On Sun, 26 Mar 2006 16:35:39 -0500, BabyJane Hudson
> wrote:

>I would like your expert opinions if this "starter set" would be worth
>buying. Once you are at the page, click onto "see it work" and let me
>know what you think.
>
>Thanks in advance for your help.
>
>http://tinyurl.com/kgsoc
>
>Jane


The teas tend to be hit and miss and on the mediocre side but the
Brewing Device is quite good and worth IMHO. I bought 4 of them back
before Adagio purchased the sole rights to them.

--
Mike Petro
http://www.pu-erh.net

Mike 3/26/06


> On Sun, 26 Mar 2006 16:35:39 -0500, BabyJane Hudson
> > wrote:
>
>> I would like your expert opinions if this "starter set" would be worth
>> buying. Once you are at the page, click onto "see it work" and let me
>> know what you think.
>>
>> Thanks in advance for your help.
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/kgsoc
>>
>> Jane
>
>
> The teas tend to be hit and miss and on the mediocre side but the
> Brewing Device is quite good and worth IMHO. I bought 4 of them back
> before Adagio purchased the sole rights to them.
>
> --
> Mike Petro
> http://www.pu-erh.net

A cup with inserted infuser takes less space, provides the
same degree of control, and requires the same amount of cleanng.
The release from above element is an unnecessary gimmick. BTW,
the neat way at the end of he process in the film, all the used leaves fell
in a lump out of the thing leaving not a single shread of leaf behind is
laughable. I'd say pass it by. (Adagio sold a German infuser mug of
good quality. I don't know if they still do.)

Michael

it's a gimmick. After several years of brewin' tea I use loose leaf in
Upton's little fill-yer-own paper tea sacks on a chain clip. They're big
enough they allow the leaf to unfurl but there's no mess, no plasticky
taste. and they're ~$4 per 100. Check em out in the back of the upton
catalogue.

[Barky]
> it's a gimmick. After several years of brewin' tea I use loose leaf in
> Upton's little fill-yer-own paper tea sacks on a chain clip. They're big
> enough they allow the leaf to unfurl but there's no mess, no plasticky
> taste. and they're ~$4 per 100. Check em out in the back of the upton
> catalogue.

[Arf]
Furthermore, you can get a ceramic mug at the thrift shop for 50 cents
and a strainer at any chinese market for another dollar. So, for less than
two dollars you'd have yourself a perfectly functional tea making kit.
Word of advice on this: Put the leaves directly into your new mug, then
when you pour the tea into another drinking vessel, use the strainer to
catch leaves; do not put leaf in the strainer and the strainer into the mug
as this will hurt the leaves' feelings by containing them too securely.

Boil water in pan. Throw in loose tea. Use any kitchen mesh strainer
for cup. That's the way granny did it. If you have access to Asian
shops then lid,cup,infuser $8 or pot,infuser $4. The knick knack
discount stores usually have a 500ml tea press for $8. I use the
kangaroo pouches for the larger pots with no infuser. They cling to
the rim and lid seats properly. My local tea shoppe uses the smaller
ones for cups to go. Michael is right, dump the infuser if you can. I
could never understand tiny gong fu pots because they're little more
than infusers.

Jim

Michael Plant wrote:
> [Barky]
> > it's a gimmick. After several years of brewin' tea I use loose leaf in
> > Upton's little fill-yer-own paper tea sacks on a chain clip. They're big
> > enough they allow the leaf to unfurl but there's no mess, no plasticky
> > taste. and they're ~$4 per 100. Check em out in the back of the upton
> > catalogue.
>
> [Arf]
> Furthermore, you can get a ceramic mug at the thrift shop for 50 cents
> and a strainer at any chinese market for another dollar. So, for less than
> two dollars you'd have yourself a perfectly functional tea making kit.
> Word of advice on this: Put the leaves directly into your new mug, then
> when you pour the tea into another drinking vessel, use the strainer to
> catch leaves; do not put leaf in the strainer and the strainer into the mug
> as this will hurt the leaves' feelings by containing them too securely.

Space Cowboy wrote:
> Boil water in pan. Throw in loose tea. Use any kitchen mesh strainer
> for cup. That's the way granny did it. If you have access to Asian
> shops then lid,cup,infuser $8 or pot,infuser $4. The knick knack
> discount stores usually have a 500ml tea press for $8. I use the
> kangaroo pouches for the larger pots with no infuser. They cling to
> the rim and lid seats properly. My local tea shoppe uses the smaller
> ones for cups to go. Michael is right, dump the infuser if you can. I
> could never understand tiny gong fu pots because they're little more
> than infusers.
>
> Jim

While I agree with Michael and Cowboy, I still say that the People's
Brew Basket is the way to go at $4 it holds well over a cup, so it has
plenty of room for expansion and since it is mesh there is absolutely
no restriction of water to leaf. The asian ceramic mug's with
cup/infuser/lid are also very very good... however you need to pay
careful attention to the shape and design of the infuser. Make sure
there are a lot of holes and not too big/small, and that they are on
the sides as well as the bottom... also that the infuser is as close to
a 1-cup size as possible. This is a perfect solution because since it
is ceramic it is not affected by tea flavors brewed in it as the
polymesh basket can be to some slight extent.

They are all good suggestions, and any of them will work fine... and
cost much less than the original product.

- Dominic