Sturdy Glass Tea Thermos
Hello All,
I’m new to this forum, but joined so I could pose this question that seems all-significant to me: Does anyone know of a glass tea thermos that is double-walled, but won’t break or crack easily? I have had a few—10 to be exact—over the past 5 years. All of them have broken—some for better reasons than others. The last one broke when I reached back to stop my office door from closing. It wasn’t closing very fast and the thermos didn’t touch the door at all. My fingers that were on the thermos touched the door, but the laws of physics then swung into motion and the interior container cracked at the top where it connected to the exterior wall. That’s the problem I’m trying to avoid. It seems to me a design flaw to have the inner container connect to the outer one only at the top—seems like a recipe for exactly this problem. Does anyone know of a glass thermos (i.e., one where I can see the leaves and liquid doing their thing) that is a little more solidly constructed?
Welcome to Steepster Anevsky.
Most glass tea thermoses that I’ve seen have the same basic construction. After shattering enough of them, I bought a neoprene sleeve for impact protection. It helps with holding temperature too.
I did once see a tea tumbler on Amazon with a glass inner wall and plastic outer wall. No idea how well it performs but it might be more shatter resistant than an all-glass thermos.
Double wall glass is really fragile. Such product does not exist. If you want durable, you need to go all plastic or stainless steel.
If you are set on glass, The Tea Spot’s Urban Tumbler is quite sturdy. Mine took a couple falls on lino floor and lived. It isn’t as sturdy as plastic/stainless but better than double wall. Review: http://oolongowl.com/urban-tea-tumbler-from-the-tea-spot-teaware-review/
DavidsTea has double walled plastic tumblers sold as matcha makers, but come with a regular infuser. It can take a lot of abuse. I’ve dropped and thrown it even. http://oolongowl.com/davidstea-matcha-maker-travel-tea-tumbler-review/
That’s just the tradeoff you make for choosing all-glass. They’re only attached at the rim because they need to minimize contact between the two walls as much as possible, or else the insulation created by the vacuum pocket will do nothing.
TeaLibre and various similarly-modeled tea thermos’ on ebay & amazon “float” a glass wall within a plastic wall, which adds durability (I’ve broken a number of full glass thermos’ myself, but haven’t shattered a tealibre yet), but /mostly/ minimizes the BPA panic. (Granted, they don’t retain heat worth a damn)
I tend to keep mine in sleeves as well, but if you’re intent on being able to see the leaves, taking it in and out of the sleeve would be an annoyance (and reduce any protection a sleeve might offer).
Thanks for all the responses. This has given me a lot to think about. I did find this (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YT7QH6Q/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=IZ3800WJ38OYZ&colid=3J2IBU8P2BUAH) glass one that seems to be popular, although if you look at the lower ratings you can guess what the criticisms are. It does come with the sleeve, but that of course begs the question of why not just get a steel one, then (I guess because you can take the sleeve off?). It claims to solve some of the shattering problems with thicker glass at the bottom of both the internal and external units, but that doesn’t change the problem I’ve had most frequently—cracking where the inner and outer walls come together (that whole inertia problem).
Both the matcha maker and the urban tumbler look appealing on some level, but I don’t think I’m ready to pull the trigger on all-plastic yet, and I currently have a tumbler with two lids and I find occasional leakage problems with the lid on the bottom. Maybe the type I have isn’t as good as the urban tumbler, but that lid on the bottom makes me nervous. The libre tea ones do look like they might solve the problem, but for some reason they aren’t getting great reviews (seems there might be some QC issues?).
We have been testing out a double-walled glass tumbler for our new site and the reviews from customers have been great so far. If you want to shoot me an email, I’ll be happy to get you some pics. It comes in two sizes (11 oz and 14 oz) and has a two part strainer so it may be used grandpa style or for controlled steeps using the infuser basket. Heavy duty glass bottom, bamboo style lid and each comes with a black neoprene sleeve too!
My email is [email protected] Even though our new site is not yet up, I can email Paypal invoices so our customers can pay with their credit or debit card.
Warm wishes,
Garret
I have the Libre (2 of them in fact!) and don’t recommend it. It leaks and projectile sprays. I think how people use it is the culprit as one cannot stop physics, with some design issues on the washer. http://oolongowl.com/libre-tea-infuser-teaware-review/
I forgot to mention Teabook’s tumbler. Out of all the double walls Teabook’s tumbler is pretty good. It feels very sturdy and does not leak. However, I know plenty who have broken it similar to your experience. Double wall is just hella fragile and you can’t win. http://oolongowl.com/teabook-travel-tea-tumbler-review/
Thanks for the further recommendation, Oolong Owl. I will keep the Teabook Travel Tumbler in mind as I keep trying to find the perfect one of these, but before that I’ll give Garret another try. Garret, you won’t recognize my pseudonym here, but we know each other and I’ve been a loyal customer for about 5 years, so if you have a new tumbler that you’re confident in, I’ll give it a whirl.
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