Tea for 2 Set

This Tea for 2 Set is a little silly, but extremely cute. It’s a bunny-topped teapot sitting atop two matching teacups. The bunny lid is actually a tea steeper, so there is some function to the form here.  That said, I’m not going to trade in my regular strainers or teapots for this set. This is primarily because this set is a bit small for me. I actually think that this would make a great gift for a child, given the bunny peeking out of the top. It’s a chance to enjoy (i.e. be exposed to) some more interesting, loose-leaf teas and still have a whimsical tea party with mom, dad, grandma, or an imaginary friend.

Espresso to go: Twist Espresso Maker

The biggest drawback of espresso is that you need a big and/or heavy machine to produce it. This is for good reason, since it takes a lot of power to force heat and force the water through the grounds to pull a good shot. At least, you needed a big machine until recently. This year, mypressi introduced the TWIST, a hand-held, portable espresso maker.

The Twist uses both fresh coffee grounds and ESE pods and pulls perfect shots of espresso at the touch of a button. It looks something like a baseball at the end of an ice cream scoop handle – but more stylish – and pumps out 135PSI per shot. The first models should be out this fall sometime and should retail for about $129.

You can see a video of it in action here:

Copco SnapTea Infuser

If you’re a tea drinker, you might start to realize that it’s hard to walk by a new tea infuser in a store without at least taking a look at it, if not taking it home. Copco SnapTea Infuser caught my eye right away, thanks to its bold coloring, but impressed me with its design once I had picked it up. This infuser is designed to sit on top of a cup and brew one serving, rather than being used to steep a whole pot of tea. It looks a bit like a flower (or a scifi flower pod) when it is closed, but the base snaps apart to form a wide ledge that sits on the rim of a mug or cup while your tea steeps. Once your tea is done, the infuser closes to form a handy drip catcher. The only downside is that the infuser isn’t really designed to stand up on its own, so you’ll still have to find somewhere to set it down to avoid getting tea on your desk, even with the drip catcher in place, unless you want to take it to a sink soon after brewing. For a fun-looking tea accessory, I wouldn’t mind this one minor flaw – especially since the drip catcher will keep it from dripping on the way to the kitchen sink.

Coffee & Tea Glass Filter Straws

Coffee & Tea Glass Filter Straws are inventive devices that make it easy to brew a single cup of tea or coffee at a time – no special equipment required. To brew, pour hot or boiling water into a large cup with fresh coffee grounds or your favorite tea leaves. Once the mixture steeps, sip up the hot liquid through the straw. Each has a special filter on the end to strain out the leaves/grounds on the way to your mouth.

The Tea Straw has a glass strainer attached to a hand crafted glass straw, while the Coffee Straw has a mini French Press filter attached to a hand crafted glass straw. The French press filter is great for coffee, but it works well for tea, too. The tea strainer might be a little large for coffee grounds, however. Each one comes with a carrying tube to protect the straws on your way back and forth to the office (or any other destination where you might need to grab a cuppa).

Starbucks revamps pastry menu

You might have noticed a change in the pastry case at your local Starbucks over the past few weeks. In an effort to cut costs while increasing overall quality, Starbucks has completely changed the way that they do their pastries. Previously, Starbucks used a variety of regional bakeries to stock their stores. This meant that you could find different types of pastries in different areas, according to what was popular there, and that the ingredients that went into the items varied widely.

Starting today, Starbucks is using fewer bakeries, each of which will produce and ship more items. This consolidation also allowed Starbucks to tinker with its recipes and refocus on slightly healthier options with all natural ingredients. They cut out corn syrup from their Marshmallow Dream Bars, eliminated the artificial flavorings from berry muffins and real egg whites are making an appearance in a heart-healthy breakfast sandwich. Starbucks says that its new options have “15 percent fewer calories, 5 percent less fat and 8 percent less saturated fat” than previous items.

Time Out Chicago has done a taste test of the newest items on the menu, if you want to see how they stack up. Not all of these items may be available in your region, but some are nationwide.