I’ve had my Timolino now for a while. I bought it primarily because I find myself in the lab at 8am, and when I escape hours later any hope of hot tea is gone.
Upsides: It keeps tea hot, like really hot. It’s sleek, and fits nicely into my bookbag. It holds 16 oz.
Downsides: The tea really is kept hot. For a long time. I’ve burned myself a few times, but I’d rather have too hot tea than cold tea. Another downside that really bothered me when I first got it was the fact that the lid is so difficult to clean. The silicone in the lid holds scents, and the worst by far was soap. I soaked it in baking soda, vinegar, hot water, you name it. The soap flavour has gone away over time, but the only thing I take in my Timolino now is black tea. The one time I attempted an oolong I couldn’t even taste the delicate flavours.
I should also mention, that wee silicone bit that holds scents. That piece is what makes it leakproof. Lesson learned.
I picked up another on boxing day, that I’m using for the first time today. I’m going to reserve this one for herbals, since Super Ginger went into it this morning. I don’t think I’d pay full price for another one, but I had no problem picking up a second one on sale.
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Would you have a chance to bring a mug of some sort as well as the timolino? That way you could pour off a small mug early in the day and enjoy while the rest of it cools off. Thermos style! I hate burning my tongue so I am always looking for ways around it.
I’ve learned to uncap the Timolino and let it cool a while before I drink anything. I try to minimize the things I carry to and from, but that’s a great idea. :)
Can you leave stuff at work? I have a set of tea brewing paraphernalia that never leaves the office.
I’m at school everyday haha. Once I’m working in a lab and not studying in one, that might be easier. :P
Ahh, okay. Sounds like you’ve got a good system now. Great review BTW. Besides the silicone part of the lid, does it affect the taste of the tea? I’ve found in the past that stainless steel tumblers make tea taste funny.
The vessel itself doesn’t make the tea taste funny, or I didn’t find that. I’ve heard other people ask that question though, so perhaps I just got lucky? I definitely need different ones for different tea types though.
This is probably a silly question, but how do you go about brewing tea in your Timolinos? I’m toying with the idea of getting one (especially since I might end up traveling for work and would really love to be able to take tea with me!), but I keep worrying that leaving tea in the brew basket would result in super-overbrewed tea.
For a long time I brewed the tea in a regular mug – so I’d have to do a steep, then a resteep to fill the Timolino. But it actually comes with an infuser basket that attaches to the lid, so now I brew my leaves in that the same as I would my regular mug. I always make sure it’s fully steeped at home and remove the basket it so I don’t accidentally forget and let it oversteep.
I had a timolino and LOVED it. Then I went home to Toronto and made tea in it. That tea tasted weird and at the time I blamed the water. I dumped the tea and cleaned the timolino thoroughly. Then I forgot the timolino in Toronto and was super sad. However, when I finally got it back I found it effecting every tea I made. Now I no longer use it and that makes me sad because it really was awesome.
Since I drink black tea all the time, it definitely affects other teas that don’t have the strong flavour that many black teas do, but that’s the tea itself, not the actual Timolino. But I’ve heard the same thing from others about it affecting the taste. I guess we do all taste things differently hah!
Interesting. Thanks!
Would you have a chance to bring a mug of some sort as well as the timolino? That way you could pour off a small mug early in the day and enjoy while the rest of it cools off. Thermos style! I hate burning my tongue so I am always looking for ways around it.
I’ve learned to uncap the Timolino and let it cool a while before I drink anything. I try to minimize the things I carry to and from, but that’s a great idea. :)
Can you leave stuff at work? I have a set of tea brewing paraphernalia that never leaves the office.
I’m at school everyday haha. Once I’m working in a lab and not studying in one, that might be easier. :P
Ahh, okay. Sounds like you’ve got a good system now. Great review BTW. Besides the silicone part of the lid, does it affect the taste of the tea? I’ve found in the past that stainless steel tumblers make tea taste funny.
The vessel itself doesn’t make the tea taste funny, or I didn’t find that. I’ve heard other people ask that question though, so perhaps I just got lucky? I definitely need different ones for different tea types though.
This is probably a silly question, but how do you go about brewing tea in your Timolinos? I’m toying with the idea of getting one (especially since I might end up traveling for work and would really love to be able to take tea with me!), but I keep worrying that leaving tea in the brew basket would result in super-overbrewed tea.
For a long time I brewed the tea in a regular mug – so I’d have to do a steep, then a resteep to fill the Timolino. But it actually comes with an infuser basket that attaches to the lid, so now I brew my leaves in that the same as I would my regular mug. I always make sure it’s fully steeped at home and remove the basket it so I don’t accidentally forget and let it oversteep.
I had a timolino and LOVED it. Then I went home to Toronto and made tea in it. That tea tasted weird and at the time I blamed the water. I dumped the tea and cleaned the timolino thoroughly. Then I forgot the timolino in Toronto and was super sad. However, when I finally got it back I found it effecting every tea I made. Now I no longer use it and that makes me sad because it really was awesome.
Since I drink black tea all the time, it definitely affects other teas that don’t have the strong flavour that many black teas do, but that’s the tea itself, not the actual Timolino. But I’ve heard the same thing from others about it affecting the taste. I guess we do all taste things differently hah!
Interesting. Thanks!