This post shares this tea lover’s (and another’s) experiences and perspectives on traveling with tea. What do you need to enjoy tea when you travel?
The Horror of Coffee-Maker Tea
I could have named this piece “how to travel with tea.” But, I think that’s a very personal decision and there isn’t a wrong way–as long as it works for you. Here, I share what concerns me and how I approach it. Another tea friend’s approach to traveling with tea, sketched below, provides another example to consider.
Drinking tea every day brings me great pleasure. So, whether I am at home or on the road, I want to be able to steep up a great cup of tea. American hotels are not set up to help tea lovers do this well.
Every serious tea drinker has probably experienced terrible hotel-room tea while traveling in the USA. Away from home and without your normal kettle, you probably asked yourself: “how bad could it be, using the hotel’s electric coffee maker to heat water to make tea?”
Maybe–like me before I purchased a portable electric kettle–you had to run this experiment several times in order to reach the same bitter conclusion: VERY BAD! Tea steeped with water run through a coffee maker always tastes like tea made with coffee water. It ruins the tea for me. Every time. If I can see a vague color of coffee or smell it in the water, I will not enjoy tea made with it–no matter how excellent the tea.
The thermal carafes of hot water some hotels put out for tea drinkers are also suspect. At one time, someone has inevitably put coffee in them. In other words, they, too, taste like coffee water and make a terrible cup of tea.
So, a safe and reliable portable electric kettle and/or a thermos of hot water–so I can have good water to steep tea–are probably the most important things for me when traveling with tea. [My last portable electric kettle was just recalled by Amazon, with dire warnings from the Consumer Product Safety Commission. So, I’m currently researching and looking for a new one.]
Keeping It Simple
How you travel with tea is a personal choice, based on your preferences and trip constraints. La’Shell from Books by the Cup, for example, likes to keep it simple. She packs a portable electric kettle and a ceramic flask/tumbler that isn’t fragile. She also takes biodegradable sachets to steep her loose leaf on the go. #SteepsOnTheGo is a hashtag she uses.
Something to Steep With
I’ve used every approach you can imagine. And, I can fully appreciate the advantages of simplicity. Lately, however, it has been less stressful and more pleasurable for me to pack a travel gaiwan or small gongfu teapot and accessories rather than to leave home without them. It’s a grounding part of my day, even when I travel.
Packing When Traveling with Tea
I have a beautiful, handmade tea travel bag that I discuss in “A Lesson about Beauty from Tea Life.” It can easily hold, for example, a gongfu pot, small teacup or two, fairness pitcher, and tea strainer. I gently wrap my tea accessories in cloth napkins before I pack them. I appreciate having the pretty cloth napkins for my tea sessions and they are useful if I need to pack up damp teaware.
When I’m packing teaware for traveling, I usually choose my less fragile pieces–teapots with short spouts, hardy gaiwans, etc. Cups without handles are generally better for traveling, too. But, I will pack fragile teacups with handles or other delicate pieces if I have the space to use extra padding and the time to take extra care.
Depending on the situation, I pack my loose-leaf tea either in a small box or in a lovely zippered pouch with a teapot on it that I bought from Tea Thoughts. I also bring a small scale to weigh my tea leaves.
Until recently, I was also packing fillable tea sachets. But, I noticed I almost never wanted to use them. That said, they *are* super handy if I am going out to eat somewhere that doesn’t have the kind of tea I drink. So, I do sometimes use them at restaurants. I will order a cup of their tea and ask them to put the tea bag on the side, then I steep my own tea leaves.
Final Thoughts on Traveling with Tea
There’s no wrong or right way to travel with tea. Whatever makes you happy and works for you is great! That’s what I love about a tea practice. It is flexible, customizable, and as simple or involved as you would like to make it.
One thing I hope we can all agree on, however, is how bad coffee-water tea is. 😉
Read another perspective and a review of a different portable kettle at the Books by the Cup blog. You can access La’Shell’s post, “Steeps on the Go.” You can also find @booksbythecup on Instagram. We’d love to know how you tend to travel with tea. I invite you to share in the comments!
Other Related Posts
- You can see my review of the Zorjirushi Stainless (Thermal) Mug.
- If using tea for mindfulness and grounding appeals to you, you might be interested in my Suggestions for Mindful Tea.
I do not receive any benefits for the products or companies that my post mentions. I paid full price for all the items (or, in one case, a family member gave it to me as a gift). I’m simply sharing my experience with products that I use. Honesty and transparency are important to me.