If I may pull out my swami hat and gaze deeply into my crystal ball, I’ll forecast (educated guess) that 2013 will be a year that’s going to bring us many tea gadgets. Which is hardly what you’d call a bold prediction, given the number of these clever little gizmos that regularly make their way to the market. The gadgets were flying so fast and furious last year that this particular feature was switched over to a monthly schedule and I don’t see things changing anytime soon. So let’s get on with the gadgets and offbeat news.
The consensus seems to be that the British like tea – or so I’ve heard. But seriously, according to one recent estimate I ran across, the Brits drink about 78 million cups of tea every day. Which is impressive enough, but consider this report which suggests that so many Brits fire up the kettle for a cup of tea at the end of popular TV shows that it produces a noticeable impact on the nation’s electrical system.
On the gadget front, here’s a rather unusual idea worth noting the next time you’re shopping for a tea (or coffee, I suppose) cup. They’re called Creature Cups and they come with various sorts of ceramic creatures and whatnot (skull, alligator, spider) built into the cup. Does that top a Lionel Richie teapot? Well, I guess that’s a matter of opinion.
Speaking of offbeat teaware, here’s a teapot that might take the cake. It’s designers apparently took a page from the steampunk movement that’s been all the rage lately. The Techno Steampunk Teapot is not all that practical looking and if the truth be told it’s actually designed more as a work of art than a working teapot. Fans of teaware and the like that’s more streamlined and sleek (guilty) might find something like the WMF SmarTea Teapot more to their liking.
From the Tea – It’s Not Just For Drinking category, here are a few items I ran across recently. Here’s a report that claims that various types of tea can be used to care for your hair. Such as chamomile to bring out your blonde highlights and, not surprisingly, black tea to darken your hair. Finally, here’s a report on a Georgia company who used epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a compound in tea, to create a lip balm that’s said to be able to fight cold sores.
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