Having owned and broken countless World Market tea thermoses over the years, I figured it’s time I finally did a review. These are 10oz glass bottles with removable strainers and beautiful painted designs – botanical and geometric motifs – on the outside. Being glass, they are lightweight and allow you to watch the leaves as they brew. Of course glass also makes them breakage prone and thus a disadvantage to my clumsy self. After shattering enough of them, I bought a foam sleeve which has helped to protect mine from minor bumps and drops. Good thing is they are fairly cheap – I’ve gotten them for as little as $7 on sale – so not a big deal to replace. Like any thermos, they do a good job of keeping brewed tea hot or cold. There’s no plastic in direct contact with the liquid.
Unfortunately, there is one major flaw that makes this product less functional: the cheap metal strainer gets hot and taints the flavor of the tea. It’s especially noticeable with delicate teas like greens and whites. This problem essentially makes it unusable for grandpa brewing which mostly defeats the purpose of having a strainer. For this reason, I had to buy another tea thermos with a better quality strainer for steeping tea on the go. Mine is now used only for holding brewed tea.
World Market has carried these tumblers for a while now. Every year they come out with attractive new designs, but alas they all have the same cheap-o metal strainer. It’s a shame because this is otherwise an excellent tea thermos.
