Healing Spark: Hot Finds

No, you're not five years old, but you may still want a straw, in this case a tea straw. This hot find for a hot beverage is remarkably clever. For any tea connoisseur, your collection of loose tea leaves is a treasure, not always conveniently packaged in tea bags. And those that drink delicious black teas may suffer from tea-stained teeth. Well hold onto your tea balls, the Health Tea Wand™ from Wisdom Wands makes your dreams come true.

You've probably had a tea ball get stuck when trying to unscrew it, lost the chain in boiling hot tea, cut your fingers while opening it, or for the spring-loaded style, ended up with tea leaves still floating in your cup. That's not going to happen with a tea straw.

Yes, it does have a couple drawbacks, but much less painful than that old tea ball. First, it's not very dainty, so the good china cup isn't a good match, but if you're taking your tea in a nice tall travel mug, you're no longer going to worry about the last gulp containing tea leaves (it's tall like a regular straw). Second, when your nose is hovering over a good hot cup of tea, you probably remember not to burn your mouth, but for some reason when we use a straw, we forget, and shoot searing liquid right into our mouths. Lastly, the tea straw is Pyrex, so it will break if you drop it on the tiled floor, but at least it won't roll off the counter.

Real tea fans will love that the carry case is a durable lightweight plastic tube you can slip into your (big) purse or jacket pocket, and includes a compartment for your favorite loose tea. At the restaurant or the office, now all you need is hot water. No need to settle for what they've got in the tea box. Stir with the straw instead of dunking.

For easy cleaning it is safe to put in your dishwasher, and if anything doesn't easily rinse out, a pipe cleaner (remember those?) can get it out. The magic of the tea wand is the strainer at the bottom which acts just like a tea ball to keep the leaves in your cup and not in your mouth. Just rinse cup and straw when you are done, and no more trying to unscrew the tea ball with wet hands. As we know, the quality of loose tea is far superior to most bag teas. Wisdom Wands also makes a different straw for coffee, which results in a French-press-style brew and saves a lot of coffee brewing effort and expense.

One last advantage for the tea straw: if your teeth are tea stained from a delicious Assam or other black tea, using the straw delivers the tea right to your tongue, avoiding your teeth. No more stains the dentist has to bleach or polish. It's a clever gift as a stocking stuffer or basket add-on, as well as a hot find for your own kitchen. Reasonably retailing at $19.95, 10% of the proceeds are also donated to Oprah's Angel Network. Volume pricing is available for tea shops and cafés. We were delighted enough to make these tea straws available directly to you, rather than making you hunt down a local tea shop that has started carrying them.