Modern travel culture has fully integrated itself with coffee culture. Airports now offer plenty of suitable cups of coffee, decent hotels have put Keurig and Nespresso machines in each room, and visiting exciting cafés and coffee shops is a standard itinerary consideration. But where is the love for tea fans? To help tea drinkers enjoy their lifestyle, find the best ways to enjoy tea while traveling with the ten best travel tea sets listed below.
Outside of Asia, where tea drinking is an integral part of daily life, tea drinkers don’t see the same availability and quality of tea options while traveling, with loose-leaf tea and quality tea bags being hard to find. Suffer no longer, with tea culture on the rise globally, there is a much wider availability of portable tea sets, travel tea mugs, and every imaginable style of glass tea tumbler to bring delicious tea from home with you.
Tea lovers each have a unique style for tea drinking and individual preference for tea. So whether you are into black tea, green tea, hot tea, iced tea, or any of the many herbal teas, the world of tea is seemingly endless. And let’s be honest, it’s not likely the different teas at the airport restaurants or tea bag options in the hotel room will include your favorite.
The below list of tea sets offers the right travel gear for those in need of a good cup of tea in transit or at the hotel. We have sorted through the plethora of options and found the best designs, styles, and materials to provide you with high-quality hot tea while traveling. Find the ten best travel tea sets listed below to upgrade your tea experience while traveling.
For further detail on the considerations and feature options amongst the best travel tea sets, continue reading past the bottom of the list or click here.
The 10 Best Travel Tea Sets
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ZENS Travel Tea Set for Two
The perfect tea set for two, the ZENS Travel Tea Set for Two offers a borosilicate teapot and two glass cups, all double-walled, making them comfortable to the touch, avoiding burnt fingers. With a fitted zipper case, self-filtering silicone lid, and one of the most modern yet thoughtful designs in this list, the ZENS Travel Tea Set for Two is the lightest weight option with multiple cups. While the glass may be slightly less durable than the ceramic sets, its lightweight and affordable price make it an excellent choice for those who prefer to travel light.
OMyTea Handmade Porcelain Travel Tea Set
Looking to impress your travel partners while on the road? The OMyTea Handmade Porcelain Travel Tea Set is the perfect option to enjoy yourself from your hotel, out the back of your car, or in a sleeper train compartment on the other side of the world. With four small porcelain teacups, a small teapot with a built-in filter, a bamboo tea tray, and a cotton tea towel, you’ll have everything you need for a relaxing moment. In addition, the tea set comes with a foam-lined zipper case for safe travel; all you need is hot water.
Teabloom All-Purpose Beverage Tumbler with Tea Infuser
Simple and effective. The Teabloom All-Purpose Beverage Tumbler with Tea Infuser features a stainless steel tea flask with a brushed metal finish that is available in multiple colors. With a 16oz capacity, the Teabloom tumbler comes with both a straining lid and infuser, making it useful for steeped loose leaf tea, fruit infusions, and cold brew coffee. With a simple, understated design and a durable metal build, the Teabloom tumbler is an easy and affordable option to drink tea on the go.
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ZENS Travel Tea Set for One
One of the more unique designs available, the ZENS Travel Tea Set for One is made for travel and works well in a carry-on bag. Put your loose leaf tea in one of the two compartments and screw it onto the filter. When ready for tea, fill the cup with hot water and let it steep. Invert the tea set when you are prepared to drink, and press the button to have the hot tea filter into the cup.
Made of Tritan, the world’s safest BPA-free plastic that was made popular with Nalgene water bottles years ago, the main drawback of the ZENS Travel Tea Set for One is also one of its best qualities. Low-profile in size, the Tea Set for One can only carry up to 200ml or 6.75oz of water at a time, requiring refills from time to time.
LeafLife Premium Bamboo Thermos with Tea Infuser & Strainer
Nearly identical in design to the Teabloom tumbler listed earlier, the LeafLife Premium Bamboo Thermos with Tea Infuser & Strainer offers a more natural feel, with a bamboo finish on the outside along with a stainless steel interior. There are three sizes to choose from —12oz, 17oz, and 22oz — each offering the same range of uses, such as tea, fruit infusions, and cold brew coffee. With vacuum flask insulation, the tumbler is designed to keep drinks warm for 12 hours and cold drinks cool for up to 24 hours.
TOLOG Purple Clay Travel Tea Set
Made out of Chinese purple clay, used for hundreds of years in traditional tea sets, the TOLOG Purple Clay Travel Tea Set includes four small teacups, a ceramic tea caddy, and a dragon-spouted teapot with a built-in filter. With a more traditional design than the modern options in travel sets, this set is made in a timeless style that is less likely to wear over time due to the usage of purple clay. All set parts can fit into the included bag for safe travel.
Dltsli Mini Ceramic Travel Tea Set
Compact and well-designed, the Dltsli Mini Ceramic Travel Tea Set is made of porcelain and features two small cups, a teapot with a lid, and a filter that is also made of porcelain. The modern Chinese-inspired design is stylish and practical; with the cups and filter stored into the teapot, it can all be stored into a small padded zipper case, taking up minimal space in your bag while traveling.
Wenshuo Ceramic Travel Tea Set
Just add water. The Wenshuo Ceramic Travel Tea Set features a practical and beautiful design and everything you need for a traditional Chinese tea ceremony. The dark ceramic set includes two small teacups, a larger cup, a teapot with a wooden handle, and a tea caddy for traveling with loose leaf tea. Stored in a double-layered zipper pouch with this ceramic travel tea set, all you need is a kettle of hot water.
Pure Zen Tea Tumbler with Infuser
One of the more intriguing designs on this list, the Pure Zen Tea Tumbler with Infuser features a double-walled borosilicate glass tube with screw-on caps at either end and a stainless steel infuser that fits with one of the caps. This design allows for steep tea and remove, for long steeps, or to have multiple steeps without removing and readding the tea. In addition, the insulated double-wall provides for easy handling, making for the perfect travel tea infuser for use in day-to-day lives and through travel.
Ceoon 13oz Double Wall Glass Water Bottle
Another unique design for a travel tea infusing bottle, the Ceoon 13oz Double Wall Glass Water Bottle includes a drip-through tea infusion method. The bottle allows you to place the tea in a glass compartment and screw it on at one end, then fill the bottle section with hot water, screw it on, and invert. Once the tea has steeped, flip the bottle back over, unscrew the filter and tea compartment, and enjoy. Made of lightweight borosilicate glass and BPA-free, the Ceoon offers a thoughtful tea set design in an easy to carry bottle
Features To Consider
Tea Sets for One or Multiple Cups?
Depending on the way you travel, you may or may not be considering options that can serve more than one person at the same time. For personal consumption, it’s not hard to find a great tea infuser travel mug that can offer both a bottle to steep tea and a single cup, which will become a must-pack item in your travel bag. However, if you are looking for an option to serve a small group or share tea with your travel partner, convenient travel tea sets include small tea cups to enjoy tea as a group while traveling.
Integrated Tea Bottle Infusers
The most common option amongst the best travel tea sets and best tea infuser mugs, the integrated tea bottle infusers come in different styles and designs but ultimately offer a similar tea experience. These bottles include a bottle and internal tea strainer with small holes that provide a great way to steep your favorite loose leaf tea inside an insulated water-bottle-sized infuser.
Materials
To choose the best travel tea infuser or best travel tea set for yourself, you should first consider what materials work best for you. Unfortunately, there is no consensus best material, as different options have different benefits. One of the most popular options is borosilicate glass, a lightweight glass often used in double-wall designs, which is a relatively less-fragile glass built for long usable life and easy cleaning.
Those looking for lightweight and less-fragile options can opt for a stainless steel tumbler, which can last a long time and is less likely to break than glass, though it can be hot to touch and is not transparent, not allowing you to see inside as your steep tea. Other lightweight options include plastic, though the different materials are your best bet if you are looking for the best travel tea infuser. If you prefer a plastic alternative, make sure it is made of BPA Free plastic.
Beyond the glass, stainless steel or plastic, ceramic, and bamboo-lined stainless steel options are also included. While a ceramic portable tea set will typically offer the most beautiful design, it will undoubtedly come with additional weight compared to the other options. However, if you are willing to set aside some dedicated bag weight for a beautiful ceramic tea set, you will be sipping your cups of tea in style.
The bamboo-lined stainless steel offers a nice natural look and insulation from the heat for your hand, though it serves more of a decorative purpose overall.
When considering the best tea strainer or tea steepers, the best options are to find a tea set with a stainless steel strainer or at least stainless steel infuser baskets. These are by far the best options as they will be resistant to rust, allowing you to enjoy loose-leaf tea for years to come.
Design
There are many thoughtful designs available depending on your tea drinking preferences. For example, some offer the ability to steep loose tea leaves inside a tea infuser bottle, with a separate small cup that can be screwed off to be used to drink out of. In comparison, others are effectively water-bottle-style tea mugs with internal tea steepers, where you can sip out of the bottle directly.
Some bottles and cups offer a double wall design, which is advantageous when traveling. It can provide a layer of insulation to keep your tea hot and allow you to handle the cup or bottle comfortably.
The tea sets usually include a small ceramic or clear glass teapot to steep loose leaves of tea in and strain into two to four small cups. These can then be packed away into compact protective cases for easy traveling.
Size and Packing Space
A key consideration for those looking for the best travel tea set or right tea infuser is the size and packing space that it will take up. If you are looking for the best way to drink tea while traveling but are unwilling to sacrifice space, a tea infuser bottle will be your best option, with different sizes available depending on how much tea you want to carry.
Conversely, if you are looking for a tea set for more than one or the perfect gift for a couple, the different tea sets with small cups are still relatively compact and won’t take up much room across bags for two travelers.
Carrying Case or Protector
Importantly, if you opt for more breakable materials like glass or ceramic options, many of the options on this list come with a carrying case or soft sleeve to protect the infuser bottle or tea set. This consideration is essential for a long life with the bottle and those who prefer the beautiful design choices.
Bottom Line
There is no perfect tea infuser bottle or tea set for everyone. Each design and material option has its own pros and cons, though, among the above list of best travel tea sets on the market, you can find the best choice for yourself or the perfect give for a tea lover.
