Which teas are you drinking out of your travel mug these days?

Agreed. I love that one. I added some of it to banana black tea that wasn’t offering up enough banana the other day. It worked beautifully. It’s going to be expensive to keep this one in stock.

My guess is that we’re talking about teas whose taste is not negatively affected (read: slaughtered) when drunk from a travel mug, regardless of where it was steeped (although that affects taste too, as many of us prefer to steep in mugs or gravity steepers or whatever and then pour into the mug).

I think this thread could be about both or all of the things that come to mind as people have different travel mug habits. I am interested in which teas survive in carry mugs, but also, I am interested in the kinds of carry mugs people use and how well they work for their tea habits.

In China, I used to cart around a spoon or so of leaf in my clear plastic generic travel mug, which I bought there, and refill it with hot water all day long. This was easy to do as first, even average green or oolong or pu’er leaf is pretty fantastic there. And second, everywhere you go in China there is hot water available for tea. My apartment had a hot water dispenser as one of the furnishings.

I will haul out this particular clear container for green or oolong from time to time, but it has begun to leak a bit and is terribly tea stained from use.

These days I use DT timolinos or DT carry travel mugs, though the latter have retained artificial tea scents in the silicone. And most flavoured teas don’t seem to taste as good in them anymore.

When I am at home, I use two thermos-like mugs, which leak so I don’t tend to carry them around in my bag, to keep tea hot. The flavour of whatever tea doesn’t seem to get ruined at all in these. The brands are Bubba and Contigo. I bought both of them in Target in the States.

Oh, that sounds like a good idea. I’ve actually heard from a few people that strong, straight blacks tend to cope well in travel mugs. I also think that heat retention affects flavour. Can I ask what is meant when H & s places “ht” in front of their tea names?

I actually have no idea what the HT stands for, even after reading the description of the collection on the web site. The best I can come up with is Harney Tradition. The HT English Breakfast is a blend of Ceylon and Kenya teas, where as the normal English Breakfast is just straight China black.

Oh interesting. That makes sense. I didn’t know if “ht” meant anything different, but I see now that it’s a different tea.

I believe it depends on the travel mug and on the type of tea. A lot of the more mellow blacks can be steeped all day and not get bitter. I know some folks put tolerant greens and whites in them as well. Some travel devices have removable infuser baskets, some keep the leaves out of the water after you are done steeping, some you should probably steep in another container then transfer to travel.

I personally don’t have one with an infuser of any kind at this time so I steep in a gravity steeper and then pour into the travel tumbler. It means I can’t reuse the leaves during the day, though, if I start out before I leave home. So I am looking for something else. :)

I don’t tend to steep in the mug, except for herbal teas that can take it. I am very sensitive to bitterness so I just try to plan out an extra few minutes before leaving to steep the tea in a pot and pour into the mug. Or in the mug and remove the basket, depending on the style of mug.

My two favorites are the Carry Mug from David’s and the Flying Tea Gourd.

they both look good. how are they for holding heat?

My absolute favorite is the DavidsTea carry mug! I typically brew some tea right when I wake up in the morning (lately at 0600 _) and when I get to my class I take the lid off to help it cool down a bit but I really do not start drinking it until around 0900-1000 because it’s still VERY hot. I’ve had tea that was in there that was still pretty warm well past lunch time.

thanks! im looking at the silver textured carry travel mug. do you ever use the hidden tea compartment?

I have used it before. Never had an issue with excess moisture getting into the compartment.

I’m very fond of my Contigo. It’s not easily tainted with flavors of teas past, it’s leakproof after the first few sips, and it retains heat super well. I use a Finum brew basket and remove it before putting on the lid. I usually have to add a few pieces of ice for the tea to be a drinkable temp on the commute.