The best and most flavorful tea can be easily prepared with a tea infuser and can transform your favorite beverage. After reviewing the most popular tea infusers from a variety of top brands we have chosen the best.
Drinking tea is becoming more and more popular beyond the traditional areas of Asia and beyond. Why? Because tea drinkers demand more and want full-flavor options that only loose leaf tea can provide.
A tea infuser will make preparing your favorite cup of loose leaf tea stronger, more delicious, and easier.
A tea infuser is made specifically to hold dry and loose tea leaves. So, why is it challenging to find a tea ball?
The various options you have ranged from a tea maker to tea ball or even a tea egg to a basket to even animal shaped infusers.
Any cup of good tea would more likely be made with loose leaf tea leaves compared to tea bags. The best tea infuser makes loose leaf tea preparation almost as fuss-free and easy as using tea bags.
Check out these top brands from OXO to Finum and more to learn more about the best tea infusers of 2021.
Tea Infuser Basics:
In essence, a tea infuser is made specifically to hold dry and loose tea leaves. If you are making strong tea, you would need to steep or brew in a cup, container, or teapot with hot water. An infuser permits you to quickly steep a cup of tea or an entire teapot. In summary, the infuser makes it easy for you to manage and control the infusion time for making tea. Why? If you steep a cup of tea for too long then the over-extraction of tannins will cause a bitter cup.
Why Use a Tea Infuser:
In the 19th century, The tea infuser began to get popular. Why? Simply because loose leaf tea is of higher quality and the favored option for brewing the "best" tea. The reasons below are why tea infusers gained popularity and are useful are many as you can see below.
Top 7 Best Tea Infusers Highlights:
- Best Overall Tea Infuser: Yoassi Extra Fine Stainless Steel Tea Infuser. One of the most highly rated because of its large basket, design, easy maintenance, and versatility for fitting various cups and tea pots; steeps evenly throughout as well.
- Best Basket Tea Infuser: Finum Brewing Basket Tea Infuser. More control and less messy as this extra fine mesh infuser will guarantee a stronger cup of tea with less tea leaves getting in your cup or teapot, reasonably priced overall.
- Best Budget Tea Infuser: Norpro Stainless Steel Mesh Tea Ball Strainer. By far the most affordable single tea infuser on the market; tea ball design made for spices and loose leaf tea and manufactured with durable clips.
- Best for Fine Tea Leaves Infuser: FORLIFE Extra-fine Tea Infuser and Dish Set. An elegantly designed infuser that is ideal for fine teas also comes with a ceramic dish to place your tea after usage and well reviewed on Amazon.
- Best Creative Tea Infuser: Fred MR. TEA Silicone Tea Infuser. Creatively inspired tea infuser that will make people react and smile; stays on cup securely and makes a great and memorable gift for any tea lover.
- Best for Travel Tea Infuser: Zojirushi SM-JTE46AD Stainless Steel Travel Mug with Tea Leaf Filter Infuser. If you are on the go and traveling; this infuser keeps your tea warm, intact, and steeping while in motion; durable and high quality design as well.
- Best for Handle Tea Infuser: OXO BREW Twisting Tea Ball Infuser. Quick and easy tea preparation with a long-handled tea ball infuser; hand and twisting feature makes for convenient and fuss-free tea steeping.
Tea Infuser Types and Differences
Tea infusers can come in a variety of sizes and shapes. Each type of tea infuser can be good for various reasons and functions like flavor, the strength of tea, or even for keeping your tea warm.
Top 7 Best Tea Infusers
One of the most highly rated because of its large basket and useful and functional design. Overall, what makes this tea infuser very attractive is the easy maintenance and convenient upkeep. Moreover, the Yoassi is adaptable and has versatility for fitting various cups and tea pots.
First and foremost, the large basket means that you will be guaranteed a strong and flavorful tea. You can hold more tea leaves than the average tea infuser. As well, the added bonus of being able to make extra strong tea without having to worry about leaves getting in your cup or tea pot.
The practical design of this infuser means that you can easily prepare and maintain your tea by utilizing the wings on each side of the infuser. Moreover, the infuser is able to fit a teapot or container as big as 16 ounces.
Moreover, the holes in this infuser are quite fine so you will not get much grit sediment and leaves in your tea pot or cup. The reason is because the many holes in the infuser are numerous thus creating a more even tea taste. So, you will have more circulation overall to increase and strengthen the taste.
In conclusion, this Yoassi infuser had wonderful porosity, which offers efficient circulation and taste and flavor extraction. Furthermore, the infuser is easy to clean and maintain and dishwasher safe. Overall, there are very few if any problems with this infuser.
Finum will guarantee more control and less mess while preparing your tea. This tea infuser is made with this extra fine mesh infuser that will guarantee a stronger cup of tea with less tea leaves getting in your cup or teapot. Also, it's reasonably priced overall considering the quality.
Overall, what makes this tea infuser unique is that it is quite adept at getting flavor into your cup or teapot. How? Basically., this tea infuser by Finum has a brewing basket that is more secure and compact with leaves. Also, this infuser is dishwasher friendly.
The design and manufacture showcases a micro-fine mesh that has the ability to contain tea particles efficiently. In fact, the mesh basket is better than the stainless steel tea balls or other methods because it is extra fine to such a degree that you can even brew coffee!
In conclusion, the Finum brewing basket is convenient and fuss-free. Why? All you need to do is put tea into a basket and put hot water inside and then eventually you will have tea. This effective and highly efficient basket will mean stronger teas and flavors and easy convenience.
Norpro makes by far the most affordable single tea infuser on the market. No other tea ball comes close to this price and gets as good reviews on Amazon. The tea ball design is made for spices and loose leaf tea and manufactured with durable clips.
The ease of use is one of the most common selling points for any product, especially the Norpro strainer. Also, the manufacturing quality is high because the tea ball itself is made of stainless steel. Aesthetically, the Norpro is bright and works efficiently for the price.
In terms of function, this strainer has fairly tight closures to secure the tea. However, because of the tea ball closure clamp there are some issues with loose tea leaves leaking into your teapot or cup. The size of the tea infuser is 2.5 inch/6 centimeter diameter.
In conclusion, the bargain price of this infuser is what makes it attractive. Also, the fact that the Norpro has a 2″ diameter, which functions efficiently in smaller tea pots or cups/mugs. This is a multipurpose tea ball that can store spices as well.
An elegantly designed infuser that is ideal for fine teas, also comes with a ceramic dish to place your tea after usage and well reviewed on Amazon. The simplicity of the design is very appealing as you can easily make your tea and then place the infuser to the included dish.
The best thing about this infuser is that you can easily infuse tea with convenience. The handle of this infuser makes for an easy and quick steeping for various cups, tea pots, or containers that measure about 2.25 Inches to 4.5 Inches in diameter. Everything is dishwasher safe as well.
If you brew fine tea, the stainless steel infuser features extra-fine holes.One of the best things about this tea is that the holes are small so fine teas will leave less residue after brewing. So, brewing the perfect cup of tea will be ideal with this ForLife brand.
In conclusion, this is one of the more expensive infusers that will certainly be worth it. The ForLife infuser is great for steeping fine tea without leaves leaking into your cup. Moreover, the lid can be used as a drip dish for the infuser or to keep your tea warm.
Mr. Tea makes a creatively inspired tea infuser that will make people react and smile. In particular, one of the various shapes from Mr. Tea infuser to the manatea to various other creative animal shapes like the whale, sloth, and much more.
Anyone really into tea will love this tea infuser for ites creative design and shapes. You will be surprised to see the various ways you can steep your cup of tea. Also, this tea infuser is dishwasher and microwave safe.
The tea infuser is shaped by a variety of animal outlines, and made of silicone. For every creative shape or animal from this series, the body of the tea infuser has holes. For example, the manatee has arms that may attach to a cup or with Mr. Tea with the pants.
All in all, this tea infuser made for anyone looking for a novelty gift then this is perfect for its creativity. However, this infuser is not best for fine teas as there are issues with some tea leaves and steep times. In conclusion, this is a tea infuser that is best for anyone looking for a creative and artistic tea fan.
Zojirushi is a company focused on making products that showcase ease, luxury and style. This tea infuser is no exception as it shows how you can travel with style and still make and enjoy great tea. Moreover, this tea infuser keeps drinks hot or cold for up to 6 hours.
The Zojirushi Stainless Mug is especially great for its high quality design and engineering. Why? Simply because you can steep tea and keep your drink intact either cold or warm for travel purposes or various reasons. The material of the mug is stainless steel and highly durable and sturdy for using long term or on the road.
Steeping the tea inside the mug means you can keep your tea strong as there is a filter built within. Another benefit of this infuser is that you can seal it and keep your tea warm. Therefore, you are able to travel and move and keep your tea warm while being on the go.
In conclusion, this is the best tea infuser for travelers and anyone who is moving around in general. However, be careful that this tea infuser has a fairly small infuser compared to other tea infusers, but overall is still very convenient.
You can't beat OXO as a brand because it delivers a lot in terms of quality and design. Also, the most appealing aspect to this particular infuser is the long handle or scoop for inserting into any cup, tea pot, or container. Moreover, the steel ball infuser is well designed at a good price.
The handle of the OXO tea ball infuser is quite unique as it can make a tea scoop of loose leaf tea. The stainless steel ball infuser can be put into two parts and then the other can be rolled backed to make your cup of tea.
In terms of design, the OXO functions best to be placed next to mugs for more steeping. Also, the comfort of the handle allows for more convenient and easier manageability for steeping and stirring. Cleaning is fairly easy as the OXO tea infuser is dishwasher safe and free of BPA.
In general, the tea ball has holes that are not too big because many tea leaves don't get through thus making your cup of tea more pleasant. Just remember to use whole tea leaves for the ultimate tea experience and enjoyment.