Preparing for a trip during which I knew I’d be drinking tea mostly outdoors, I decided to take a good thermos. That way, I could fill it with water to drink or hot tea–one vessel would work for either. This was going to be a more rugged trip than my usual traveling style, so I didn’t pack as much teaware as I usually do.

My old thermos leaks, so I wanted something better. I’d heard good things about Zojirushi, so I bought their 16 ounce “stainless mug.” I don’t know why they call it that and not a thermos!

Slim Profile

Let’s start by reviewing this Zojirushi thermos to note that it has a slim profile that’s easy to hold. It is also thin enough to slide into my water bottle pocket of my backpack. It comes in a number of different colors.

Lid

I liked how the lid was designed for drinking. It released a nice, careful flow of liquid through it.

The Zojirushi stainless mug lid was easy for me to screw on. I also appreciate the locking feature so the lid doesn’t accidentally pop open while transporting the thermos. I never had any leaks.

Zojirushi Heat Retention

It is excellent at retaining heat. In fact, I realized I wouldn’t be able to sip tea directly from the thermos even hours after making it because it would still be way too hot! So, I carried a teacup to pour the hot tea into or to steep my tea with the hot water so it could then cool to a safe drinking temperature. I prefer to drink my tea out of a cup anyway. (P.S. I also bought separately and added the “breathe” sticker on the thermos in the nearby photo.)

The other solution would be to let your tea cool to near comfortable drinking temperature before pouring it into the thermos. But, read on for my thoughts on that.

Size

I reviewed Zojirushi thermos sizes. They sell thermoses or “stainless mugs” in bigger sizes, so if you need hot water or tea for more people, you may want to size up from the 16 ounce version.

Prop 65 Warning

When I received this thermos, there was a [California] Prop 65 warning listed on the box. According to the California government’s website, “This law requires businesses to provide warnings before people are exposed to chemicals on the state’s Proposition 65 list.”

I emailed Zojirushi. I wrote:

“[T]he box the thermos arrived in has a Prop 65 warning for cancer and reproductive harm. But, it doesn’t saw [sic] what parts of the bottle or materials necessitated that warning. Can you please provide me this information?”

I definitely wanted to have this information before using or reviewing the Zojirushi thermos!

Support at Zojirushi responded on 3/10/26:

“Thank you for contacting Zojirushi America.
 
The stainless steel in the interior of the vacuum mug and spring in the lid contains nickel. Nickel is an important alloying element in food-grade stainless steel. It provides high anti-corrosive properties to the stainless steel (surgical steel contains nickel).  The sticker on the bottom of the outside of the vacuum mug contains DBP.
  
Please note that the bottom of the vacuum mug does not come in to direct contact with food or beverage.  For further information, please go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov 
  
Proposition 65 enables Californians to make informed decisions about their exposures to certain chemicals. This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.  For further information, please go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov
… 
Please note that the warning does not mean that our products will necessarily cause harm or that they violate any product-safety standards by the FDA. In fact, the California government has clarified that ‘the fact that a product bears a Proposition 65 warning does not mean by itself that the product is unsafe.'”

Nickel & Stainless Steel

I didn’t even know that food grade stainless steel (18/8-18/10) contains some nickel until researching this issue! If you have a nickel allergy–you probably already know this and might already avoid stainless steel water bottles and thermoses, etc. Otherwise, everyone should research the issue and come to their own decision.

I am guessing most stainless steel thermoses will have this warning. It’s a matter of reading the fine print and following up. As I thought over this issue with the Zojirushi thermos for this review, I’ve decided to keep and use it; however, I’ll probably stick to using it to transport hot water to make tea in a cup or teaware instead of putting acidic tea directly in the thermos.

The post Zojirushi Thermos Review for Traveling with Tea appeared first on Tea Infusiast.

Read on for Nicole’s advice on packing teaware for outdoor sessions, the reactions of other hikers, a tip for taking tea photos in nature, what Nicole adds to her kit during bear season, and more!

Here’s our interview. My questions are in bold font. Nicole’s responses are italicized in the bullet points that follow each question.

Preparing to Make Art and Tea on the Trail

How do you prepare for hikes with teaware and photography equipment? Has this changed in the last five years? 

Nicole responds:

• First I ought to say that what I call hikes, real hikers would call nature walks. For a mile or less, I prefer wicker baskets, small towels for padding, a flask of tea or a simple pocket stove and stainless steel camp pot. 
• My poor camera – once the star of the show- is relegated to a neck strap or small backpack. For longer hikes, up to 6 or 7 miles, I pack less, actually. Everything -camera, lenses, teacup/saucer, & flask fits into one backpack. No pocket stove; but I bring trekking poles, basic first aid kit, and during bear season I bring an air horn. 
• This is a bit different from the beginning – I used a lot more bubble wrap back then! Cloth and wicker are versatile- they look pretty in pictures, too. I also used to bring more camera equipment, multiple lenses, tripod and such.

Is there an art to choosing which teaware to pack for a particular hike? How to you choose? 

Nicole shares:

• Almost always, this depends on the tea. The cup shape, as well as the texture of porcelain, is optimal for certain types of tea.  I have several cups I only use only for greens, others for white, others for flavored teas. One is my favorite for Darjeeling. Espresso cups are ideal for gong fu cha.  

Limits and Costs of Art

Are there any teacups in your collection that you wouldn’t take on any hikes? Why? 

Nicole candidly admits:

• Yes, indeed! One passed down from my great-grandmother; and certain others gifted from dear friends. I have a few sets 200+ years old. Such special cups might get their picture taken outside, but they certainly don’t go on any rough terrain. 

Have you ever broken any teaware on a hike? (You knew that question was coming, right?) 

Nicole reveals:

• On a hike? No, to my complete surprise; however, getting it back in the car (or out of it), washing it in the sink, or playing around in my own yard. Maybe in those situations I’m less careful. Bone china is remarkably resilient. It will bounce off logs and leafy ground with never a scratch. The two factors that seem to make it most vulnerable: if it has even the tiniest chip or crack, or if it contacts something manmade.  

On the Trail with Tea

What reactions do you get when other hikers run across you drinking tea out of porcelain cups or taking art photos of teaware on the trail?  

Nicole, amused, replies:

• I love this question! Its pretty humorous- some carefully avoid the eccentric lady, and keep their children close. Then there are the intensely curious, trying to hide it. Others are friendly and openly amused. On a hike in Hawaii, one hiker asked if she could take a picture of my tea setup! 

What’s your favorite and least favorite part of hiking with teaware? 

Nicole thoughtfully shares:

• So this is a paradox. Incorporating a somewhat formal tea setting into a hike can make me fully present; more aware of my surroundings. That’s my favorite part. But sometimes the desire to capture and share the tea session is, also, distracting. I guess you could say that my favorite part is slowing down to notice the beautiful details. My least favorite is when the desire to be “Insta worthy” makes actually perfect details seem somehow “less than.”  

If you could give tea lovers one piece of advice for taking a good outdoor tea shot, what would that be? 

Nicole shares some advice:

• Find the sunlight. You [Traci @teainfusiast] started the hashtag #SunShiningInMyTea and I love that! Tea is quite luminous, and contains a surprising spectrum of colors. If I could only give one piece of advice, it would be to shoot from an angle where the sunlight hits the tea like a prism.  

Reflecting on the Journey

How has the experience of these five years of the art project consciously taking and photographing tea on the trail been the same and different from what you expected? 

Nicole reflects:

• Nature is healing, that’s still the same. My overall message- that one should use the good china, not leave it on the shelf- has only gotten stronger.  [Traci can’t help but adding “Absolutely” to these sentiments!]
• I thought I knew tea at the beginning, which is laughable! You could say that back then, I thought I knew more than I know now! Learning about the history of porcelain, that’s been a unexpected pleasure. I must say I wasn’t quite expecting to acquire so many wicker baskets and vintage linens. I’m not, by nature, a collector of things.  
• The generosity of the tea community has been a delightful surprise. And, to be frank, I started this with more of a focus on portraying the experience, rather than personally experiencing it. So now the journalistic part of what I do has become more authentic… which is more challenging, but overall more rewarding.  

What surprised you about the @tea_on_the_trail Instagram or Tea on the Trail Facebook accounts that you run? 

Nicole responds:

• The mysterious algorithm, I must say. The advice about how to work it gets outdated pretty fast. Eventually, I gave up on the algorithm and just starting posting “really me.” This results in posting more personal thoughts than I expected to. 

Selling the Art Work

I note that your photography website sell prints and mugs of some of your beautiful tea on the trail art shots. Do you know who your customers tend to be–for example, are they teahouses, tea professionals, individual tea lovers, or a mix? 

Nicole shares:

• Not so much, although I am quite curious! Sometimes, with my (non-tea) art photography, family or myself notice my work in commercial applications. So, my dream, sort of, has been to come upon my prints hanging in a teahouse. It’s a pretty good excuse to visit every teahouse possible. 

Final Thoughts

If you are a tea lover and aren’t already following Tea on the Trail on Instagram and/or Facebook, I heartily recommend you do! Her photos and thoughts on each session artfully capture the essence of a special tea time. They convey the essence of nature, the changing seasons, and the moods that inspire her choice of tea and teaware for each session. Her tasting notes and reflections on that session’s hike are really helpful and delightful, too! Nicole’s post have inspired me to be braver and think more creatively about what I pack and how I take photos during my own tea walks! (You can read about one extended experience I had with tea in nature in my “Tea in the Canyon” post.)

The post Tea as Art on the Trail appeared first on Tea Infusiast.

The Horror of Coffee-Maker Tea

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. Every time. 

Looking for Better Hotel-Room Tea

Older, wiser, and more committed to avoiding coffee-water tea, I decided to purchase a portable electric kettle. I was looking for a travel kettle that would fit easily into my suitcase or backpack and could plug into a standard US (and Canadian) electrical outlet. 

I ruled out portable electric kettles in which the boiling water comes into contact with plastic or any material besides food-grade stainless steel. Likewise, I avoided the cute collapsible (AKA “foldable”) ones that are shaped similarly to stovetop kettles. Call me paranoid, but I can practically burn myself simply by placing the words “collapsible” and “kettle” side-by-side!

Overview of balbali Portable Electric Kettle

I bought (and paid full price for–this review is NOT sponsored) a “balbali portable electric kettle for travel,” personal size (AKA mini kettle), that can heat up to 350 ml of water. That’s just under 12 ounces. It’s about the size of many larger commuter mugs. My tea friend, La’Shell from Books by the Cup, has written a review of a different portable tea kettle. I’ll link to her post at the bottom of this one so you can compare some models (and different approaches to traveling with tea).

I’ve used this kettle for many trips over the last eight months, including every day (usually multiple times a day) during a three-week work trip. [October 2025 update: I’ve used this kettle on and off for about 2.5 years now. I travelled with it just last week. It still works great!]

Note: Always follow the manufacturer’s operating and safety directions! Models and advice may change.

Things I Appreciate about the Portable Electric Kettle

I love the following things about the portable mini kettle.

• Color– It comes in four different colors on Amazon. I chose, and love, the sunny yellow
• Size– The portable kettle is compact and slides easily into my suitcase or backpack. You can fill it up to 350 ml (roughly 12 ounces) of water. That’s a great size for my tea sessions, gongfu or western-style.
• Setup– The kettle’s compact size gives it a small footprint. The power cord detaches for easy disconnect when pouring, filling, or packing.
• Boil Time – Filled to the maximum pour line of 350 ml with water out of a faucet about 65F, the kettle boils in about 5 minutes and 30 seconds. (It boils faster if filled slightly less.)
• Pour – Inside, the portable kettle has rounded edges. To my surprise and relief, it pours relatively cleanly. It’s not like the pour of a gooseneck kettle (of course!), but it doesn’t drip and run down the sides.
• Safety – It has an auto shut off that activates when the water level gets too low or the kettle boils dry. Also, this model boils with the lid on (which feels safer to me than models that require boiling without a lid), but it does require remembering to open the safety valve on the top before boiling. The exterior of the kettle remains cool to the touch even when the water has boiled.
• Cleaning– It was easy to empty, and dry the smooth, food-grade stainless steel interior once unplugged and cooled. The outside is also easy to wipe down.

Finally, here is something that might be a pro or a con of this portable electric kettle–depending on your perspective. Once you turn this kettle on, if you leave it plugged in, it will automatically reheat the water when it cools until the kettle becomes dry. 

Notes of Caution/Awareness

Here are a few things about this small electric portable kettle (or maybe portable kettles in general) that aren’t ideal and/or that you should be aware of.

• Water temperature: This model doesn’t allow you to set a temperature like many full-size electric kettles do. In this respect, it’s more like a stovetop kettle. Also, when full and brought to a boil, I wait about 30 seconds to open it. When I do, the water temperature is about 195F. I ran this experiment again, this time with about 30 ml less water than the full line. The temperature 30 seconds after it came to a boil was 201F. So, you may want to take these temperatures into account when selecting which teas to steep or deciding how high to fill the kettle.
• Safety: You need to remember to open the safety valve on the top to boil it (but the lid does have a printed reminder to do so). To pour the hot water, it’s necessary to unscrew the top. So, it’s wise to exercise caution. Also, while this kettle does list a “boil-dry safety protection,” if the water in the kettle has cooled, it will turn back on until it’s dry or unplugged.
• Electrical cord: For safety reasons, the electrical cord is relatively short and detachable. (I think this is standard for electrical items that get hot.) The cord length has never been a problem for me in a hotel. The cord is the same length as most coffee maker cords I have seen. But, if you are trying to use it in a place that isn’t a hotel or doesn’t have plugs above a kitchen counter, this could be a challenge. 
• Size: While 350 ml is a perfect personal size for me, if you are looking to serve tea for multiple people, you may have to refill the kettle to get enough water. I’ve done gongfu cha for 2 or 3 people with it, and refilled in between some infusions with no trouble. If you want to have 2 or 3 people enjoy a big mug of western style tea at the same time, you will need a bigger kettle.

Approaches to Traveling with Tea

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.

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. (If using tea for mindfulness and grounding appeals to you, you might be interested in my Winter Rest Kit for Tea Lovers.)

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.

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.

Bottom Line and Another Portable Electric Kettle Review

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!

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