Company: Copco

Cost: $9.99

Thoughts:

I have a couple of infusers lying around that I do occasionally use when I want a quick cup of tea.  Infusers themselves aren’t bad but I much prefer to use something where the tea leaves have lots of room to move and dance.  That said, infusers do have a place in my tea routine, especially at work.  When I received this Snap Open Tea Infuser from Copco’s Total Tea line of tea products I immediately added it to my work tea area so I could put it to the test.

This infuser has two wings that pop open when you press the buttons on the side.  These wings then allow the infuser to sit on the top of the cup with the basket suspended down into the water.  I will go ahead and state right now that I wish the infuser was a little bit longer and wider to allow the leaves more room to move and more contact with the water.  However, it still works as well as any infuser can.

When it is time to remove the infuser, the wings can be snapped back down so that they now cover the infuser preventing drips.  This is a very nice idea but I have noticed that it doesn’t totally prevent tea from getting on the table so it is important to make sure you let the tea drip out in the cup as much as possible.  The holes in the infuser aren’t overly large but they still allow small bits and dust to escape.  If tea dust bothers you then I suggest you not drink the last couple of sips because with this infuser it is inevitable to get a little bit of a collection at the bottom of the cup.

Clean up is fairly easy and the tea leaves glide out smoothly with an occasional leaf getting stuck in one of the holes.  I think all infusers have a certain amount of annoying cleanup involved but that just comes with the territory of using one.  Again, for some of us there is a time and place to use infusers and so for an easy, modern, and fun looking infuser this one does the trick.

The product(s) included in this post were sent to me to be considered for review by the company mentioned or by a PR agency that represents them.

Company: Copco

Cost: $14.99

Thoughts:

I am always on the look out for ways to enjoy tea outside of my home so I was really excited to receive this travel thermos from Copco.  They have come out with a line of teaware called Total Tea that is “a collection of solution-based products that address the specific needs of tea drinkers through superior functionality and forward design”.  Upon opening the package I was really intrigued by this tea thermal.  It is quite modern and innovative which might or might not appeal to some people.  As for myself, I was drawn to it.  The first thing I did was take it apart and found that it had 4 main components: the base where the liquid is held, the lid, the infuser basket, and the lid for the infuser basket.

There are many on the go tea products out there that include an infusing basket but this one is really unique.  It features a mechanism that enables you to stop infusing the tea leaves.  I will try to explain this as best as I can, but basically the basket goes into the lid of the thermos and has three options of where to turn it.  ‘In/Out’ is the choice you want when you are taking the basket in or out of the thermos.  The ‘Steep’ option allows the tea leaves to be exposed to the water through the little holes in the infuser.  ‘Stop’ turns the basket so the holes and leaves are no longer in contact with the water.

For the most part I find this thermos easy to use, though the nob on the lid is a little hard to turn and grab a hold of especially if you have long nails.  My major complaint is the size of the infuser basket.  It is tiny!  Take a look at the 1st picture above to see how small it is compared to the thermos itself!  Since the thermos is 16oz you need to use a good amount of tea leaves and I really feel there is not enough room in the infuser to do the leaves justice.  I found myself wishing it was at least longer because it doesn’t seem to go very far down into the water.

I think the idea of this thermos is nice and the design is on the right track.  I have used it several times and even had success resteeping leaves by refilling the thermos with water and turning the infuser back to ‘steep’.  The only other thing that bothers me is I haven’t quite figured out how or even if there is a way to pour water over the leaves which is just my personal preference.  To me it seems the only thing one can do is pour water in the thermos and then insert the infuser basket.

Overall, I think Copco has an interesting product that with a little tweaking could really become a nice staple for those of use that like to take our tea on the go.  I enjoyed using it and will continue to do so because I love tea thermos’ and I especially like that I can stop my leaves from steeping without having to take the infuser out and then trying to figure out what in the world to do with it.

The product(s) included in this post were sent to me to be considered for review by the company mentioned or by a PR agency that represents them.