


We the Brits were crazy about tea, but some French aficionados are giving them a run for their money. Two young French designers have created a self-stirring teacup. It's a glass, actually, and it has a ceramic ball at the bottom that mixes around and mixes the tea as you lift the cup or swirl it gently. The base of the glass protrudes enough so that when you lift the glass to drink, the ball never falls out and hits you in the teeth.
Cute idea guys, but we have a couple of suggestions. First, make a disposable version. The real waste when it comes to tea stirring has to do with plastic spoons and wooden sticks at places like Starbucks. Second, if you were as into tea as the Brits, you'd know that tea tastes far better when you drink it from a porcelain cup, not a glass. Maybe the next prototype should be ceramic, with a glass mixing ball.
Daily Mail, via Gizmodo
By Me at 2:29 PM ON 04/18/08
By me at 5:17 AM ON 01/14/09
This is nonsense about glass vs. porcelain. For greens and whites, most glass cups work better because they're thinner and they don't take much heat away from tea. Many porcelain cups are thicker and take too much heat from these types of teas and that affects their taste. For blacks, oolongs and puerhs, it really does not matter, I've drunk many types of very good teas from different types of cups for many years and there is no difference. The cup looks neat but a really good tea is ruined if you add sugar to it, so there's no need to mix it at all.
By E. Devin Vander Meulen II at 2:17 PM ON 01/22/10
Is this available for purchase anywhere?
E. Devin Vander Meulen II:
Is this available for purchase anywhere? ...More »