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If you’re a tea lover, it’s probably time to upgrade from using teabags to brewing your own loose leaf tea. That’s probably got you thinking, what’s the best tea infuser for loose leaf tea?
Not only is it fun to do, but with the right equipment, you can get a more flavorful cup, such as if you use a tea infuser.
Last update on 2024-10-04 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
What’s a tea infuser?
A tea infuser is basically a device that enables you to brew loose tea leaves.
It usually works by being placed directly over your mug or cup and requires you to steep the tea for a few minutes to release all its delicious flavors.
Sounds interesting?
To help you get started in the land of tea infusers, we’ve compiled a buying guide of the best tea infuser on the market, along with four interesting alternatives, so you can make the tea you drink healthier and tastier.
Now that we’ve looked at the specs of five of the best tea infusers on the market, let’s take a deeper look at their features and details, starting with the tea infuser that makes the number-one spot on our list.
Best Tea Infusers – Reviews & Buying guide for 2020
Best OVERALL: Tea Forte Kati Cup Ceramic Tea Infuser
This infuser cup looks gorgeous, with its striking cherry blossom design. Here’s why we think it’s the best infuser cup you can buy.
Benefits
- This tea infuser cup is a tumbler made out of ceramic, with a stainless-steel infuser basket for loose tea leaves.
- It has an insulated double-wall design when it comes to its ceramic. This is useful to keep your tea hotter for longer than it would be in a mug or cup.
- It has a lid that you can keep closed while steeping your tea so that it stays hot.
- The tea infuser basket that’s made of steel is extra fine. That means you won’t get residue in your cup of tea.
Extra features
- As a nice bonus, this metal tea infuser has a basket that’s really easy to clean, which makes this loose leaf tea infuser really convenient.
- The lid of the infuser is not only useful as a lid – once you’ve steeped your tea, it can be used as a tray for the infuser.
- Both the cup and lid can be washed in the dishwasher. They’re also safe for use in the microwave.
Drawbacks
- Some people say that while the cup keeps their tea really hot, it feels too hot to carry around.
Buying Guide
This Tea Forte infuser cup costs around $20, so it’s easy on the budget while ensuring you can enjoy your tea wherever you go.
Perfect for people who love their tea!
Thanks to its durable and beautiful design, this Kati cup is the best tea steeper, and it also makes a fantastic gift for loved ones who are crazy about tea.
Best Infuser Set: Tea Infuser Set by Chefast (2+1 Pack)
This tea steeper set contains everything you need to make the perfect cup of tea.
Here’s everything to know about it, and why it should be on your list of must-haves to buy.
Benefits
- This set comes with three steepers in two sizes: you get two single-cup infusers and one multi-cup infuser. This enables you to brew more than one cup if you want. It’s perfect for entertaining guests.
- It comes with a scoop included that has a bag clip so you can tweak the amount of tea that you want to use.
- This tea leaf infuser set is made with extra-fine stainless steel that’s not only easy to clean – just run it underwater – but it also means you can add spices to your tea without worrying about them creating residue in your cup.
Extra Features
- The infusers have locking lids.
- The set is delivered to you in a stylish bag, making it perfect for gifts.
Drawbacks
- Some users who’ve purchased this tea infuser set have reported that the locking mechanisms are not as secure as they would have liked.
Buying Guide
This tea infuser set costs around $25, which is a real bargain for everything you get in the pack, and that’s what makes it the best tea infuser for loose tea if you’re on a budget.
You’ll have everything you need to start brewing delicious cups of tea.
The sleek stainless-steel design of this set will also make it look wonderful in your kitchen.
Best Teapot With Infuser: Hiware 1000ml Glass Teapot with Removable Infuser
If you’re looking for an infuser that comes with a teapot, this is the one to buy.
One of the best things about it is that the infuser is removable, so you can use the teapot on its own.
Benefits
- The teapot is made of glass so it will look sleek and stylish on your kitchen counter. The glass is heat-resistant borosilicate glass.
- The teapot is hand-crafted with thoughtful features to make brewing a cup super-easy and enjoyable: it has a non-drip spout and ergonomic handle.
- This loose leaf tea brewer has a removable high-grade stainless steel infuser that’s made of mesh.
Extra Features
- For the ultimate convenience, you can use this teapot on an electric or gas stove. You can also place it in the refrigerator if you like to cold-brew your tea.
Drawbacks
- It only boils enough water for two cups of tea, although that might not be a problem for you (unless you love having seconds!).
- Other users have reported that the teapot is difficult to clean because of its shape. However, you can put it in the dishwasher to clean, as it’s safe for washing on the top rack.
Buying Guide
This pretty teapot and infuser cost around $35.
That’s a decent price for a fantastic product that looks good and helps you make a delicious tea.
The extra touches, such as its ergonomic handle, go the extra mile.
What’s so great about this teapot is that you can use it on its own, so it’s really like you’re purchasing an infuser and a brand-new, stylish kettle.
It’s a bargain if you consider that you can find a cheap kettle for around the same price as this product but you won’t get an infuser with it.
Alternatives: House Again 2 Pack Tea Ball Infuser & Cooking Infuser
This is an interesting product that puts a positive spin on traditional tea ball infusers. Let’s check out its features!
Benefits
- This tea infuser is made of stainless steel so it’s durable and easy to clean.
- The product packaging contains one extra-fine mesh cup, one saucer, and one screw lid.
- The problem with traditional tea ball infusers is that they don’t always seal as tightly as you’d like. This tea strainer has a threaded connection design that changes that. It makes it easy to close and open, but also seals tightly so that you don’t get residue in your cup.
- It has an extra fine mesh that traps tea leaves and particles, such as spices and herbs that can safely be used in this infuser. While it traps particles, the mesh allows the delicious tea flavor to enter your cup.
Extra Features
- It’s free of chemicals and odors, so you don’t have to worry about your cup of tea smelling a bit funky.
- It has a really long chain that’s 4.7 inches so that it can fit almost all sizes of cups, mugs, and teapots.
Drawbacks
- Some users have reported having a bit of trouble with unscrewing the lid of the tea infuser pots.
- Others have claimed that the saucer that’s included in the pack is too small to properly catch all the tea drippings.
Buying Guide
This House Again tea ball infuser is really value for money, costing just around $10 on Amazon.
For this price, it’s a valuable, versatile product that’s a must to purchase if you love your morning cuppa.
In addition, for this price, you can overlook where the tea infuser falls a bit short.
Tilevo Tea Infuser
If you love cute items to add to your kitchen, you’ll love this Tilevo tea infuser. Here’s why it’s so great.
Benefits
- These tea infusers are two silicone dinosaurs – one blue and one green – that look beautiful and work hard to make you smile every time you brew yourself a cup of tea.
- The infusers are made of silicone, but they’re BPA free. The silicone is also food grade, which is important when it comes to silicone that’s used in the kitchen, while also being non-toxic.
- They’re durable and really easy to clean.
- These infusers are really easy to use. You just have to fill the bottom part of the silicone dinosaur infuser with the tea you want to make. Push the top of the infuser to the bottom of your mug or cup and let it steep.
Extra Features
- These silicone tea infusers can fit any mug or cup.
- You can wash them by hand or put them in the dishwasher. They’re also microwaved safe.
Drawbacks
- These infusers can’t be used with powdered tea.
- They tend to float to the top of the mug or cup if you put them in water. You have to be sure to pour the water onto them.
- Some users have reported that the space in the infuser isn’t big enough for a decent cup of tea, while others have stated that the holes in them are too big and that causes a lot of debris to enter the tea.
Buying Guide
The Tilevo Tea Infuser costs around $20, which is really value for money, especially since you get two infusers in a pack.
Tea Infusers FAQ
How do you use a tea infuser?
While some tea infusers might be a little different to use, such as the previously-mentioned Tilevo tea infuser that is filled with tea and then put in a mug, generally using a tea infuser is really easy.
Here’s a rundown of how to use a standard tea infuser, as described on wikiHow:
- Put about two teaspoons of loose tea into the infuser.
- Put the infuser into your cup or mug and pour hot water over it.
- Wait a few minutes to allow the tea to steep.
- Remove the infuser from the mug or cup you are using.
- Throw out the tea and rinse the infuser. Choosing an infuser that’s made of stainless steel means you can easily run it under water to clean, or pop it in the dishwasher if you’ve got a tea infuser that’s safe for use in the dishwasher.
In this buying guide, we’ve looked at very different tea infusers and these will be used in different ways, but they’re all user-friendly.
An example is the Hiware Glass Teapot that has a removable infuser.
How you use a glass teapot and infuser is by first putting water into the teapot and boiling it on the stove.
Then, you put your favorite tea in the infuser. Put the infuser into the teapot and cover the lid to keep it hot.
After steeping the tea for a few minutes, it’ll be ready to pour into a mug or cup.
How much tea do you put in a tea infuser?
When making tea, you might wonder how much tea you should put into an infuser.
A good general guideline is to use a quarter-cup of tea leaves to make about eight cups of tea, as wikiHow reports.
It’s clear to see that a small amount of tea leaves goes a long way!
One of the mistakes to avoid when brewing tea with an infuser is to put a too-small amount of tea leaves.
For example, as reported by Simple Loose Leaf, some teas only require two grams of tea leaves while others require 10 grams.
Always check the instructions on the tea you’re using so that you get a cup that’s full of flavor.
Does tea get stronger the longer it steeps?
You might have heard that you should leave your tea to steep for at least a few minutes before drinking it, to ensure that you get a lot of flavors and perhaps even a higher amount of caffeine.
But there are some important rules to follow when steeping tea.
If you want to make the most of the caffeine in your cup of tea, you should brew it for a few minutes.
A study that was published in the Journal of Analytical Toxicology reports that steeping tea for a few minutes can really increase the tea’s caffeine content.
In the study, brewing a cup of Lipton black tea for one minute resulted in it having 17mg of caffeine (per six ounces of water), but when it was brewed for five minutes, that number jumped to 47mg of caffeine.
This is something to consider if you are sensitive to the effects of caffeine.
It’s not just caffeine you should be boosting by following the correct steeping rules.
By brewing your tea for a few minutes, you can also make the most of its powerful antioxidants.
Both black and green tea contain healthy flavanols that decrease levels of inflammation in the body.
If you want to make the most of these powerful ingredients, you should steep your tea for a few minutes.
Don’t think that steeping it for longer will increase its health benefits, though: a study published in the Beverages journal found that most of the healthy compounds in tea are released within the first five minutes.
Can you put a tea bag in a tea infuser?
If you prefer to use teabags instead of loose tea leaves, you might be wondering if you can use a tea infuser with teabags.
You can, but you shouldn’t use the teabag as a whole.
Instead, snip off a corner of your teabag and then pour its contents into the tea infuser.
That said, it’s worth making sure that the tea infuser you’re using to brew a cup of tea can catch those fine particles.
Some infusers don’t have a fine enough mesh to catch them, which could cause you to end up with debris in your cup.
The tea that’s in a tea bag is like a fine powder, and some infusers can’t work with tea when it’s in this state.
For example, the Tilevo Tea Infuser can’t work with powdered tea, so it probably wouldn’t be able to infuse tea that you’ve extracted from a teabag.
If you’re using a teapot that comes with an infuser, you might have better luck with making a cup of tea by using tea bags.
You might not even have to cut the teabags because these would work like infusers themselves, in the same way, that they make tea in a cup of boiling water.
So, you could put these tea bags in the teapot instead of using an infuser and then enjoy a hot cup.
That’s why a product like the Hiware Glass Teapot is so great.
It has a removable infuser so you can still use it as a regular teapot if you’ve run out of tea leaves but still have teabags handy.
Difference between tea infuser and strainer
You might be wondering if a tea infuser is the same thing as a tea strainer. Let’s clear up that confusion.
- Tea infusers come in various styles and types, but they essentially work in the same way. They can hold a certain amount of tea leaves and steep these leaves to release flavor from them, which enter the cup through small holes they have in them. Tea infusers are usually placed onto your mug or cup, and they’re perfect for making one cup of tea.
- On the other hand, tea strainers are small objects that contain mesh, sort of like a sieve. You put the tea leaves into them and then put them over your cup so that you can brew tea. You pour boiled water directly over them so that the tea drips into your cup. On the subject of tea strainers, you might have heard about tea ball strainers.
What is a tea ball strainer?
Although it has the word “strainer” in its name, a tea ball strainer is basically a tea infuser!
An example is the House Again 2 Pack Tea Ball Infuser & Cooking Infuser that we’ve featured in our reviews of the best tea infusers on the market.
Even though there are some differences between a tea infuser and tea strainer, essentially they work in similar ways.
Conclusion
If you love drinking tea and you’re looking for a tea infuser, there are many options at your disposal.
In this buying guide of tea infuser reviews, we’ve looked at the best tea infuser on the market, along with four creative and interesting alternatives so you can find the best infuser for your needs (and perhaps one that looks fantastic in your kitchen), without having to pay a lot of money.
In addition, we’ve looked at some frequently asked questions about tea infusers and how they’re different from strainers to clear up the confusion.
