Warm, visible, untainted tea on the go; once impossible, now impractical. Since the beginning of tea, mankind has made many advances in the area of boiling-liquid containment. The glass tea thermos is a step back.
In the oldest days, it would have been considered impossible for man to hold liquids in anything other than his bare hands. Presumably, tea was invented in a later age, after the invention of the cup. Iced tea was probably invented subsequently, when cups made it possible to totally forget about your cuppa. Those were hard times for the common tea-drinking-man. It’s hard to let your Darjeeling brew for five minutes without an ice age blowing through. Nowadays, tea-holding technology is advancing at a rapid rate. Cups are made out of exquisite bone china, perfectly smooth ceramic, or even space-age plastics. There is even a mug with a little pouch for your biscuits. Despite all this progress, mankind has somehow stepped backwards, tripped over our own garden steps, and spilled boiling chai all over our collective pants: we have created the glass tea thermos.
Here is what is wrong with contemporary glass tea thermoses: they are made to break. What comes to mind when you think of the word delicate? I’m sure a thin layer of glass isn’t far from what you’re thinking.
What is more delicate than one thin sheet of glass? Two thin sheets of glass. And that is exactly what a glass tea thermos is composed of. To date, I have had three of these thermi. Like a newborn baby, they’re very easy to keep safe, assuming you don’t ever do anything with them. I broke my first one by letting it fall from a very small height, which an ornate china teacup would have survived. That was the second day I had it. I broke the second one by leaving it in a backpack, and then setting said backpack on the ground. Third day I had had it. The third thermos was knocked over onto a linoleum floor, ending its record one-week-life. Glass thermos? More like glass thermostly just an excuse to buy a new mug once it breaks.
It doesn’t need to be like this, glass thermos. You could be so much more. With protective foam padding, or even just a wider base (to stabilize and distribute the force of impact) you might be considered practical. We know now that drinking hot tea out of our hands is not going to work. Drinking out of a hand-blown time-bomb isn’t going to work either. Until then, I’ll sip Earl Grey out of a container that doesn’t have a tragic romance with gravity.
So just what is wrong with modern stainless steel thermos flasks? I have several and have never yet been able to break one . . .
Nothing! I merely speak out against glass ones. Metal ones are great. I have this reoccurring daydream that I’ll be able to fend off a mugger or something like that with my military-surplus metal thermos.
You make such a good point. Although I do love glass as a container for delicious liquids like tea, it isn’t very practical. What about the old Stanley thermos. I believe they had an insulated stainless steel interior, to keep fingers and hands cool, with tough as nails exterior material. It wasn’t pretty but it was practical and effective.
I’ve seen modern glass baby bottles that are protected with plastic wide mesh covering that protects but allows one the viewing pleasure within. We should collaborate on the quint essential traveling tea container:)
If visibility wasn’t a criteria, stainless steel is an excellent choice. Over the years, I have used plastic double-walled thermoses (I like your construction, thermosi, better!) but they scratch so easily that they become unsightly quite quickly, and I find myself wondering what kind of crud finds its way into those scratches? I have had fabulous luck with my Teavana thermos, and if pre-warmed, it keeps the tea hot for hours, and is bombproof. My first steel thermos was a Tamu-Baru, also excellent, but I’ve never been able to find one to purchase since I received it as a gift.
Dear Ben,
i have metal one with glass inside,
its a big one about 1 litre we have it for more than 15 years now.
And it never broke because we know its a Thermos,
and the same with the thermometer its a bit old fashioned but we never dropped it for over a life time.
Maybe and i say maybe your bad luck comes from your
rough behaviour with those things?
Again, I think a metal tea thermos is a great idea. I just think that something that is suppose to be carried around all day, that is smooth and lacks handles, and that is frequently quite hot, should not be made of glass.
I see what you mean though, and I must admit that I am very clumsy! As you can read in my other article, I’ve spilled an ocean of tea all over myself. I bet if I was a bit more conscientious, I could have prevented this tragedy.
And a thermometer? I see what you mean, but I don’t think you’re bring a thermometer with you on your travels…