The design is very clever, so lots of marks for that.
As it happens, only last night I was reading a womanās blog post about having to clean otter poop off her dock every morning. They seem to be the raccoons of the marine world ā cute if you donāt have to smell them or deal with the property damage they cause.
Adorable, but way too small for anything but spindly black teas (Dian Hong, Qimen) and herbal blends. Perhaps their ātea turtleā prototype will accommodate at least a fine-leaf oolong but from the photo I canāt see a point of reference for size comparison.
This seems very similar to the Man-a-Tea tea infuser I received once ( see http://www.amazon.com/Fred-Friends-MANATEA-Silicone-Infuser/dp/B00B5EE0A6 ). Iām not sure it is that unique to succeed, but might appeal to otter collectors.
Thereās also a sloth infuser, a shark infuser, a squirrel infuser, a pipe infuser, etc. It looks like itās joining a pretty full field. Fortunately, it looks like they priced it to match some of the competition.
'Scruciatingly cute, but there appears to be a lip around the basket that would cause problems knocking loose the used tea leaves. A personal gripe is that Kickstarter used to accept Paypal, but no longer, and having to reinput my CC info each time I want to support a project is slightly tedious.
The lip causing tea removal issues is a pretty serious problem. It seems like it a situation where form over function is in play. People who frequently brew tea would probably be better off just using a normal infuser (something like this).
I believe that the phrase that yāall were fishing for is otterly adorableā¦
It seems like a one use item. Iād use it once and then decide it was too much work and not as useful as a teabag and give it away during the holidays. As Roosevelt mentions, itās a pretty crowded field already, what are they doing thatās any different other than the animal?
Have a sea rodent gently urinate in your cuppa. Delightful!
These are incredibly cute, and as an otter fan, I sort of have to have one.
That said, I have an extremely similar (nearly identical) tea-steeper shaped like a sloth, and Iāve found that as cute as it is, hanging on the side of my cup, itās a lousy tea steeper. Hard to fill, hard to clean (yes, due to the lip), and doesnāt let the tea infuse very well, so I rarely if ever use it.
Cute but, ach, that music!
(ach is the noise I made while hearing it, not an acronym, ymmv, etc.)
Exactly. If you search aliexpress or amazon there are countless similar silicone tea infusers that are just as cool/cute/whatever. It is a highly saturated market. On aliexpress they only cost around $2. They also donāt really do a good job, they donāt hold enough tea to make most types of tea or tea in a larger mug.
bringing new designs of silicone tea strainers to market is soooo cheap. tooling these silicone molds for production costs hardly anything.
The only reason they are kickstartering this is that they already blew their new product budget and donāt want to wait a half a year to start production. Which I guess is okay, this is a āloanā from a bunch of micro-investors essentially, except they arenāt really valuing those investors by charging them 20% off full retail (and 4X what they sell for on aliexpress) to buy a tea strainer that they will have to wait months for. If you want our money, then shouldnāt we get some sort of value for it? If not why not just take out a small business loan.
I donāt get why would anyone kickstart this product.
The $2 ManiTea:
Oh, the Huge ManiTea!
Youāll still need to check the water temperature if youāre drinking Chinese tea though:
[off topic]
Iām reminded of a pasta timer I have - Noodle Erich. 7 min alarm is āThe Internationaleā, 9 min Auferstanden aus Ruinen and 11 min the anthem of the USSR.
Unbelievably cute? No. Not at all. Boingboing why must you constantly use superlatives? Earlier today you posted āImpossibly cute paper clips shaped like cats, dogs, and wild animalsā which similarly, isnāt.
Eh, itās cute enough to justify the superlative. I agree the paperclips werenāt.
Although, I already have an infuriatingly cute tea steeper (itās a cartoon frog sitting on a lily pad, tea basket submerged) and Iām happy with it so I guess I donāt need another one.
Everything Rhik Samadder writes is pure comedy gold. I donāt visit/read his reviews for weeks, then, when Iām having a truly bad day and need a cheer-up, I binge read Rhik.
Never fails to reset my attitude, at least a little. I donāt usually laugh out loud when I read stuff thatās supposed to be funny, but when my kids heard me they really knew they were going to have to read him for themselves.
Tea leaves, any of the good ones, should be free-floating, free to circulate. You can use less tea (fewer leaves), and you get way more flavor out of what you do brew. Aye carumba. Even if this gizmo is cute, itās barbaric. Youāre just ruining a decent tea.
After steeping, those leaves should settle sedately to the bottom of oneās cup or teapot. The straining should be the last task in the process, right before you drink it.
Strain through cheerfully clenched teeth (if drinking from mug or mason jar), or use a simple fine-mesh stainless steel strainer thusly:
Itās a nice break from whatever youāre doing, a way of making yourself stop and or slow down and breathe, and remember you are not a machine.
If possible, eat the green tea leaves. They are very good for you! A good-quality green tea has leaves that taste like steamed vegetable greens, maybe spinach. (Uh, for your non-spinach-eaters, maybe it tastes like something good anyway?)
