Aladdin Tea Infuser Mug

Back when I drank coffee, I was a coffee snob. Actually, I was an espresso snob. I drank dry cappuccinos and would only sink to regular coffee in France, or at a gas station in the middle of nowhere without a Starbucks, low moments that can befall even the pickiest coffee drinkers.

These days I'm a tea snob. I like green tea, preferably the expensive kind that tastes like a freshly mown Japanese lawn. When I fly, I bring tea bags. When I travel places where I suspect there's a scarcity of green tea, I bring loose tea, the good stuff. It just makes traveling a little more....civilized.

Photo: Matt Irving
Me, green tea, and my Aladdin tea infuser in Buenos
Aires.

On a recent trip to Argentina, I packed my vacuum-sealed bag of Sencha and the Aladdin Essential Tea Infuser, it was like my own mobile tea shop. I love the Aladdin tea infuser. I hiked with it, I lounged with it, I traveled with it. I was literally attached to it all day. You just add loose tea to the basket, lower it, and flip up at the desired strength. The lid screws on so you can knock it over all you want and it won't spill. It's microwave safe, fits in car cup holders, BPA free. Perfect for the snobby coffee convert.

The best part? It's Bisphenol-A free, which means you don't have to worry about ingesting freaky plastics. And at $18.99 it costs less and is way more practical than the average tea pot.

--Caroline Treadway

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