Drinking Tea Outside

As days are getting warmer again there are more opportunities to pack some tea, hot water and a Gaiwan and go outside.

Where I live I can easily go to some parks, into the dunes and the sea. Usually I boil water at home and take it in one or two thermos. Then I take one of my travel sets and select one or two teas that my wife and I would like to drink. 

I have 3 travel sets. One is pretty large and includes a bamboo tea table, Gaiwan and cups that are all packed in a cotton bag. This is a nice one when we just want to go to one spot and chill or we’re meeting others.

The other one consists  of a porcelain Gaiwan and 3 cups in a little case which also included a glass pitcher. I’m quite surprised how sturdy these are despite the fact that the glass pitcher recently broke. This little set I also take on travels and it’s great. 

Recently I came across another set which is made out of titanium and hence very light. It’s basically a pitcher with a sieve inside that can be taken out with the tea. Since we like to go hiking I thought that this would be a welcome lighter replacement for the porcelain set. So I bought it.

Today was the second time I took it and my experience is a bit mixed. First of all the brewing is not the same. I miss a bit the gesture of emptying the Gaiwan into the pitcher or the cups. Removing the filter with the leaves feels more like a Western style brewing. While this is still  acceptable and the tea tastes good, the second thing is a real issue: the titanium cups do not offer a pleasant drinking experience! Luckily I had 2 porcelain cups with me and we could switch to these. It made it again clear to me what an important role the cups play when drinking tea. The feel, the taste while drinking and the smell of the warm empty cup - they are all not present in these titanium ones. So, I guess I still need to carry a slightly heavier backpack to bring some real cups.