The Tree of Tea

There’s never been a Tea Tree like this! This aesthetically-awesome brewer is an all-in-one solution for making the perfect cup. The base and soaker basket keep the infused water hot and make pouring easy with a large ergonomic handle. A vertical stem extending up from the base keeps the matching wood and glass cups handy and is the perfect place to dry them after using!

Designer: Wongyung Lee


Yanko Design
Timeless Designs – Explore wonderful concepts from around the world!
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(The Tree of Tea was originally posted on Yanko Design)

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Normann Copenhagen Tea: Loose-leaf tea from the Danish design house with packaging by designer Anne Lehmann

Normann Copenhagen Tea


Best known for their smart, minimal home furnishings, Denmark’s Normann Copenhagen recently took a step into the drinkable design category with the introduction of a line of 12 teas. Contained in colorful, reusable tins with graphics by designer ,…

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The Teapot Redefined

It’s not at all what you imagine a teapot looking like, and that’s exactly what’s so cool about the Quattro! The vertical, rectangular design makes pouring and transporting a cinch thanks to its beautifully simple, yet highly functional handle that also acts as a base. Just tip it to poor, or reverse the base to the upwards position to carry it around!

Designer: Snezana Jeremic


Yanko Design
Timeless Designs – Explore wonderful concepts from around the world!
Shop CKIE – We are more than just concepts. See what’s hot at the CKIE store by Yanko Design!
(The Teapot Redefined was originally posted on Yanko Design)

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  3. Zygo Teapot by Shaun Redsar

    

A Box From Tehran: A hand-selected souvenir series by Elin Aram, this edition is drawn from Iran’s cultural landscape

A Box From Tehran


Elin Aram drew much attention with her new hand-selected souvenir series, A Box From. Its debut offering shed light on Seoul, South Korea, and told a story of the city by means of uniquely personal gifts….

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Kilogram Tea: Intelligentsia Coffee pushes its tea into the spotlight

Kilogram Tea


Beans from Chicago-based Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea are so adored that the latter often plays second fiddle and is overlooked despite the tea’s excellent quality. In an effort to showcase and increase awareness of their diverse tea offerings, this past April, …

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The Tea Cup SlingsHOT

I never realized that dealing with a tea bag was so frustrating! Admittedly, I’m also more of a coffee drinker… but I can still see why the SlingsHOT Tea Cup is appealing. The slit in the handle keeps the tag from falling in and allows the user to squeeze the liquid out of the soaked bag simply by pulling back as you would a slingshot. Just be careful not to pop yourself in the eye!

Designer: Samir Sufi


Yanko Design
Timeless Designs – Explore wonderful concepts from around the world!
Yanko Design Store – We are about more than just concepts. See what’s hot at the YD Store!
(The Tea Cup SlingsHOT was originally posted on Yanko Design)

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Teagether Tea for Two

Doppio tea?

Teagether Tea for Two

Guessing Game #13

Lucky for some, Guessing Game #13 is here with the inevitable question….what is this?

It is an Industrial Design Project, it is something to do with what the Chinese really love; Brits have their own unique way of consuming it and the Indian household would go into a tizzy if this were absent. What is it?

This is the Silent Machine. A unique project that repurposes old industrial machines with a new lease of life as a tea service set. As the designer explains, “Every single object can be identified when it is utilized as a part of the whole. Mathematically formulated silhouettes and details contribute to creating an image of mechanical regularity rather than being emphasized on their ornamentation.”

Simple, elegant, functional and industrial…let’s drink a cuppa chai to that!

Designer: Eunjae Lee


Yanko Design
Timeless Designs – Explore wonderful concepts from around the world!
Yanko Design Store – We are about more than just concepts. See what’s hot at the YD Store!
(Guessing Game #13 was originally posted on Yanko Design)

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Tranquil Tuesdays

Our interview with Charlene Wang on her socially responsible tea brand

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In a cozy showroom nestled in the alleys of old Beijing, we met Charlene Wang of Tranquil Tuesdays upon her return from the spring harvest of white peony tea in Fujian province. Wang has combined her passion for tea and her background as a US State Department human rights officer to create her brand, which aims to bring back the purity of ancient tea tradition. Traveling to the hot spots of tea in China, she builds personal relationships with local family farms and to source the best natural tea in the country.

Her company is a social enterprise that works closely with people in rural China, providing training, encouragement and support. At the same time, Charlene works with young designers from Jingdezheng, China’s epicenter for the best pottery to refine the
experience of style related to tea culture. We talked to Wang to learn more about her thoughtful venture.

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Excellent tea and beautiful teaware hold represent the essence of what you called “pure releaf”—what is the idea behind this concept?

The cool idea comes from my sister, and I immediately found it brilliant! I feel “pure releaf” perfectly embodies all the values we want to offer. I think the phrase gives the idea of tranquility, calmness, purposeful quiet, a kind of refuge feeling which is a
strong part of traditional tea culture. And then it’s “pure” because we concentrate only on natural, unscented, unblended tea, so just pure tea.

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Your varieties include White peony tea, Organic Jadesword Green Tea, Tieguanyin Oolong tea, Keemun black tea, ancient tree raw Pu’er—how do you source all these teas? Do you plan to expand your collection?

We need to travel to the area, to see different farms, to meet people and build relationships before we even think of ordering tea from them. Sometimes I travel off season, to meet farmers and see how they take care of their land. In Fujian I was there seeing the leaves been picked and how they made. They only pick one season instead of the usual three, in order to preserve the quality of the plants. I build a friendship with my suppliers and we often share some of the key moments of their work. For Oolong tea, I stayed at a farmer’s house for a week during the fall harvest. I was on the
second floor of a local family’s workshop and every morning I could wake up to the smell of freshly made Oolong.

We want to add other qualities of tea to our collections but it requires a lot of work and for the moment we’re a bit overloaded. I’d love to add a yellow tea in the near future.

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Tranquil Tuesdays is also about teaware, how did you start your cooperation with studios in Jingdezhen?

I had several trips to Jingdezhen, which is nationally considered the home of traditional Chinese porcelain. The first time I was there as a tourist and I was totally amazed. Some local young designers have been able to take this tradition of craftsmanship and add a modern feeling to it. The first artist I’ve been working with is Zhang Min, who’s taking the traditional blue and white theme from Ming dynasty and kind
of twisting it to give a natural breath of life to our teaware. Then I met Ke Zhongxiang, who’s making the celadon line, and I was fascinated by his creative studio’s setup, in the simplicity of his small workshop some of his artworks really stood out. Zhu Xuan is making our crystalline glaze line, bringing back an ancient special technique of glazing zinc oxide before firing, to produce an unique effect where crystals spontaneously form on the surface, making each piece unique.

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Do you just source products from them or you participate in the whole design process?

I was inspired by their collections and I love their personal style, we’ve been working closely to build our own lines. They all run small workshops and our cooperation often requires a long time. We define each single piece together, we adjust the proportions, sometimes we work online on QQ (the most-used Chinese messenger), sometimes they
also make drawings live online using their kids tablets! I also travel back there, we discuss details personally and I can also see our teaware getting out of the community kiln. We work together from the beginning to the end to build our current feeling.

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How would you define the “pure releaf” aesthetic?

The idea is to take very classical, traditional, ancient art and porcelain-making and give it a kind of contemporary twist. We aim to make a fresh vision of what it means to be Chinese. Most of Europeans and Americans identify Chinese styles with flashy colors and a kind of kitsch style but if you go back to the roots of Chinese culture there are several examples of fine simplicity. To give an example, celadon has been China’s most prized porcelain since the Tang dynasty (618-907 A.D.), when it was largely traded with the Middle East. Until the 14th century, no one outside China and Korea was able to produce it, but sometimes, when people see the stunning beauty and simplicity of Chinese celadon handcrafts, they ask if it’s Japanese!

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Tranquil Tuesdays products are available online
and delivered worldwide.


Chai Now

Tipu’s latest micro-ground mix
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Generally skeptical of the western appropriation of Indian traditions, we do find the occasional diamond in the rough. The self-billed “chai snobs” at Tipu’s recently introduced Chai Now, a fully loaded chai latte that stacks up nicely to their already stellar selection. Building off of their successful Microground Instant Black Chai, Chai Now adds non-GMO soy powder and evaporated cane juice to the instant mix.

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Tipu’s uses high-quality, non-irradiated spices to produce powerfully flavorful chai mixes and concentrates. The caffeine content is noticeable, and the mix can easily replace a morning cup of coffee. While bold, the flavors are well balanced to prevent any one note from becoming overwhelming. The level of sweetness remains nicely mild, which is definitely a rare quality in mass-market chai. Tipu’s recipe comes from founder Bipin Patel’s grandmother’s recipe, crossing continents to find its way into this ready-to-drink mix.

The only real drawback of Chai Now is that sediment in the mix tends to settle at the bottom of the glass, though that’s relatively easy to avoid. We preferred the “slow brew” mixes since they allow you a bit more control over strength, sweetness and milk levels. That said, Chai Now is perfect for your spring camping excursions—just add water and enjoy a spicy cup on a cool night.

Chai Now is available along with the full line at Tipu’s online shop.