How to use a tea infuser
Using a tea infuser is a piece of cake! Just set your infuser in a pot or cup, add your tea leaves, pour hot water over them and infuse. When your tea is finished steeping, you can remove the tea leaves and enjoy!
What you’ll need:
- A tea infuser: Some pots and cups come with built-in tea infusers, but you can also use a tea infuser with any pot or cup you want.
- Loose leaf tea: Choose one of your favorites loose leaf teas to brew.
- Cup, mug, or pot: Pick a favorite mug, cup, or pot to use.
- Electric or stovetop tea kettle: Use a tea kettle to heat your water. If you don’t have a tea kettle, you can also heat up water in a pot on the stove.
- Perfect cup tea scoop (optional): While not strictly necessary, a perfect cup tea scoop is a great way to easily measure tea leaves.
1. Place your infuser in your pot or cup
Grab a favorite mug or cup and place your tea infuser inside. You can use a tea infuser mug that comes with a built-in infuser, or use any infuser in a teacup or mug.
2. Measure your tea leaves
We recommend using about one teaspoon of tea leaves for every six ounces of water in your pot or cup.
3. Heat your water
Depending on what type of tea you're making, the ideal water temperature should be anywhere from 175 degrees to 212 degrees (a full boil).
4. Infuse your tea leaves
Pour the water slowly over the tea leaves in your infuser, making sure to fully saturate the leaves. Optionally, if your tea infuser mug comes with a lid, now's a good time to place your lid on top to conserve heat.
5. Steep your tea
Depending on what type of tea you're making, the right steep time can range from under a minute to five minutes or more. Be sure not to oversteep your tea, since this can result in a bitter cup.
6. Remove the infuser and enjoy!
Once you've steeped your tea, the last step is to remove the infuser and enjoy your tea! You can add sweetener and milk if desired. If you're preparing a tea that can withstand multiple infusions, you can set your tea leaves aside and reuse them in a second steep after you enjoy your first cup.
Want to learn more about preparing tea? Check out our comprehensive guide to brewing tea.
Benefits of tea infusers
We prefer using tea infusers for a whole host of reasons:
- They're easy to use: Making loose leaf tea can seem a little intimidating if you're used to using tea bags, but tea infuser are really easy to use and approachable even for people who are new to loose leaf tea.
- They're easy to clean: Just tip your used tea leaves into the trash or compost, give them a rinse, and you're good to go! Most tea infusers are also dishwasher safe, which can be a great way to get rid of any tea stains in your infuser.
- They give your tea leaves room to expand: Unlike other tea brewing methods, like tea balls or tea bags, tea infusers give your tea leaves plenty of room to expand as they steep. This is especially important for loose leaf tea, which can double or even triple in size while steeping depending on the type of tea. Giving the leaves room to expand while they infuse results in a more flavorful cup.
- They're eco-friendly: One tea infuser can last for years—in fact, we've used many of the infusers in our shop for over a decade! That's thousands of cups of tea you make with one tea infusers—we think they're well worth the investment.
- They're affordable: It can be fun to invest in beautiful pots and fancy tea setups, but at its most basic, all you really need is a tea infuser and your favorite mug to make a good cup of tea.
- They're portable: Want to make tea while you travel, but don't want to take a whole tea set? Infusers are small, lightweight, and easy to take with you on your travels.
Tea infuser mugs, pots, and tumblers
Tea infusers are often sold on their own, but can also be included as part of a set with mugs, pots, or tumblers. If you're looking for an all-in-one set that makes it quick and easy to brew your tea, choosing a vessel that comes with a built-in infuser is a great option.
Our tea infusers
We carry a variety of tea infuser options, including stand-alone infusers as well as a variety of pots and cups that come with infusers.
Tea infuser with folding handles
This simple, compact tea infusers is one of our best-selling tea accessories. The folding handles can fit a wide variety of cup sizes, and also fold down for easy storage (no getting stuck in your kitchen drawer).
Stainless steel tea infuser basket
This tea infuser is a little bigger than our folding handles tea infuser, which makes it a great fit for larger mugs and pots. With extra-fine holes that prevent tea leaves and particles from filtering into the cup, it also has a wide brim that curves upward to create a handle for easy removal.
Glass tea infuser mug
This elegantly crafted set includes a glass mug, a fine mesh infuser, and a ceramic lid that doubles as a drip tray for the infuser. Everything you need to brew the perfect cup of tea! Choose from sky blue, powder brown, and wool grey lids.
Curve tea infuser mug
This all-in-one mug includes everything you need to brew up the perfect cup of tea. Each ceramic mug comes with a fine mesh stainless steel infuser and a ceramic lid, which also doubles as a saucer to rest the infuser on when the tea is done steeping.
Glass teapot with infuser
This glass teapot features a fine mesh stainless steel infuser basket for easy brewing. Made of high quality heat resistant glass, this teapot is also safe for stovetop use.
