In the way that tea blends are infinite it seems that ways to make tea, or at least the devices with which we use to make tea, are also infinite. I have several infusers in my own home and I wanted to go over a few of them here to give my personal opinion of them.

The style of infusers that are most common and easier to get a hold of are the kind that feature some version of a little metal cage with holes in it attached to something so that you can easily remove it from the water when steeping is done. You can see here I’ve taken a picture of 3 kinds I have rolling around in my junk drawer.

The top one is by far my least favorite of the designs. It’s a ball that fits together with a little groove/notch thingy but is almost impossible to actually put together and take apart.

The one slightly to the right and below of that one is my favorite (or rather the one I hate the least) of the three here. It is a fine mesh material which is nice because it doesn’t allow debris to go through into the cup. It has a little lever that closes easily and efficiently.

The bottom left one isn’t too bad but has some fatal flaws: namely the holes are a little too big and a lot of debris gets through.  It has a handle that when squeezed opens the two sides of the basket.

I’m not a huge fan of these types of infuser because they are often unreliable. I find that you can only put about 2 teaspoons worth of tea in them otherwise it doesn’t steep evenly. As I mentioned the two with holes let gunk into your cup and while the mesh one is the best of the bunch I just generally avoid these unless I’m trapped in a hotel room for two weeks with nothing but a microwave and a tiny tin of Marsala Chai. (This is not an exaggeration, that’s how I came to own the mesh one. I left my good infusers and tea at home while I was living out of a hotel room.)

At left here is one of two other types of infusers I own. This one is Bodum’s The de Chine mug/infuser combo.

This is a cute little set and mine came with hand tied green tea that flowers when you steep it. It’s really quite pretty. I received this as a gift this last Christmas and I use it regularly. I find it’s best for teas that don’t have small pieces in them because the slats on the bottom that the tea drains through can let some debris in as well. This is perfect for straight up blends though, like black, green or white teas that don’t have a lot of other herbs mixed in. You can use the infuser with most other mugs as well, it doesn’t have to be the mug it came with.

I do love that it has a lid for steeping and if you put the lid down on the counter you can even set the infuser in the little indented area to hold any leakage you might have, then reuse the tea in the infuser again for a 2nd cup if you  like.

I have to say though, by far my favorite infuser is my Teavana Perfect Tea Maker. It’s not the prettiest device but it sure gets the job done.  This little beauty has a flip top lid, a fine mesh bottom and little levers underneath that release the liquid when you set the maker on top of your cup or mug. The tea then drains down into your mug leaving all the leaves, herbs and debris right where it belongs. The handle is great because to empty it I just grab the handle and dump it over the garbage can, knock it a few times with my palm and then rinse it out for the next use. It comes with a little plate to stand it on so if it drips after you’ve released your tea it drips on the plate and not your counter top. The mesh filter doesn’t hold on to flavors at all so I can steep my spice heavy blends in the morning and my light herbal blends in the evening with no carryover flavors.

This is the infuser I use daily as does the rest of my family. You can’t beat the price either, at about $18 it’s definitely worth the investment if you drink loose leaf tea on even a semi regular basis.

So things to consider when you’re looking for an infuser:

  • How easy is it to open/shut?
  • Can it be cleaned easily?
  • Look for fine mesh strainers over actual holes in the device
  • Is there a way to take the infuser out of the hot water safely?
  • Will the material used hold on to flavors and/or discolor easily?
  • Look for food grade materials only, like stainless steel. You don’t want rust in your tea. Gross.
  • Is this the right price point for how often I will use it? Obviously there are very high end infusers out there and if you drink a lot of tea or feel you would get the use out of something on that end of things then go for it! However if you are only an occasional tea drinker you may want to keep to the less than $10 category of infusers.

Todays Tea of the Day is the Luna Herbal Blend, a great bed time tea and perfect for relaxing and mellowing out. Use code ‘totd’ at checkout out for 10% off your order of this tea for the next 24 hours.