I've had this tea thermos for two days and I'm already wondering, how did I do without it? I had one from another site, and it leaked like a sieve. This thermos is great, doesn't leak, keeps the contents warm but it's not hot on your hands. I've used it for blooming tea and for tea leaves and both worked brilliantly. The little strainer/basket works super well.
This morning, I made my tea in this glass travel mug. I let it sit for about 1.5 hour. My tea was still warm.
I like that it is made of glass (tastless, unlike stainless steel travel mugs) and the neoprene sleeve makes it easier to carry in my purse without breaking and easier to handle as well, especially when hot. One negative point although: I could smell the neoprene at every sip, so I took the glass thermos out of the sleeve to better enjoy my Pu'erh! It's prettier anyway. The glass seems thick enough, and the thermos itself seems to be a very good quality. I am very happy with it so far! I might even order a second one!
I got this to stop spillages moving around at work. I love it, keeps my drink warm for a couple of hours & it infuses well. The one drawback for me is the stainless steel rim on the lid really needs to be something less heat conductive and providing more grip as it can be difficult to de lid especially hot.
All very nice except it does not keep beverages HOT after a half drive to work....just warm.
Not really of "Thermos" quality because of that
by Kevin Mclauchlan
March 2022
I bought this several months ago. The Design Features list in the product description is accurate. Also, it looks nice and is well made.
HOWEVER, two things were disappointing.
1. The double-wall glass vessel seems to have just air between the layers. It will protect your hand from a hot beverage, and it would prevent condensation and dripping on the outside if I used it for chilled beverages (but I don't, so that's no advantage). What I mean is, not only is the gap not filled with inert gas, the ordinary air in there is not even at reduced pressure. So there's almost no thermal barrier. Your tea will cool off in minutes. If your goal is to have warm/hot tea in easy reach for hours of sipping while you work (or watch video or play) it will be at room temperature long before you wanted. You need the blue wrap-around cozy.
2. The blue wrap-around cozy is not very cozy. I haven't tried with cold liquids, but it will keep a hot or warm beverage at desired temperature for maybe half an hour longer than the few minutes the double-wall glass container can manage on its own.
If the above suits your needs, it's a nice looking piece of kit, the cover fits well and is large enough to be easy to twist for old arthritic hands... and without the cozy, a nice emerald Gyokuro looks really nice in it.
BUT, if your goal is to have pleasantly drinkable tea or coffee or hot chocolate... remain within the enjoyment temperature range for a while, then you are better off with either a pre-warmed earthen-ware mug that has some thermal mass to it, OR get a vacuum insulated metal vessel, like the nicely engineered /D/a/v/i/d/s/ /T/e/a/ flip-top brewing 'thermos' or the superb Zojirushi vacuum flasks that can keep a scalding liquid at lip-scorching temperature for more than 8 hours (so you'd cool your brew a bit before closing the flask and have it nicely drinkable for hours and hours... rather than just minutes).
Anyway, as nice as it is, if I'd known beforehand that the teaTravel Double Wall Glass Thermos did not have even a weak vacuum, nor any other insulation, I would have saved my money. That use of the (I believe...) trademarked "Thermos" brand name is very misleading in this case.
With all that said, I keep coming back to tealyra.ca for their wide choice, good quality, and good prices on Japanese green tea.
by Kevin Mclauchlan
October 2021
It looks nice and it feels nice, but:
1. While it is double-walled and nicely made, it does not have an insulating vacuum between the layers, so it does not keep contents hot or cold any longer than a regular mug or cup. The neoprene cup-cozy is the only real insulation, and it's not great.
2. The little stainless-steal tea basket is on the small size, so when you want to put a couple of teaspoons of gyokuro leaves in it, there's not enough room for them to expand as they get wet, and have room for the water to really circulate. For the size of the vessel, you do want at least a couple of teaspoons to infuse in that volume of water, when the tea is gyokuro. Sencha might have slightly less of a problem.
Anyway, it looks nice and feels nice, and closes securely, but it's not very practical.
by Joan Broderick
February 2020
Have been using this tea "carrier" for a few months. Really liked it (5 star). Unfortunately, yesterday it gently tipped over with insulating sleeve on and the exposed glass top rim cracked. Small chards of glass started falling into the space into the insulating space. Had to throw it out. (2 star) Given that this type of mug is designed to be carried around, it could be improved by having the sleeve protect the full glass.
I loved this thermos. All three of them. Each one broke. The first one I dropped and since it was my fault, I bought another. The second one broke after a gentle bump. The third one broke when it tipped over into my sink from the counter. They didn't just crack, they shattered. Fortunately, all those pieces of glass were held in by the neoprene sleeve. I wish they made this with a stronger protector - from what I can tell, the neoprene does nothing but provide a way to carry it (and protect you from the glass when it shatters). You'll notice that there is uncovered glass between the lid and the neoprene sleeve - not sure if that is the problem or not. It's hard to rate this so low, because I love my Tealyra teas and I really really liked this thermos. If someone at Tealyra is reading these, please offer a more durable thermos!
It was great the first time I used it, but it blew up the second time when I placed an ice cube in it for iced tea.