Many of us have a storied love affair with tea- a tale of how tea waltzed into our lives and became a permanent fixture. One of the most important events in my love affair with tea is the discovery of the infuser mug, an unassuming apparatus that allowed me to perpetuate my love affair in one of the most banal of places- the office.
Indeed for many of us, the office is where we spend the bulk of our working hours. It may not always be pleasant- yes I have a penchant for understatement- but we can always bring some comfort food and drinks to make the day more bearable.
Earlier, I have written a couple of articles on having tea in the office and how to get the most of it because there are many tea addicts who would like to enjoy tea in the office but are unwilling to settle for a mere tea bag.
For many years, the infuser mug is my go-to solution for brewing loose leaf tea in the office and if not for the fact that I’m in the business of selling tea- i.e. it’s acceptable for me to have a tea tray next to my working desk- it would probably continue to be one of my most utilized tea ware.
Let’s examine the allure of the infuser mug:
A standalone solution to brewing and drinking tea
A typical Fujian gongfu tea setup has a Yixing pot or a gaiwan, a fairness cup, 4-6 drinking small drinking cups, perhaps a tea tray and a chadao liuhezu.
The infuser mug is the antithesis of that.
A typical infuser mug has a cup, a filter and a lid.
Put the leaves in the filter, set it in a cup, add hot water and cover the cup with the lid. Once you’re done steeping, remove the filter and set it on the lid, then drink directly from the cup.
A brewing and drinking utensil, in one package, perfect for the claustrophobia inducing work cubicle that most of us lesser mortals have.
Doesn’t clutter up your workspace and once you’re done, you can tuck it nicely on your shelf.
Easy to Clean
And unlike a tea pot for example, you can easily dump the leaves into the garbage bin without digging into the pot with your well-manicured fingers. Not the most elegant thing to do, especially in the office with scores of colleagues watching.
Limitations of the infuser mug
However as wonderful as this simple invention is, it’s not without its limitations.
Firstly there is limited space for the tea leaves to unfurl. One of the criteria we outlined for selecting a gaiwan is space for the leaves to unfurl. When constricted, the taste released is restricted as well. This is one of the reasons we disdain tea balls and their brethren.
Secondly, the vessel is big you seldom see an infuser mug with less than 250cc. As we discussed previously, when it comes to brewing vessels, it’s not the case of the bigger the better.
Drinking tea that has cooled down is frowned upon by Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners (see here for more details) and hence with a big vessel, the proclivity of allowing the tea to cool is higher.
Putting it all together
In my opinion, the infuser mug is best suited for green tea, white tea and yellow tea.
The photo shows the contrast between the size of a Huangshan Maofeng leaf and a Huang Jin Gui (a Minnan Oolong) leaf.
The former can easily unfurl completely in an infuser mug while the latter might not.
Secondly, green, white and yellow teas tend to be more refreshing as opposed to the more intense flavors of oolong, black and dark teas.
It is like chrysanthemum tea versus coffee, you can easily gulp the former (provided it’s not too hot) but you can’t readily gulp down coffee.
Hence even if you have a big mug of Xihu Longjing for example, you can drink it quickly compared with a cup of Wuyi Shuixian and not allow it to cool down. Especially since being in the office means you might be summoned by your boss anytime and run the risk of letting your tea grow cold.
Discover the joy of drinking tea in the office, steal a moment of leisure.
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