I recently made a rather large tea purchase, I bought a $170 water boiler. This may sound like a lot of money, but I am completely in love with the purchase. I bought a Zojirushi CV-DSC40 VE Hybrid Water Boiler. Let me tell you why it is awesome:
My Tea Brewing system:
– All water used for tea is treated with bamboo charcoal. I simply pour water into a gallon pitcher with several pieces of bamboo charcoal in it. Once my water boiler is empty, the bamboo charcoal water is then poured into the Zojirushi.
- The Zojirushi heats the water to boiling then boils it for 4 minutes straight, this is called the “de-chlorinization phase.”
-The water is then kept at 195 degrees (per my setting) all day until I am finished with it. Once I am done for the day, I switch the machine into energy saving mode which vacuum seals the canister and keeps the water hot for hours, if pressed after boiling, the water will be 200F 2 hours later, 190F 4 hours later, and 180F 6 hours later. So I never waste energy when I’m not drinking tea.
- Before bed, I press the 8H timer button and it boils the water and has it ready for me at 195F by the time I wake up.
Lets talk about the pros and cons of this water boiler/warmer:
Pros:
– 3 temperature modes 175, 195, and 208.
- Timer function allows for the water to be ready when you wake up.
- Energy saving vacuum feature keeps water warm nearly all day using no power at all.
- The heating element is internal to prevent scaling.
- The spout never drips after dispensing, it cleanly stops dispensing about 1 second after you take your finger off of the dispense button.
- Capacity, this machine holds 4 liters of water. That is enough to fill approximately 22.5 gaiwans (holding 0.75 cups each), that is a lot of tea, and keeps me going all day!
Cons:
- It takes approximately 37 minutes to complete a boil cycle from cold water, but the timer makes up for this.
- The price, at $170, this machine is not for everyone.
If you consider yourself a serious tea drinker and you drink tea throughout the day, this machine is right for you. Even if you just drink tea after work, this machine will considerably enhance your tea experiences, you will find that by having access to hot water at any time you will be brewing more and more tea. And not just tea, I use it for my french press coffee, my oatmeal, I use it to wet cleaning rags (nothing cleans better than boiling water) I use it when I have junk stuck to cooking pans, the hot water loosens it right up. the possibilities are endless. the tea is endless. the temperatures are spot on – I keep mine at 195 thoughout the day and I use that temperature to brew a myriad of tea.
Click here to check the product out.
We’ve all said it, “chai tea” — the greatest redundancy in the world of tea. In the Hindi language, “chai” means “tea”, so saying “chai tea” is the same as saying “tea tea.” Just think about that the next time you are in a coffeeshop and hear someone order a “chai tea latte” — whatever that is. Granted the popularized form of “chai tea” in America is syrup or powder based anyway – so calling what most drink in America “masala chai” would be a bastardization. Masala refers to a mixture of spices; in masala chai, usually cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, star anise, and black pepper. Thus “masala chai” means “spice tea.” While on the subject of masala chai, here are some guidelines to make great masala chai from loose leaf:
I really want one of these and hope to get one soon. I like having a hand-held pitcher for gong fu, but this would come in handy for tea throughout the day.
I bought a similar boiler from Fujitronic and loved it for the first year or more of use. The first days were filled with finding new uses for the novelty of instantly-available boiling water: Hey kids, you want oatmeal don’t you! Hey, we can do Jello! Cup-o-noodles in an instant! And on and on.
We evenutally gave it away though for two reasons: First, it wasn’t convenient to change the temperature of the water between steeps, say when your leaves are fading and need hotter water. Second, although we used Britta filtered local water (which is very good mountain water) over time we noticed tiny sharp white crystals building inside the dispenser and these made their way into our tea, even with regular cleaning with vinegar.
Still, these are fabulous appliances!
I’ve thought about buying a sterling silver kettle for the stovetop. I currently have a variable-temp electric kettle. The silver costs a lot but worse than that is how demanding it is for heating water. I’d have to watch the water carefully every time I make tea to discern how big the bubbles are and such. Besides that, I’d have to heat the silver more slowly than another material because it’s delicate. So I might not make the switch and just keep the rest of my teaware silver.
I have one of those both in my home and in my college dorm. I couldn’t live without it – it’s darn handy for just about anything I need hot water for!
Love to hear the different methods of brewing our teas. I’m barbaric at times when I just have to have a fast glass… water in cup, microwave and enjoy!
I have a sterling tea kettle and love it!