I was looking for a cup warmer, and the only ones I could find was USB ones. Most of them had lousy reviews, seems they simply don't keep the tea warm. One had no reviews, but it was claimed distinctly that it kept a cup at 50-60 degrees C. So I bought it. But it seems very ineffective.
(Maybe it's better with a steel mug, but the only one I have is too large for the plate.)
Has anybody tried a USB cup warmer which was effective? Or does USB simply not have enough power, and the whole biz is a semi-scam?
Alternatively, does anybody know a good cup-warmer of another kind? (Preferably for sale in Europe/UK.)
Update: Philocalist said...
Not too sure why you would want a cup holder? Stewed tea, reheated coffee? Yeuch!!! :-)
Soup might be an option I guess?
Never used one, but I'm guesssing that a steel mug might be a liability on a heating device ... even 'just' 60 degrees is gonna feel very hot on your lips, no?
Perhaps an insulated mug would be a better choice ... would keep things hotter without stewing them?
Eolake said...
A friend gave me a steel insulated mug of the camping kind. It didn't seem to work very well though. Maybe there are better kinds.
I don't want the tea/coffee stewing, of course, I just want to slow down the cooling process enough that it's hot for the 10 minutes it takes me to drink a cup.
I used to have a small tea-light holder which worked well, but it broke recently. (A tea light is the stubby candles in small silver cups, used under tea pots.)
Update: I've ordered a Thermos Travel Mug. Judging from reviews, it seems to be much more efficient than the one I have.
Now, what to do about my cappuccinos? They are made into a small cup, they are only just hot enough, and if I pour them into a thermos mug, all the heat will be gone in a moment.
Not too sure why you would want a cup holder? Stewed tea, reheated coffee? Yeuch!!! :-)
ReplyDeleteSoup might be an option I guess?
Never used one, but I'm guesssing that a steel mug might be a liability on a heating device ... even 'just' 60 degrees is gonna feel very hot on your lips, no?
Perhaps an insulated mug would be a better choice ... would keep things hotter without stewing them?
A friend gave me a steel insulated mug. It didn't seem to work very well. Maybe there are better kinds.
ReplyDeleteI don't want the tea/coffee stewing, of course, I just want to slow down the cooling process enough that it's hot for the 10 minutes it takes me to drink a cup.
I used to have a small tea-light holder which worked well, but it broke recently. (A tea light is the stubby candles in small silver cups, used under tea pots.)
Glad I don't have the problem ... have always thought that tea was foul stuff, and coffee has been iced for donkeys years ... way before it became trendy:-)
ReplyDeleteDifferent solution: insulated cup with cover.
ReplyDeleteI use a Tervis (R) tumbler, on which I put a plastic lid from a Rubbermaid #1 round. (It just happened to fit.)
This gives me warm tea for 15-20 minutes. If that isn't long enough for me, I nuke it.
Pat
You would think somebody would have solved this decades ago and become a millionaire.
ReplyDeleteHave you tried going to a tea shop? Old fashioned way of solving the problem, however I found just the item you want, albiet for 110 AC.
ReplyDeleteMine was like a hot plate but a smaller flat plate surrounded by plastic. It would hold my biggest mugs at a nice warm temperature without burning it. (Of course, what do Americans know about tea?)
I finally realized it would hold my small Japanese teapot; glass, sperical, with modern plastic handle. It holds something less than 2 litres. It is designed with a plastic strainer inside for loose tea and a plunger with a rubber gasket that seals off the tea leaves in the bottom (non-perferated part) of the cylinder that stayed in the pot. This keeps me from dealing with wet tea leaves until I am ready to clean up.
Back to the warmer. The teapot just fit the warming element plate, but that much volume would begin to cool over time.
I might be wrong, but I have to believe that if this can be found in the U.S., with its history of throwing tea into the sea, that the U.K. might have an equivalent. Certainly they must have tea shops, and I would presume the original device was developed for the Japanese market, so they should have something that works on something other than 110AC.
Cheers, Ian
Thanks, Ian.
ReplyDeleteI don't even think I've seen an actual tea shop in this hole of a town, Bolton. (And they want it to be called a City, ha.)
Eolake, Why not use the cup holder in the computer? You know, that little tray that slides out...
ReplyDeleteOh wait - that's the CD drive. :-)
I too have a 110V coffee mug warmer. I forget if it's Sunbeam or Coffeemate (no Coffeemate is a UK creamer). It has a 10 minute shut off, and so can keep a mug warm, slowing the cooling, not scorching the drink. An old AOL CD serves as a coaster for when I'm at the last inch.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it works that well with milky tea though.
Bolton had a tea roomsa once in the early 90's I'll check with my Manc and Bolton friends who partake of such.
As for a shop selling tea and tea accessories, that sounds so Albert Dock/Covent gardens, Chester didn't even have such a shop, and we were almost Sloanish with our Tie Rack and Knicker Box. Our tea selection was the health food shops herbal, or the department stores food hall Earl Grey.
Try china town in Manchester (you need a day out there anyway) for a Chinese lidded tea cup.
I got a really nice stainless steel insulated cup @ Starbucks that I am really HAPPY with which has a snap lid and everything...which comes in handy, when you're not drinking it very quickly. I just flip the flap down over the opening, until the next sip, to keep it warmer longer (my theory, anyway :-). I could do a temperature test for you, if you'd like. :-)
ReplyDeleteOK. Here's the latest on Starbucks: they don't have that mug for sale, anymore. No worries. Here is *the* BEST place that I would venture to get an insulated mug. :-)
ReplyDeleteUpdate: I've ordered a Thermos Travel Mug. Judging from reviews, it seems to be much more efficient than the one I have. (By the way, I did not realize that Thermos was a brand name.)
ReplyDeleteNow, what to do about my cappuccinos? They are made into a small cup, they are only just hot enough, and if I pour them into a thermos mug, all the heat will be gone in a moment.
> I used to have a small tea-light holder which worked well, but it broke recently.
ReplyDeleteIf it worked well... you could just buy a new one?
It was another of my sister's genius presents from twenty years ago, and haven't found another.
ReplyDelete... But admittedly I could probably jury-rig something similar if I found a strong metal mesh, and put it on top of a large mug with a tea-light at the bottom... worth trying.
ReplyDeleteEolake said...
ReplyDelete"... But admittedly I could probably jury-rig something similar if I found a strong metal mesh, and put it on top of a large mug with a tea-light at the bottom... worth trying."
Sounds kind of risky, to me. I would think the Thermos idea would be much safer and less hassle. But...IF you decided to go w/a tea light option, know the dangers that regular candles are to our bodies; and...the link provided at the bottom of the article no longer exists, so I have found an alternative one.
Now...onto your cappuccino issue: "Now, what to do about my cappuccinos? They are made into a small cup, they are only just hot enough, and if I pour them into a thermos mug, all the heat will be gone in a moment."
SIMPLE solution, Eo: pour some HOT water into your Thermos cup, while the cappuccino is being made, pouring it out just before adding your freshly brewed cappuccino. This is done in tea pots awaiting their water, to keep the water to its optimum temperature and effectiveness w/tea leaves.
And, yes, Ian; there are actually people (and places) in the world, other than England, who know about and enjoy their tea made "right;" I, for one, being one of them, wouldn't trade loose-leaf Earl Grey, etc. for the store-bought tea bagged kind...unless I was really "desperate," again...'cuz the taste is just that much RICHER than all those!! But...in a pinch, I would choose 'Bigelow' brand. Oh and...we have tea rooms all over the entire nation, too. :-)
The problem I have with loose leaf tea is the mess and hassle.
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, I drink a lot of what a Brit would call "tea". It's not the premium leaf, not the best preserved, and has a mix of flavours which is a comfort to me. It's the tea of the proletariat, and the tea I was raised on.
I find a premium tea sometimes gets too oily or scented in its flavours. So I never go above a store brand Red Label or maybe Glengetti, and typical favour PG Tips or our local Safeway default of Tetley ("Eee, lets the flavour flood out, how about a song Sydney?").
For fancy tea, an Earl or Lady Grey, or something herbal.
TC have you made tea the other way too? Take some leaf "English breakfast" , add it to a saucepan of 1 part water to 1 part milk with a pinch of cardamon. Bring it to a rolling boil and serve hot.
TCG, good idea with the hot water, but I already do that with mugs when making tea (and for the cup when making cap). With a cappuccino, I fear the temp is so close and the amount so small that the mere travel in a stream through the air will cool it too much.
ReplyDeleteI have one of these 'Finum Brewing Baskets' that I LOVE to use! If the economy hasn't shut this place down, yet, it looks like this place might carry them.
ReplyDeleteAnd...I also have one of these, these, these, and these. (what?! Well...clearly I don't much care for "loose" tea leaves...in my CUP, [mouth or throat] either!! ;-)
"TC have you made tea the other way too? Take some leaf "English breakfast" , add it to a saucepan of 1 part water to 1 part milk with a pinch of cardamon. Bring it to a rolling boil and serve hot."
No, I have never prepared it, that way, but...I do drink it the English way: I use evaporated milk and sweeten it w/Agave so it's nice and sweet and YUMMY. :-) "Looks like dish water" is what I have always been told. (I was raised in Canada w/an English influence. :-)
Eolake said...
ReplyDelete"TCG, good idea with the hot water, but I already do that with mugs when making tea (and for the cup when making cap)."
GOOD, Eo! :-D
"With a cappuccino, I fear the temp is so close and the amount so small that the mere travel in a stream through the air will cool it too much."
Alight...you ready for my other suggestion? It's probably "sacrilegious" but...here goes: I'd make a DOUBLE; nuke it to preferred temp in micro, pour into that brand spanking new Thermos cup (hopefully w/a lid), and call it GOOD!! :-D
BUT...if that idea sucks, I would suggest that you buy yerself a new SERIOUS cappuccino maker that makes it as HOT as you like it!! :-)
(Damn! I better get off of here, before I hafta start taking calls for further "beverage woes"! I'm starting to feel like Nini Ordoubadi. (just TEASING, guys; REALLY!! :-) and...no, I do NOT think that tea is 'Better Than Sex' like the name of one of her tea blends!! How SAD could *her* sex life be?! ROFL!!) ;-)
Eolake
ReplyDeleteSearch on "double wall glass cup" You can get them anywhere, also in Stainless Steel http://www.sweetmarias.com/prod.cups.php
Scott
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI always found it kind of strange to use USB as a power source for lights and other uses such as heating.
It seems weird that someone would use a computers very delicate wiring to draw current...specially heating which uses large amounts of current...I guess it would be very easy to overload USB and burn out your motherboard no matter how well usb is designed...
any comments...
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ReplyDelete