Glass Tea Thermos

This thermos is a beauty. Great proportions and a sleek visual contour which is amplified by the double wall glass construction. Smooth bamboo lid. Mandala’s pretty logo is well placed toward the bottom, which I appreciate, letting the color and transparency of the brew shine. The teas that produce the greatest visual appeal are my Chinese and Taiwanese teas, specifically green, white, unroasted oolong and lighter, fruitier red teas.

Functionally, it’s well constructed with high quality, moderately thick double walled glass that stays gently warm to the touch, not the typical thin, finger-scorching walls of most Chinese made glassware. It also doesn’t retain so much heat that it overbrews teas, unlike a stainless steel thermos (which also alters the taste of tea). Regardless of the thermos’s perceived sturdiness, it’s still glass so must be handled with care, especially while washing since the glass is so smooth. The neoprene sleeve takes away from the aesthetic but gives the comfort of knowing the thermos is protected when I put it in the side pocket of my backpack or lay it on my passenger seat before heading to work. For filtration, a shallow strainer screws into the basket, or it can be used alone. The two-part strainer allows for different ways to brew and drink your tea. The basket is big enough to hold up to 4 grams of my largest loose-leaf teas like big leaf Yunnan and Taiwanese reds, and can accommodate the unruly expansion of 3 grams of balled oolong with some cramping. I haven’t had any leak issues from the cap unless screwed too tight. Screwing until just closed plus a little nudge lets the steam create a vacuum that prevents leakage. The gasket inside the cap is easy to remove and clean.

Overall, I’m very happy with this beauty. My only issue with it is that I must use a bottle brush to clean the inside.

Just received my Mandala package with this tea thermos. Good and thorough reviews already. I got the large 14 oz one. It is double-walled glass, came with a black neoprene sleeve, a 2-way stainless filter and brew basket. Haven’t tried it yet, just washed it out but it feels solid, well made. I’ll use it next time I do anything grandpa style. I think this would be perfect for that. If there is anything to add to what was already covered, I’ll do that after I use it for a while.

Update: Very nice. I really like it. I’m using it right now. It’s not leak-proof but I’m planning to use this around my home anyway. I like Oolong Owl’s review on it. :) For road trips, I always bring my Zojirushi travel mug to carry hot water, and maybe I’ll bring this too as a sipper.

Update 1/14/19: Been using it every day since, and bringing it with me on the road. If you’re careful putting the top on level (not crooked) and not cranking it down too tight, it doesn’t leak. I left it on its side for the past few days, and so far, it didn’t leak but I’ll keep testing. Upped the rating.

Great thermos. Unfortunately I broke mine recently. Really my own fault. Dropped the darn thing on a tile floor. Bought a silly replacement and I now appreciate how great the mandala one was. With my new one I get a lot of tea buildup around the ‘strainer’ (not sure if that’s the real name for it) as it’s slanted inwards. Never had this issue with my mandala thermos. I had a few colleagues at work that enjoyed tea or I turned onto tea and they were constantly asking to borrow it simply as a brewing vessel. Great quality, just don’t drop it like I did! Price was high from mandala, but I’d rather pay that again than be stuck with the one I have now!

After recently deciding to kick the ‘ol coffee habit (I’ve always wanted to but never quite possessed the required will power to end such a long-standing morning ritual [much as the tea ritual is FAR more rewarding on a variety of levels]) and really coming to love Mandala Tea, I decided to order this the other day not only because it looked incredibly useful, but because I knew that any help to kick the coffee habit would go a long way to making it a success.

In any case, it arrived just yesterday (along with a shipment of a few teas from Darlene’s Tea Port) packaged wonderfully and carefully, along with being insured. As always with glass/breakables I was a bit nervous opening it all up, but it was beautifully in one piece and even nicer-looking in person. Double walled glass is hard to beat!

The construction all around is great—everything fits nicely, the glass has a great weight to it, and the lid secures nicely (although as awkwardsoul aka Oolong Owl mentions [along with Mandala Tea themselves], it will leak if tipped/inverted).

Just brewed some Irish Breakfast Green for the morning and I’m anxious to go with Mandala’s Wild Arbor Buds this afternoon! Having previously been using the OXO Twisting Tea Ball, it’s nice to be able to really watch the tea leaves as they steep, and it makes the workday that much more enjoyable.

Love this tea thermos! I’ve been using it for months and I’m pretty happy with it!

Pretty, simple design. Double walled glass. Easy to clean and use. Doubles as a tea pot and pours nicely with the strainer in. I use this thermos all the time while on the go, lazy oolong steepings while on the computer at home, and cold brewing.

Only cons is it isn’t leak proof, it’ll dribble a bit if you have it on its side. The strainer, though i like the design (over a mesh wire strainer), doesn’t filter out smaller teas like rooibos.

Full review on my blog, The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/mandala-teas-glass-tea-thermos/