Hello all!
If you’ve kept up with us, you know I moved to the South but I absolutely loathe sweet tea. However, I’ve been trying to stop drinking so much pop, so I’ve discovered that I actually like loose leaf teas. I cold brew them for scorching hot days, but I’ve been drinking hot teas a lot more now that it’s gotten chilly.
The thing is, with loose leaf teas, you need something to steep the leaves in since they’re not bagged. A tea ball is the easiest thing to use, but you don’t get the quality, flavor, and full benefits if the leaves aren’t able to float freely while steeping. The whole point of drinking these teas, for me, is to get the health benefits.
So, while I do use tea infusers for convenience when I’m in a hurry, I like to use infuser cups. These are cups that have an infuser basket that fits inside, and a lid, which allows the tea to float freely while steeping. Simply remove the infuser basket, and your cup is ready to drink!
But, I drink a lot of Oolongs, which can be steeped multiple times, and I often drink more than one cup at a time. So, I’ve been looking at teapots to find something convenient; then I got the opportunity to try out a 34 ounce (1 liter) French Coffee press from Dream World. Jerry and I have both wanted one of these for quite some time, and I thought- hmmm… maybe this will work for my loose leaf teas, too!
One of the problems I’ve had with almost any kind of brewing or steeping method is pieces of leaves remaining in my tea. This is also why we’ve been so apprehensive and have waited to get a French press for coffee. However, not only does the CP Coffee Press have heat-resistant borosilicate glass, but it actually has a double screen system.
The traditional primary screen meets the glass wall more evenly and tightly, while the secondary screen helps filter out even the smallest particles. I was also impressed with the packaging- it arrived in perfect condition.
Anyway, after washing everything in hot, soapy water, I added a few tablespoons of loose Oolong tea leaves, then filled it with boiling water. I steeped for about five minutes, as I normally would, and voila! I pressed down the plunger, and poured myself a wonderful cup of tea- with no particles or leaves!
As the tea will continue to steep a bit in the bottom of the press, the last cup is stronger than the first cup. So, I’m going to have to experiment a bit and adjust the amount of leaves I use, as well as the steep time, if I want to make more tea with the same leaves. Since I didn’t re-steep them this time, I simply dumped the leaves into a pitcher, filled it with water, then stashed it in the fridge, and in the morning I’ll have some cold-brewed Oolong.
I’d have to say I’m quite impressed with the quality of this coffee press, as well as the ease of use. Since there’s just two of use, and we don’t usually drink more than one cup of coffee at a time, this will come in very handy. Plus, since I know I can use it for my tea, too, we’ll get plenty of use out of it- definitely recommended!
Get yours at Amazon!
