized
Robot Serves Tea in Japan!
Japan is pretty serious about robotics. If the droids are going to fit in, they probably need to learn the Japanese custom of serving tea. Fortunately, researchers at the University of Tokyo are exploring just that. In a demonstration this week, a humanoid with camera eyes made by Kawada Industries Inc. poured tea from a bottle into a cup. Then another robot on wheels delivered the cup of tea in an experimental room that has sensors embedded in the floor and sofa as well as cameras on the ceiling, to simulate life with robot technology. You can find the whole article here.
Robots in Japan are serving tea! I would be set if one of these robots would come over here and make me a nice cup of green tea right about now! Here’s a little bit of the article:
Posted by CB at Saturday ~ March 03, 2007 | No Comments
Category: Tea Technology, Tea Stories, Tea News, Tea, Uncategorized