Cigarettea

No, it’s not a tobacco-flavored tea blend. Cigarettea is a concept design developed by Anton Schnaider, that marries the healthy and unhealthy lifestyle. Initially it looks just like any pack of cigarettes, however the usually harmful ‘smokes’ are filled with tea leaves and when dipped in a cup they infuse the water. The filter at the end makes the ‘tea bag’ float.

And so you end up with a somewhat unattractive view of a cigarette swimming around in your cup, but just imagine people’s reaction. Smoking has never been so cool, at least not since the invention of chocolate cigarette. But I highly doubt this would be a great substitute for smokers to quit.

 

Origami tea

Origami tea – an amazing concept by Russian designer Natalia Ponomareva. A very simplistic design of package and tea bags inspired by origami folding. I dont’ doubt that this would be a huge hit with all tea lovers out there. Let’s hope it goes into production!

The Perfect Cup

Callum Kenny, a design student, has created a tea set which allows tea drinkers to brew a perfect cup of tea. The very clinical looking set includes devices such as a glass carafe, three temperature bulbs, a tea caddy and a tea filter. The main feature of this design is usage of the Galileo thermometer to get the correct temperature of brewing water. The three bulbs indicate different temperatures and raise to the top of the glass cylinder when water is ready to be used.

Once ready, you place the tea leaves inside the filter and put it into the tube. You wait and admire the water changing color and there it is, your perfect cup. The inspiration for this project was that 64 millions of cups are being brewed on a daily basis, however few of them are prepared with deserved care and attention to achieve the optimum flavor.

However, this brings me to the question ‘Is there a perfect cup of tea which can be endlessly executed in the same ritual?’ I agree, tea is usually prepared with little care, in fact, what most people do with tea is sacrilege, but can there be a device which will produce a perfect cup of tea every time. I’ll leave you with that. Enjoy the video.

 

 

Private tea symphony

A private tea moment is best enjoyed with soothing background music and thanks to the Drip with Song teacup design you can do both at once. The musical gadget features a CD player inside the saucer with built-in speakers, while the cup can be used to adjust the volume. Other controls are also placed on the saucer to ensure easy control of the player.

Although this idea is a bit outdated and CDs have been mostly replaced by audio files, it is nevertheless noteworthy. Who knows, a player like this, with a hard drive inside could be a handy element of a daily relaxation routine. The design is also universal and simple to use. If you think about it, a tea cub is a very simple piece of kitchenware, but the design ideas can be endless. Brought to you by designer Jongmin Kim.

The Yellow Submarine

Joining the lines of such quirky infusers as Sharky, we present the cute little yellow submarine – Tea Sub. Although it does bring down the sophisticated tea culture to lower levels of tackiness, one must admit that it is quite adorable. If you don’t like tacky gadgets, but you are a Beatles fan, you might want to bring this along to Octopus’s garden party anyway.

The yellow infuser is made of silicon and is dishwasher safe, designed by Ototo available at Monkey Business.

If you’re tough – Knuckle Duster Mug

The nature if tea is usually a peaceful one, but now there is a way of drinking tea for the violent and aggressive without loosing face – the Knuckle Duster MUG! from the London design studio Thabto is the answer.

This is the perfect way to enjoy your favorite hot drinks without loosing the tough appearance – ideal for mafia bosses, thugs, prisoners, professional fighters and many more. But seriously, apart from the skilled and pleasing design, these mugs carry a sense of humor and can attract a lot of interest. They are made of porcelain and the a knuckle duster handle is titanium plated. Available in three different colors – white, white/gold and black/silver. To not subtract from a man’s manliness they also come truly ‘man sized’, which doesn’t mean that a woman can’t have one (cause there are some very manly and dangerous women out there too).

The good things is, they are not overpriced. For £10.95 you can impress your coworkers, be original and ensure that nobody will mess with you ever again.

Great tea design ideas

Completely by chance I came across this tea brand I have never seen before, and what captured my interest to check it out was a funky-looking silver tin. It has an unusual shape, it looks a bit industrial in my mind, yet it is graceful at the same time. Looking further into the brand’s offerings I discovered many interesting products.

Apart from the silver tin, While Lion teas are also offered in glass jars and plastic canisters, however the most fun of them all is the Gift Sachet Tin, which looks just like the tin below, except it is black and holds a photo frame, so you can personalize it with your own photos. Pretty neat aye?

Tea-wise the brand has much to offer – loose teas (including organic), silk sachets, blooming teas and even iced teas. Except for some classics, tea-names that captured my taste buds are Lemon Souffle, Raspberry Truffle and Pomegranate Oolong. I can not say whether they taste good or judge the quality, but you can check out more yourself here.

Ceremonie teas – candy for the eyes

Would you sell yourself to the devil for a fancy selection of teas? I would, for these I would. These beautifully designed packages emphasize the ceremonial atmosphere surrounding tea and could be just a small taste of what’s inside. These luxurious babies are the products of Cérémonie Tea, a company that offers high quality tea blends and herbal infusion in silk tea bags.

If that’s not exciting enough here are some of the flavors – Ginger Peach, Wild Berry, Hindu Chai, Formosa Oolong, African Cocoa, Chamomile Flower, Earl Grey Lavender and and and…. Unfortunately their website is down and there is not much information about the availability of the teas, but we hope to hear about it more soon! If the quality lives up to the one of Tea Forte there could certainly be some competition arising. This is some marvelous eye candy!

Electric teapots with traditional elegance

The Polish company Haen has come up with a series of electric kettles with inspiration from different places around the world. The ceramic kettles have classic tea pot shapes and they will appeal to those who look for modern appliances, with a retained traditional elegance. Below you can see Tokyo – a design that combines the traditional and modernistic Tokyo vibe, Barcelona – with an art deco feel and Amsterdam clearly inspired by traditional Dutch ceramics from Delft.

The electric kettles boil water to 100ºC and turn off automatically when done, or when you take them off the heating element. They also feature a water level indicator, cordless serving and a 70 cm long heating element cord. They are available in 3 sizes – 0,6 liters, 1 liter and 1,2 liters. The Plus sets also include four cups and a tea pot with a matching design.

I think these are a great idea, but you have to be extra careful with the kettle, since it’s ceramic. The only problem I have with these are the somewhat low quality design patterns – they could be better, more detailed and more tasteful. Right now these are available in stores around Poland and you can preview more models on the website.

Simply Tea Mug

A very simple design for a practical tea mug couldn’t be more simple then this. The Tea Mug has an inbuilt filter, to filter away the tea leaves while you drink, but you’d probably have to finish your brew fast for it not to become bitter. Even a child could figure out how to use this piece of teaware.

This design won a honorable mention at “The Intelligent Hand” Macef Design Awards 2010. By designers from Korea Jiyoon Yum, Jee-Yoon Yum and In-Sook Rhee.