Energy saving tips for the semi-discerning tea drinker

I am a frequent drinker of that finest of hot beverages, tea, and of course I always make my tea in a pot, as that is the only way tea should be made (ok ok yes I do use teabags still, but anyway). My teapot at home is a fine brown two pint Denby I found in one of Shrewsbury's 15 charity shops. It is generally highly satisfactory, and I do habitually use a very large mug but even then, despite a splendid hand knitted tea-cosy there are times when it just isn't possible to get through two pints of tea before it has gone cold. The prospect of wasting good tea, and even more importantly wasting energy and needlessly expanding my carbon footprint is not a pleasant one, and so a solution to this problem was required.

Happily on a subsequent visit to the Salvation Army shop I found a very stylish jug style thermos flask (circa 1975) which, once I have had the first cup, holds just the right volume to take all of the remaining tea in the pot and keep it hot for a good five or six hours.The pot and flask are shown in the photo above, together with a pair of kitchen scissors to provide an indication of scale.

This brings numerous advantages. Not only have I avoided wasting the tea and energy in the first place, but in fact now I don't make as many pots of tea during a typical day, as it is more likely I'll have some ready and waiting in the flask, so even more energy is being saved. Also of course it is very pleasing to have hot tea on tap, so to speak, rather than waiting for the kettle to boil and then waiting for the tea to brew in the pot. In due course, which is to say when I get round to it, I plan to work out the energy savings delivered by the inexpensive combination of teapot and flask and then try to get these items included on the standard list of home energy saving devices, up there with low energy bulbs and thermostatic radiator valves.