Does anyone know of a good variable-temperature tea (or coffee)
warmer? I'm mostly interested in something like an electric thermos
with digital controls.

I do a lot of desk work. I like to brew a pot of tea (4-5 cups), pour
it into a thermos, and sip it while working. The main problem with
this is keeping the tea the right temperature -- both in the thermos
and in the cup.

Since the thermos loses heat, I usually fill it with tea that is way
too hot to drink. Then I have to let the cup cool a bit, but not too
much. Sometimes I get distracted and it gets too cool, so I add a
little to warm it up. Back and forth. And I have burned my tongue once
or twice.

I've tried a couple of the little cup warmers. They work fairly well,
but not great. None have temperature controls and most are
under-powered. Some reviewers suggest that part of the problem is that
safety laws limit the power because of burns and fire hazard and idiot
consumers.

Several manufacturers make Electric Thermal Pots. The reviews say they
can be used to dispense coffee or tea at a party. Most of them are
bigger than I need for desktop use, both in volume and footprint. It's
not clear how fine the temperature control is.

This one by Panasonic is one of the smaller one at 2.2 quarts. It says
it has 4 keep warm settings, but doesn't say what the temperatures
are.

http://tinyurl.com/mp43bq

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-NC-E...1920576&sr=8-1

Does anyone have any experience using something like this to keep a
pot of tea warm?



I have a Pino Digital Kettle. It's fantastic for heating water. It has
a digital setting that will hold the water at any temperature from
140-204 degrees.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...dp_product_img

I use it all the time to heat the water, but have never used it for
the tea itself. The pot is stainless steel. Is there any downside to
keeping hot tea in a stainless steel pot for a few hours?

If not, I'll just buy another one and use that.

On Sep 2, 3:59*pm, Prof Wonmug > wrote:
> Does anyone know of a good variable-temperature tea (or coffee)
> warmer? I'm mostly interested in something like an electric thermos
> with digital controls.
>
> I do a lot of desk work. I like to brew a pot of tea (4-5 cups), pour
> it into a thermos, and sip it while working. The main problem with
> this is keeping the tea the right temperature -- both in the thermos
> and in the cup.
>
> Since the thermos loses heat, I usually fill it with tea that is way
> too hot to drink. Then I have to let the cup cool a bit, but not too
> much. Sometimes I get distracted and it gets too cool, so I add a
> little to warm it up. Back and forth. And I have burned my tongue once
> or twice.
>
> I've tried a couple of the little cup warmers. They work fairly well,
> but not great. None have temperature controls and most are
> under-powered. Some reviewers suggest that part of the problem is that
> safety laws limit the power because of burns and fire hazard and idiot
> consumers.
>
> Several manufacturers make Electric Thermal Pots. The reviews say they
> can be used to dispense coffee or tea at a party. Most of them are
> bigger than I need for desktop use, both in volume and footprint. It's
> not clear how fine the temperature control is.
>
> This one by Panasonic is one of the smaller one at 2.2 quarts. It says
> it has 4 keep warm settings, but doesn't say what the temperatures
> are.
>
> http://tinyurl.com/mp43bq
>
> http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-NC-E...ric-Thermo/dp/...
>
> Does anyone have any experience using something like this to keep a
> pot of tea warm?
>
> I have a Pino Digital Kettle. It's fantastic for heating water. It has
> a digital setting that will hold the water at any temperature from
> 140-204 degrees.
>
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...dp_product_img
>
> I use it all the time to heat the water, but have never used it for
> the tea itself. The pot is stainless steel. Is there any downside to
> keeping hot tea in a stainless steel pot for a few hours?
>
> If not, I'll just buy another one and use that.

A really good vacuum glass thermos may hold it at the temp you want. I
have one that I can put hot liquid in, go out for a day in near zero
degree F temps. crack it open and have it be within a few degrees of
what went in. I'm not aware of any with specific temp controls. The
only downside to brewing in the one you have is cleanup and buildup,
but if that is OK with you go that route.

But... what I would suggest is maybe something like a Zojirushi
electric tea kettle. It has multiple temp settings and a handy
dispenser system perfect for offices and you can just brew as needed.

- Dominic

On Wed, 2 Sep 2009 17:58:00 -0700 (PDT), "Dominic T."
> wrote:

>On Sep 2, 3:59*pm, Prof Wonmug > wrote:
>> Does anyone know of a good variable-temperature tea (or coffee)
>> warmer? I'm mostly interested in something like an electric thermos
>> with digital controls.
>>
>> I do a lot of desk work. I like to brew a pot of tea (4-5 cups), pour
>> it into a thermos, and sip it while working. The main problem with
>> this is keeping the tea the right temperature -- both in the thermos
>> and in the cup.
>>
>> Since the thermos loses heat, I usually fill it with tea that is way
>> too hot to drink. Then I have to let the cup cool a bit, but not too
>> much. Sometimes I get distracted and it gets too cool, so I add a
>> little to warm it up. Back and forth. And I have burned my tongue once
>> or twice.
>>
>> I've tried a couple of the little cup warmers. They work fairly well,
>> but not great. None have temperature controls and most are
>> under-powered. Some reviewers suggest that part of the problem is that
>> safety laws limit the power because of burns and fire hazard and idiot
>> consumers.
>>
>> Several manufacturers make Electric Thermal Pots. The reviews say they
>> can be used to dispense coffee or tea at a party. Most of them are
>> bigger than I need for desktop use, both in volume and footprint. It's
>> not clear how fine the temperature control is.
>>
>> This one by Panasonic is one of the smaller one at 2.2 quarts. It says
>> it has 4 keep warm settings, but doesn't say what the temperatures
>> are.
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/mp43bq
>>
>> http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-NC-E...ric-Thermo/dp/...
>>
>> Does anyone have any experience using something like this to keep a
>> pot of tea warm?
>>
>> I have a Pino Digital Kettle. It's fantastic for heating water. It has
>> a digital setting that will hold the water at any temperature from
>> 140-204 degrees.
>>
>> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...dp_product_img
>>
>> I use it all the time to heat the water, but have never used it for
>> the tea itself. The pot is stainless steel. Is there any downside to
>> keeping hot tea in a stainless steel pot for a few hours?
>>
>> If not, I'll just buy another one and use that.
>
>A really good vacuum glass thermos may hold it at the temp you want. I
>have one that I can put hot liquid in, go out for a day in near zero
>degree F temps. crack it open and have it be within a few degrees of
>what went in.

I have two glass thermoses -- both made by Thermos. They're pretty
good, but not quite as good as what you describe.

>I'm not aware of any with specific temp controls. The
>only downside to brewing in the one you have is cleanup and buildup,
>but if that is OK with you go that route.

Will there be build-up on stainless steel? If it's quality stainless,
shouldn't is be, well, stainless? ;-)

I think I'll try a few pots with the Pino and see what happens.

>But... what I would suggest is maybe something like a Zojirushi
>electric tea kettle. It has multiple temp settings and a handy
>dispenser system perfect for offices and you can just brew as needed.

Do you mean something like this?

http://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-3-0-...1958009&sr=8-4

If only it had variable temperature control and came in a smaller
version.

On 2009-09-03, Prof Wonmug > wrote:

> Do you mean something like this?
>
> http://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-3-0-...1958009&sr=8-4
>
> If only it had variable temperature control and came in a smaller
> version.

You mean like:
http://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-CD-F...959247&sr=8-28
http://www.amazon.com/TIGER-PDHB22U-...1959413&sr=1-1

I think ~ 2.2 L is the smallest most of these things come in.

You can usually find ones that will dispense water at 3 or 4 different
temperatures - usually 208, 195, sometimes 185, and 140.

--
Multi-lingual forum for Chinese and Japanese tea and teawa
http://teadrunk.org/

On Thu, 3 Sep 2009 06:33:14 +0000 (UTC), Will Yardley
> wrote:

>On 2009-09-03, Prof Wonmug > wrote:
>
>> Do you mean something like this?
>>
>> http://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-3-0-...1958009&sr=8-4
>>
>> If only it had variable temperature control and came in a smaller
>> version.
>
>You mean like:
>http://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-CD-F...959247&sr=8-28
>http://www.amazon.com/TIGER-PDHB22U-...1959413&sr=1-1
>
>I think ~ 2.2 L is the smallest most of these things come in.
>
>You can usually find ones that will dispense water at 3 or 4 different
>temperatures - usually 208, 195, sometimes 185, and 140.

That was I found as well.

I'm going to try using my Pino for a few pots and see what happens.

On Sep 3, 4:29*am, Prof Wonmug > wrote:
> On Thu, 3 Sep 2009 06:33:14 +0000 (UTC), Will Yardley
>
>
>
> > wrote:
> >On 2009-09-03, Prof Wonmug > wrote:
>
> >> Do you mean something like this?
>
> >>http://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-3-0-...ot-Boiler/dp/B....
>
> >> If only it had variable temperature control and came in a smaller
> >> version.
>
> >You mean like:
> >http://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-CD-F...-Dispensing/dp...
> >http://www.amazon.com/TIGER-PDHB22U-...TRIC/dp/B000GB...
>
> >I think ~ 2.2 L is the smallest most of these things come in.
>
> >You can usually find ones that will dispense water at 3 or 4 different
> >temperatures - usually 208, 195, sometimes 185, and 140.
>
> That was I found as well.
>
> I'm going to try using my Pino for a few pots and see what happens.

The tea will eventually stain just about anything. Just like a
stainless steel coffee pot shows stains/buildup over time, so will the
Pino. Obviously it will be worse/more noticeable if you drink darker
teas.

Sadly the glass thermos I have is really old, it doesn't have a brand
or really any markings on it. The thing is amazing, but I have to
believe there are modern equivalents... they'd probably be specialty
and not a standard consumer/walmart grade thermos.

As for the Zojirushi, I don't have access to Amazon or Zojirushi's
site right now but they do make a few smaller units that have the
variable temp control and the dispenser style. If I get time I'll try
to dig up a link later.

- Dominic

"Prof Wonmug" > wrote in message
...
> Does anyone know of a good variable-temperature tea (or coffee)
> warmer? I'm mostly interested in something like an electric thermos
> with digital controls.
>
> I do a lot of desk work. I like to brew a pot of tea (4-5 cups), pour
> it into a thermos, and sip it while working. The main problem with
> this is keeping the tea the right temperature -- both in the thermos
> and in the cup.
>
> Since the thermos loses heat, I usually fill it with tea that is way
> too hot to drink. Then I have to let the cup cool a bit, but not too
> much. Sometimes I get distracted and it gets too cool, so I add a
> little to warm it up. Back and forth. And I have burned my tongue once
> or twice.
>
> I've tried a couple of the little cup warmers. They work fairly well,
> but not great. None have temperature controls and most are
> under-powered. Some reviewers suggest that part of the problem is that
> safety laws limit the power because of burns and fire hazard and idiot
> consumers.
>
> Several manufacturers make Electric Thermal Pots. The reviews say they
> can be used to dispense coffee or tea at a party. Most of them are
> bigger than I need for desktop use, both in volume and footprint. It's
> not clear how fine the temperature control is.
>
> This one by Panasonic is one of the smaller one at 2.2 quarts. It says
> it has 4 keep warm settings, but doesn't say what the temperatures
> are.
>
> http://tinyurl.com/mp43bq
>
> http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-NC-E...1920576&sr=8-1
>
> Does anyone have any experience using something like this to keep a
> pot of tea warm?
>
>
>
> I have a Pino Digital Kettle. It's fantastic for heating water. It has
> a digital setting that will hold the water at any temperature from
> 140-204 degrees.
>
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...dp_product_img
>
> I use it all the time to heat the water, but have never used it for
> the tea itself. The pot is stainless steel. Is there any downside to
> keeping hot tea in a stainless steel pot for a few hours?
>
> If not, I'll just buy another one and use that.

>>You might want to check on some outdoors outfitting sites such as Cabela's
>>for the vacuum bottles that they sell. Nissan makes some that keep liquids
>>so reliably warm that I have had to allow coffee/tea to cool slightly
>>before filling the bottle. The better ones will use a stainless steel
>>liner rather than glass and will have a pour through lid so that the
>>contents of the bottle stay warm. I have a 2.2 liter Nissan that has kept
>>liquids warm for 6-8 hours hunting in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
>>Stuff was close to the desired temperature when I got back to my truck no
>>matter the weather. Should work perfectly indoors. Good luck in your
>>quest.