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.

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).

Tea Code Cups

I’ve never liked the little strings that come attached to bagged tea. I appreciate that they make it easy to handle the bag, but more often than not the string slides down into the hot tea as it steeps and needs to be fished out – defeating the purpose of having a string in the first place. The reason for the slide is that the string is hard to secure. The design of these Tea Code Cups neatly solves that problem and makes string tea bags a lot more convenient to use. The cups have what looks like a button on their sides that you can wrap the tea bag string around to hold it in place. The sides of the cups, which come in various sizes, are double walled so they don’t get too hot to handle when you are drinking (or trying to remove the tea bag string). A spoon will work well for fishing out a tea bag, but this type of cup could be a nice addition to the collection of, say, a Lipton lover who wants to stick with the string-ed tea bag no matter what.

There is a cute little animation showing how these cups work here, although if you end up ordering some, I think you’ll find them to be pretty self explanatory.

Shark Tea Infuser

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I’ve seen function and stylish tea infusers, but this is one that is both – and clever, t boot! The Sharky Tea Infuser is a creation of Argentinian designer Pablo Matteoda. The lightweight infuser has an air pocket in the top of the fin to keep it upright and afloat in your tea, while the perforated base (removable, for easy filling) lets your tea infuse into your cup. Rooibos – or another herbal red tea – is a good choice for this infuser simply because it fits the look well.

Unfortunately, this lovely piece of design is still just a concept for now. It will be great for Jaws fans when it is released, though!