Tea and travel mugs, yay or nay? Yes, most definitely, and I've already written a detailed blog post on using tea bags inside your insulated travel tumbler.
But for any tea lover, tea bags just don't make the cut.
Sure, they're fast and efficient, but anyone who enjoys tea knows that steeping loose tea leaves is the better choice. Tea bags are often filled with tea "dust" and tiny particles of low-quality tea. Go open a bag up and have a peak.
At home, you have many options to infuse tea, from tea-infuser-spoons, tea tongs, and even tea balls. But when you want to take a cuppa on the road, balancing your small arsenal of tea brewing gear on your lap is a challenge.
But what if you said you could leave your brewing kit at home and just use your tea infuser with your travel mug? No teapots, no kettles, just you, your infuser, and your travel mug, and you're good to go.
Whether you enjoy multiple cups a day sitting in the office or simply want to sip on your favorite blend while stuck in the morning rush hour traffic. Armed with your insulated travel mug and a simple tea infuser, you have everything you need.
What Is A Tea Infuser?
Usually, a tea infuser comes with a teacup or teapot and is shaped like a mesh ball or a spoon-like clamp. Your chosen tea leaves are locked inside, and the mesh design allows the water to flow through.
You then steep your tea for as long as you like releasing the flavor antioxidants into your cup. Easy peasy!
Out of the different infuser options, a tea ball would be the best choice to use with your travel mug. Once filled with loose tea leaves, you simply drop it inside your mug along with your hot water and let the tea infuse.
Tea Infuser Travel Mug vs. Regular Travel Mug
Sure, there are tea infuser travel mugs available in the market that have been designed for use with tea and nothing else. They come with the infuser built-in.
These work great, but the downside to this type of insulated travel mug is the usability; it's tea, and that's it.
Unlike regular travel mugs that can be used to keep almost any beverage hot and cold - not just tea!
So if you only drink tea, great.
But if you also want to use your travel mug for other drinks such as coffee, juices, or even bubble tea, you're better off investing in an insulated travel mug that can cater to all your beverage cravings.
How To Use A Tea Infuser In Your Travel Mug?
With your mug in hand and your tea infuser ball at the ready, let us begin.
Oh, by the way, If you need a good quality insulated travel mug, head over here and check out our awesome range.
- Rinse your tea infuser with hot water and prepare your insulated travel mug.
- Next, fill your tea infuser ball with your favorite loose tea leaves. Generally, you want to use roughly one tablespoon of tea per eight ounces of water. However, depending on the type of tea used and your taste preference, this can vary. If you're unsure, follow the brewing instructions that came with your tea and tweak and adjust from there.
- Fill your insulated travel mug with hot water. You will need to adjust the water temperatures for different teas. (boiling water for black tea or herbal, 90° C for oolong, 85° C for green, and 80° C for white tea)
- Place your tea infuser inside your travel mug and attach the lid.
- Steep your tea for around two minutes or the length of time indicated on the brewing instructions of your preferred tea.
- Once you have steeped your tea, remove the lid and the tea infuser ball. At this stage, you can discard the tea or you can put the infuser to one side and reuse the tea leaves. Typically, you can steep the same tea 3 to 6 times before they need to be discarded.
- Replace the lid back on the travel mug, and you're ready to hit the road.
How Long Should You Infuse Tea?
Timing, timing, perfect timing. That's what's needed to nail the perfect mug of tea.
With a regular tea bag, the correct dose of tea and detailed instructions on the side of the box ensure you have the best experience possible.
But with loose tea, it's just you, your loose tea leaves, and an infuser.
The amount of time you should steep your tea depends on a few factors, such as your strength preference (how strong do you like your tea) and the type of tea you're brewing.
If you're brewing with green, white, or Oolong tea, the recommended steeping time is between 2-3 minutes. Other teas such as black, Rooibos or Maté are best left to infuse slightly longer at around 3-6 minutes.
If fruit or herbal teas are your preferred cuppa, a steep time of 3-6 minutes often produces excellent results.
As a rule of thumb, the longer you steep the tea, the more potent it will become. The great thing about tea is there are no set rules; brew tea the way you enjoy it.
Choosing The Right Travel Mug
Apart from choosing good quality tea, you must also invest in a good travel mug.
There's no point in handpicking the most delicate tea leaves from the remote side of a Chinese mountain in Shandong Province to then throw the tea into a mediocre travel mug. Pure sacrilege!
You know, and I know that there is an abundance of travel tumblers and mugs in the market, so picking out the best is often a challenge.
Most are made from stainless steel, which is generally perfectly okay. It's durable, hygienic, and easy to clean.
But the problem with stainless steel is it tends to leave a strange metallic taste in your beverage. Not so great for your premium tea leaves. Oolong tea and metallic flavoring don't go well together. Yuk!
But what if I told you that you could have all the benefits of stainless steel without the unwanted metallic taste. Have I got your attention?
Ceramic coated stainless steel travel mugs are the next best thing, and the good news is you can get one today, right here on this very website.
If you want the best tea drinking experience, 👉 head over here, and you can take a look at our best-selling insulated travel mug. It's perfect for taking your brewed tea with you when you leave the house.
Mark Morphew is a freelance writer specializing in digital marketing and the hospitality sector. He helps coffee, catering, and food tech businesses create better content that drives more traffic and increases customer engagement.
