Tea Infuser Comparison

Loose leaf tea offers a much wider range of flavor and opportunities for exploration but unless you jump straight to an Asian style brewing vessel (gaiwan, yixing teapot, etc) then a quality tea infuser is a must. There are millions of different tea infusers on the market so knowing what to look for when buying one makes the process much easier. In this video we touch on the different aspects of the infusers, history of their size, and what to keep in mind when picking out an infuser.
Tea comes in various sizes so understanding volume is a key to finding the right infuser for your tea. An infuser should comfortably fit at least 3 grams of tea, but first you should know how much liquid your favorite cup holds. In the US, the standard mug is 12oz, not 8oz. So your infuser should actually hold 4-5 grams of tea.
The goal of the infuser is to give the tea room to brew and absorb the water to release all the flavor in the leaf. Without the room, the leaves will not fully absorb the water, giving you a weaker cup of tea. This is why the hand-me-down tea ball you might have received from grandma may look cute but just won't perform with larger leaf tea -- they are simply too small to allow the tea to fully expand and release all the flavor into the cup.
Smaller tea infusers will work for tea like our Malty Assam Black, a CTC style tea, or most rooibos or honeybush based tisanes that naturally have a smaller cut to them. These teas are relatively small to begin with and don't expand a lot. You won't want to use them with things like gunpowder or balled oolongs which, despite their small initial size will grow substantially when steeped in water.
The reason we use the ForLife Folding Handle Infuser in our tasting room is because it offers maximum flexibility. Its large enough to accommodate any of the 100+ teas we have, smaller teas like rooiobos all the way to large leaf oolongs and Bai Mu Dan white tea, and the folding handle design fits virtually any size mug!
Products Referenced in the Video
ForLife Folding Handle Infuser - www.dominionte...
Da Hong Pao - www.dominionte...
Malty Assam Black - www.dominionte...
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[@1naturaljourney971]

Very useful demo!

[@ReallyTallGuy]

Thank you, that was very informative! Subscribed :)

[@everydayrants663]

I'm experimenting with the Ahmad brand I have the cardamom and I have the earl grey they recommend five to seven minutes of brewing time for cardamom at but it doesn't recommend how many grams per cup I've had tested out 3 g 4 g and 5 g what do you recommend for brewing this type of tea it is loose leaf I do have the cup tea infuser and I also have a ninja cold brew system that does tea as well and I also have a specific tea water boiler from China I bought that has specifics at water temperatures for different types of tea it recommends 212 for black tea and it doesn't precisely any recommendations you have would be great and the Graham usage I find that my keys lately are becoming bitter for some reason I don't know why l I'm brewing it to the specifications on the

[@stacyowl1658]

The tea ball you have is really cute! I like the fish at the end of it... where did you get it?

[@Pittaz]

Is the tea ball recommended for tea such as rooibos and lavender loose leaf?

[@ashleycalhoun1824]

I wouldn't recommend tea balls for really any purpose. Most of them have to large of a mesh for Rooibos. I'd recommend a basket infuser for teas like that.