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• What to Buy
• Coffee, Tea & Espresso

The Best Tea Infusers That Come Recommended by a Tea Expert

From mesh baskets to travel-friendly tumblers, our favorites will help you brew the perfect cup.

In This Article

• Our Top Picks

Our Favorite Tea Infuser

Factors to consider, our expertise.

Food & Wine / Kevin Liang

An excellent cup of tea begins with impeccable brewing. Whether you’re using an electric kettle or a traditional teapot , preparing tea requires using specific methods to turn it into the best possible version, which is why tea enthusiasts can tell the difference between a well-brewed cup and one done hastily. 

In order for tea to be at its best, containing the most lovely flavors and aromas, it should be infused into hot water using a vessel that gives the tea leaves space to expand. "An infuser is a great way to make loose-leaf teas," says Lisa Boalt Richardson , director of the World Tea Academy and author of Modern Tea: A Fresh Look at an Ancient Beverage . But with multiple types of infusers available, it can be hard to know which one to choose. So, with help from a tea expert, we’ve highlighted our favorite mesh, ball, and glass infusers. That way, you don't have to keep guessing.

Best Overall

Finum stainless steel mesh brewing basket.

The fine mesh keeps particles from entering your cup, and its lid helps retain heat while doubling as a drip tray.

Its design may not appeal to everyone.

Those intimidated by the heat of metal tea balls will breathe a sigh of relief using this mesh alternative, which is easier to handle while hot due to the BPA-free plastic frame that doesn’t conduct heat. It’s ideal for larger tea leaves because they’ll have plenty of space to infuse the water, but it also works well for smaller leaves thanks to the fine stainless steel mesh that prevents even the smallest particles from entering your beverage.

Suitable for both mugs and kettles, you can use it for brewing a single cup or an entire pot of your favorite loose-leaf tea. And once it's done brewing, the lid will act like a saucer for the basket to prevent any last drops from trickling onto your surface. The look of its practical design may not appeal to everyone. But when it makes tea this good, who really cares? You may even find it quickly becoming one of your tea-making essentials .

Material: Stainless steel, plastic | Includes: Brewing basket and lid | Dishwasher-Safe: Yes

Best Overall, Runner Up

Oxo brew tea infuser basket.

It has a modern design with extra small holes so no loose leaves slip into the mug.

The arms are not adjustable, so it might take up too much space or clog your kitchen drawers.

The OXO Brew Tea Infuser is a thoughtfully designed basket and lid combo, with a durable stainless steel basket that will last for years to come. Its extra-small holes prevent loose leaves from drifting into the mug, and its spacious basket can fit a suitable amount of leaves. The winged arms are wide enough to easily stay put on a variety of mug sizes, so you'll reach for it no matter which of your mugs are clean that day.

Similar to the Finum, its lid helps retain heat, and the extended handles stay cool to the touch while the interior basket heats up (and stays warm). In addition, the bottom of the handles have silicone touches, reducing the potential of scratching your favorite mug. Due to its size, we wouldn't recommend using a particularly small cup.

Material: Stainless steel, silicone | Includes: Brewing basket and lid | Dishwasher-Safe: Yes

Best Ball Infuser

Oxt 3pcs tea infuser upgraded tea strainer.

You can brew multiple cups of tea at once with this rustproof set. 

The mesh has larger holes than some other models.

Featuring a chain that hooks the ball to a mug or kettle, this set of three tea balls makes tea infusing quick and simple. They’re functional for any type of tea and close tightly to prevent any bits from landing in your cup. Once your tea is brewed and you’re ready to remove the infuser, you’ll unlatch the mesh ball and dispose of the contents.

To make a fully-flavored cup, you’ll only want to fill the ball halfway, giving the leaves space to expand as they soak in the water. Because the mesh has larger holes than some other options, these balls are best suited for tea with larger leaves, as they can allow some fine particles to sift through.

Material: Stainless steel | Includes: 3 (2.2-inch) tea balls | Dishwasher-Safe: No

Best for Travel

Pure zen tea glass bottle with infuser.

You can use it for hot and cold-brew teas, and its double-walled glass will keep it from sweating, leaking, or holding on to odors or flavors.

It won't keep your tea insulated as long as some stainless steel models.

For those of us who love to take our tea on the go, you can't go wrong with Pure Zen's tea infuser tumbler. Unlike most travel containers on the market, this one is made of double-walled borosilicate glass, which makes it ideal for enjoying the purest flavor of all your favorite teas and helps maintain an ideal temperature for longer.

Its innovative design, with removable lids on both sides, allows you to use the infuser either at the top or bottom of the bottle. This makes it useful for both short brews (with the infuser at the top) and longer, cold brews (with the infuser at the bottom) — or you can remove it altogether for a bottle of fruit-infused water. And its glass walls take the guesswork out of how much water you can add, preventing any unintentional spills. Although it won't keep your tea warm (or cold) as long as some stainless steel models, its versatility and functionality more than make up for it.

Material: Borosilicate glass, stainless steel | Includes: Gift box, glass bottle, 2 lids, removable tea basket, and neoprene travel sleeve | Dishwasher-Safe: Yes

Best Handle

Oxo brew twisting tea ball infuser.

The extra-long handle makes it great for any size mug, and its twisting feature allows you to scoop and empty it with ease.

It doesn't include a stand to catch the drips when you're done brewing.

This OXO infuser is another take on the tea ball, but this time with a few extra features. Rather than a chain that hooks to the mug, this one has a long neck with a plastic handle that allows you to rest it against the side of your cup or even stir your tea while it brews. And, instead of having to open your tea ball manually to fill it, this one only takes a twist and a scoop, and then you're ready to steep all your favorite loose-leaf teas.

Its twisting feature also makes it pretty easy to empty and clean without anything getting stuck in the holes while making it less likely that any stray leaves escape as you brew. Its one drawback is that it doesn't come with anything to rest it on for catching drips after you're done.

Material: Stainless steel, plastic | Includes: Twisting ball infuser | Dishwasher-Safe: Yes

Teabloom Glass Tea Infuser

It’s suitable for most teapots and mugs and is safe for microwaves and dishwashers. 

Small leaves may get into the water through the slits in the glass. 

Suitable for various vessels, from a large kettle to a single mug , this versatile infuser is an excellent choice for individuals and households with multiple tea drinkers. It’s made from a durable type of glass that can withstand and retain heat well (so you can use it on the stove, in the microwave, and even throw it in the dishwasher), plus the lid doubles as a drip tray to keep your countertop clean after you remove the infuser.

Unlike some metals, glass won’t add any unwanted flavors to your tea, making this model one of the best options for lighter teas with more delicate flavor notes. And Its slits are laser-cut, so they're extra-fine; however, they may still let a few more small leaves or particles through than some metal infusers.

Material: Borosilicate glass | Includes: Infuser and lid | Dishwasher-Safe: Yes

Best Kettle

Breville smart tea infuser compact tea maker.

Numerous presets take the guesswork out of brewing, and it doubles as a basic water kettle.

The instructions aren’t very thorough, meaning it might take some trial and error. 

It's never been easier to customize your perfect cup, thanks to the presets of this Breville tea maker. Simply add water to the kettle and tea leaves to the infuser, and then tell the machine how hot you want the water to get and how long you want it to steep. Your tea will come out as mild or strong as you prefer, and the temperature presets denote which type of tea they’re ideal for, taking the guesswork out of brewing. That way, you can have the perfect flavor profile to enhance any new tea-based drinks you might want to try out.

The kettle can make up to four cups of tea at once, and, with its compact size and attractive design, you can easily store it in a cabinet or on your countertop. Figuring out how all its flashing lights and buttons work may be a bit difficult at first, but with a little bit of trial and error, you'll be brewing a flawless cup in no time.

Material: Glass, brushed stainless steel | Includes: Electric kettle and base, removable tea basket | Dishwasher-Safe: Yes (the infuser)

The Finum Reusable Stainless Steel Brewing Basket is our top pick because it’s great for all types of tea and is easy to use and store. The plastic will keep you from burning your hands, and the lid doubles as a drip tray to prevent spillage. For similar reasons, we also like the OXO Brew Tea Infuser Basket .

Infuser Type

Tea infusers come in an assortment of types, with the major ones in basket and ball form. Basket infusers sit on top of a mug filled with loose-leaf teas and often come with a lid to trap heat. The baskets' size and shape allow the leaves to unfurl and release their potent potential fully — and some lids double as a coaster or drip tray. Infusers are available as balls that open in half and lock. They're much smaller in size and can easily go with you while traveling, though they typically don't allow as many leaves to fully unfurl inside as baskets do. Other infusers sit directly inside a kettle or travel container.

In addition, an infuser can come in a range of materials, with the most common being steel. Stainless steel models are durable and can normally be cleaned easily in the dishwasher. There are also glass models, which some people prefer to preserve the delicate flavors of their tea. Depending on what type of mug or brewing vessel you use, some options may work better than others.

Ease of Use and Care

You’ll want to choose a tea infuser compatible with your needs and lifestyle. If you have a hard time working around hot metals, choose one with plastic or other heat-resistant materials around its edges so you don’t have to worry about hurting yourself. Some models also have additional features that make them easier to use, such as a long handle or a design that makes it easier to remove or pour. Most of our recommended infusers are dishwasher-safe, so cleanup typically requires minimal effort. However, you may have to put in some extra work to extract any stuck tea leaves.

Serving Size and Design

Depending on how much tea you like to drink in one sitting, you may want to pay attention to the size of your infuser. Some infusers — like tea balls — are better for infusing a single cup of tea, while larger infusers can serve up to four cups ( tea party , anyone?). Another thing to consider when it comes to size is how big the openings are on your infuser. Infusers with very small openings, like those made of metal mesh, are less likely to allow any tea leaves or fine particles to escape into your finished cup. However, those with larger holes may let a few pieces slip past and are better suited for bigger tea leaves. 

Frequently Asked Questions

A tea infuser is a tool designed to steep loose-leaf tea while preventing small particles from getting into your drink. Many tea infusers are made from mesh stainless steel to do just that.

“Loose-leaf teas are whole tea leaves or broken whole tea leaves," says Richardson. "They can offer a greater depth of flavor, but since they are not in a teabag or sachet, there isn’t anything to allow the tea leaves to be removed from the teapot or teacup.” That's where a tea infuser comes in handy.

Using a tea infuser involves combining tea leaves and hot (or cold) water. “The tea leaves are placed in the infuser and then set in a cup or teapot,” Richardson says. “Hot water (sometimes boiling but not always — green teas need lower water temperature) is poured over the tea leaves, and then the tea leaves are steeped in the water for anywhere from two to five minutes depending on the tea.” You can also steep some teas over a longer period in cold water to make a cold brew or iced tea.

On average, a teaspoon of tea leaves per cup of water is a good starting point, according to Richardson, but she says you can always adjust depending on how strong you want your tea to be. 

“As a rule of thumb, adjust the amount of tea in the infusion instead of adding more time to steep the tea,” Richardson says. “If tea leaves are left in the water for too long, your tea will become too bitter.”

Contributor Ariane Resnick is a special diet chef, certified nutritionist, and bestselling author who typically finds herself craving tea when the weather turns cold. She was excited to speak with Lisa Boalt Richardson , director of the World Tea Academy and author of Modern Tea: A Fresh Look at an Ancient Beverage , to learn everything possible about tea infusing and help her determine the best tea infusers on the market.

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• What to Buy
• Coffee & Tea

These Infusers Steep Brew-Tea-Ful Cups of Tea

We tested out all kinds of different options to find the best

In This Article

• Our Top Picks

How We Tested Tea Infusers

Other options we tested.

• What to Look for

Useful Tea Accessories

Why trust the spruce eats.

The Spruce Eats / Derek Rose

Every cup of tea starts with a simple decision between tea bags and loose leaf . Many people choose tea bags because they are quick, convenient, and easy to find in the grocery store, but the right tea infuser makes preparing a cup of loose leaf just as easy as bagged tea—and even more delicious. Infusers are typically made of mesh stainless steel, but there are many unique options, including ones on this list, that can add a personal touch to every sip.

Best Overall

Finum stainless steel mesh brewing basket.

Extra-fine mesh keeps leaves in

Reasonably priced

Strong flavor

Large capacity

Plastic could be thicker

Tea leaves love space to roam around. The more room, the better the flavor. That's why basket-shaped infusers are so popular and effective, perhaps none more so than the Finum Brewing Basket. It's large enough for tea leaves to diffuse flavor into every nook and cranny of your mug, and the micro-fine mesh traps the smallest tea particles. The mesh is even fine enough to brew coffee.

After testing it ourselves, the infuser surpassed all expectations. It was one of the easiest to use and the best at retaining tea leaves. All we had to do was scoop tea into the basket, place the basket into a mug, pour hot water, and wait. The Brewing Basket is also dishwasher safe for simple post-tea cleaning. The item is available in multiple sizes and colors, and the lid functions as a drip tray for added convenience. While it leans toward the more expensive end for an infuser, we think it's reasonably priced and an excellent value for money considering the quality.

Material: Plastic and stainless steel mesh | Dimensions: 2.05 x 2.4 x 2.95 inches | Dishwasher Safe: Yes

Tea Forte Kati Steeping Cup And Infuser

Beautiful design

Quality materials

Fits in most cupholders

Microwavable

Gets hot to touch

If you’re in the market for a teacup with an infuser, consider the Tea Forte Kati Steeping Cup. It's a favorite among tea lovers thanks to its beautiful design, quality construction, and great results.

The thick, double-walled ceramic keeps tea hot longer than many standard mugs. Just be careful when grabbing it immediately after steeping; the mug was too hot to touch for a couple of minutes after we steeped rooibos tea in 212-degree water. When steeping sencha green tea at 170 degrees Fahrenheit, the exterior stayed cool. The 12-ounce mug and matching lid are dishwasher- and microwave-safe, so it's easy to clean and reheat if needed. You can choose from a dozen designs, including the cherry blossom model we tested, to fit your aesthetic or that of a gift recipient.

hMaterial: Ceramic mug and stainless steel infuser | Dimensions: 3.5 x 5.75 inches | Dishwasher safe: Yes (mug and lid only)

Best Teapot

Adagio teas iced ingenuitea.

Easy to use

Multiple sizes available

Makes hot or iced tea

Handle stays cool to the touch

Lid doesn't close automatically

Tea stains plastic

May leak after dispensing

Most tea infusers are designed to make one serving at a time, but is one cup ever really enough? Avid tea drinkers are better off with a product like the Adagio Teas ingenuiTEA Teapot. Available in 16 or 28 ounces, it has the same capacity as many traditional teapots, but it's easier and faster to use.

We tried out the 16-ounce model and were impressed by the seamless bottom-dispensing valve. To use, place the ingenuiTEA on your mug after steeping, gently press it down, and the tea will smoothly and automatically begin pouring. The mesh stainless steel at the bottom keeps leaves from ending up in the cup. Once finished, the item is dishwasher safe. We found it easy to clean by hand, too, for those who don't have a dishwasher or want to move on to the next round of tea right away. Just be careful, though, because the lid doesn't close automatically.

Material: Plastic | Dimensions: 3.5 x 6 inches (16-ounce model) | Dishwasher Safe: Yes

Best Basket

Vahdam classic tea infuser.

Plenty of space for tea leaves

Thumb grips stay cool

Lid may not properly close

With its extensive collection of teas and teaware, Vahdam is a go-to brand for many tea drinkers. One affordable accessory from the company we recommend is its Classic Tea Infuser. The basket-style infuser is large enough for a single serving of tea or a full teapot's worth, and we confirmed that it's dependable for keeping leaves out of your drink.

Despite the item's durability and quality stainless steel, we encountered a design flaw during the testing process: the lid, which also functions as a drip tray, doesn't perfectly fit onto the basket. This has no effect on the steeping process—the infuser still brews delicious tea, especially when you follow steps to enhance your tea-tasting experience —but it's a curious and frustrating shortcoming. Aside from that, we gave the item a sparkling review. It's easy to use, the two little wings on either side of the basket stay cool to the touch, and it's dishwasher safe, so cleaning is simple too.

Material: Stainless steel | Dimensions: 3 x 3.9 inches| Dishwasher Safe: Yes

Best Travel Mug

Firebelly tea stop-infusion travel mug.

Lets tea leaves steep openly

Solid, durable materials

Sleek aesthetic and multiple colorways

Must remove lid before drinking

What makes Firebelly Tea's Stop-Infusion Travel Mug so unique is that it allows users to brew delicious tea without an infuser. Instead, tea leaves steep openly inside the mug, which is much better for diffusion, and a tea press is inserted to stop the infusion process. It works more like a French press than a traditional infuser bottle, and the difference shines through in the flavor, whether you're making hot tea or iced.

We found that every tea we brewed with this mug was strong and evenly diffused. The steel-and-plastic tea press, or plunger, is also extremely effective at tamping down loose tea leaves and ensuring sediment doesn't end up in any sips. The top of the tea press has a 360-degree vent that lets you drink from any side; it's a unique design that might take a moment to get used to, but sipping is smooth and drip-free. The lid needs to be removed before drinking, though, so you'll need two free hands to open it.

Another standout detail is the quality of the materials. We found the stainless steel hefty and durable, making the mug a trustworthy travel companion. The lid is leakproof too, so you can toss it in a bag when on the go. There are six color options, ranging from neutral tones to more vibrant options. Note that hand-washing is recommended; the tea press is easy to rinse by hand, but the mug itself requires a bottle brush to reach all nooks and crannies.

Material: Stainless steel and Tritan | Dimensions: 3 x 8.5 inches | Dishwasher Safe: No

Best With Handle

Oxo brew twisting tea ball infuser.

Unique opening mechanism

Slim and stylish

Easy to clean

Small amount of sediment

Infusers with handles offer a couple of advantages over conventional tea balls: they are easier to control when steeping and less likely to make a mess. We love the OXO Brew Twisting Tea Ball Infuser because it takes these advantages and adds a few unique touches of its own. Most notable is the twisting handle that opens and closes the infuser ball. It's a smooth and simple mechanism that sets the item apart from other handled infusers. Very small traces of tea leaves, more like fannings and tea dust, escaped from the basket during the testing process, but that's quite normal. Overall, the infuser did an excellent job retaining tea leaves. We also appreciate the item's sleek and elegant design, accented by the black handle.

Many tea infusers can be purchased at a cheaper price, but the OXO model is affordable nonetheless. Plus, it's made from sturdy stainless steel and non-slip plastic. OXO backs all of its products with a lifetime guarantee.

Material: Stainless steel and plastic | Dimensions: 1.6 x 1.6 x 7 inches | Dishwasher Safe: Yes

Best With Drip Stand

Adhoc tea drop tea infuser.

No mess and easy to clean

Drip stand makes it presentable on countertop

Very small particles may get into tea

If you're looking for an infuser that avoids drips, spills, and messes, the AdHoc Tea Drop Tea Infuser is the place to start. After steeping, you can place the wand-style infuser into a plastic drip stand that collects any residual tea droplets. Both parts are dishwasher safe, and we found them easy to rinse and wash by hand for those who prefer that method. The drip stand is functional and stylish enough that you can leave the infuser on your countertop for quick access.

As far as its performance, the Tea Drop does not have the absolute finest infuser basket. Some small particles ended up in the mug after we tested multiple tea varieties but not to the extent that it marred the flavor or drinking experience. We were impressed by how large the infuser basket is, which is a benefit because it gives tea leaves space to diffuse evenly throughout the mug or teapot.

Make sure you don't fill your mug to the brim, though, as the infuser will cause the water level to rise when you dunk it in for steeping. In fact, the best way to brew is by placing the infuser in an empty mug and pouring hot water directly over it . The long, flexible handle then lets you stir the infuser until the tea reaches your desired strength.

Material: Stainless steel and plastic | Dimensions: 8.46 x 2.2 inches without stand; 8.89 x 2.75 with stand | Dishwasher Safe: Yes

Best Budget

Norpro 2-inch mesh tea infuser ball.

Good leaf retention for tea ball

Value for money

Chain stays cool to touch

Design not for everyone

Only one infuser

This tea ball has a dreamy nighttime-themed teapot charmed attached to it, making it a great way to wind down, perhaps with a cup of caffeine-free herbal tea . The charm has a functional purpose too, as it lets users remove the tea ball easily and without burning their fingers.

The Norpro Tea Ball Infuser is reasonably priced, so it's a low-stress investment in your tea setup. It's worth noting that you can find packs of tea balls at around the same price or even cheaper than this one tea ball. However, this one has the quality that makes it worth buying over tea ball packs. It fared well in our tests, retaining all large leaves and limiting the sediment that appeared in our cups of tea. That's rare for a budget-priced tea ball, as they tend to be less reliable than infuser baskets. The item is also dishwasher safe and rinses easily once your tea is finished.

Material: Stainless steel | Dimensions: Tea ball is 2 inches in diameter | Dishwasher Safe: Yes

Final Verdict

With its affordable price and unbeatable performance, the Finum Brewing Basket is the first place to look for a quality tea infuser, as basket-shaped infusers are widely preferred by tea experts and this is one of the best out there. We also love the convenient and adorable House Again Extra Fine Mesh Tea Infusers , especially if you're looking for a set instead of a single infuser.

We started by researching the top tea infusers based on customer reviews, third-party articles, and insight from our testing team. From there, we purchased and tested a total of 10 tea infusers. Seven of those infusers were deemed good enough to recommend based on their performance and value for money. We later received another tea infuser for testing purposes and felt it was worthy of a recommendation, too. That's how we put together the list of tea infusers above.

We Observed

• If any tea leaves slipped through the infuser: One of the most important parts of our testing process was seeing how well each infuser contained tea leaves. Infusers that allowed an excess of leaves or particles to fall through were not recommended in this article. Many other infusers that we tested successfully kept in leaves, leading to tasty, grit-free cups of tea. We used at least two types of tea—one with smaller leaves and one with larger leaves—in our testing trials.
• If the infuser became hot to touch: Tea leaves need to steep in hot water, of course, but that can become a problem if your infuser gets unbearably hot to touch. We made sure that wouldn't be an issue for any of the infusers we recommended. Each infuser was placed in 212-degree water for several minutes and then removed from the mug by hand (or immediately let go of) to see if it was safe to handle.
• How well the tea leaves diffused: Tea infuser size is correlated with flavor, as larger infusers tend to allow tea leaves to diffuse more thoroughly. As a result, we measured every tea infuser that we tested. We also used the same types of tea when testing the diffusers so that we could fairly gauge differences in flavor.
• Design: We rated the overall design of these tea infusers on a one to five scale, with five being the best. Some aspects we considered were: the size of the infuser; how easily it opened and closed; how easily it could be placed in and taken out of a mug; the fineness of the mesh; and its aesthetic. Ease of use and reliability were prioritized over the way the infuser looked, but all of these details affected its design score.
• Durability: We tested every infuser for at least 21 days, which allowed us to see how they held up over multiple uses. Before rating durability, we assessed the strength of all parts and materials, including any mesh, handles, clasps, or chains. We also tested four mugs with built-in infusers and graded them on how portable they were.
• Value: Infusers are generally a low-cost tea accessory, but they still come in a range of prices. After using each one, we compared its performance to the retail price and rated its value for money. This section also helped us clarify whether we would purchase the infuser ourselves or recommend it to a friend.

About Our Testers

• Our Lab team has spent collective decades working in professional kitchens, developing recipes, and testing kitchen gear.
• Derek Rose has been the coffee and tea expert for The Spruce Eats since 2019. He tested all of the tea infusers on this list in his home over three weeks. This allowed him to compare each infuser's performance side by side, as well as get a better sense of what it would be like to use each one as an everyday tea accessory.
• Fu Store Stainless Steel Tea Balls : A former version of this roundup named these infusers as the best budget pick. While they may be suitable for tea with large leaves, they couldn't contain either type of tea that we tested them with. Most of the leaves ended up in our mug before steeping was finished. On top of that, the stainless steel clasp was difficult to close; it felt strained, almost rusty right out of the box. A final criticism is that the stainless steel chain fell into the mug almost immediately upon our first use, and it was difficult to take the infuser out given the temperature of the tea. Overall, these only seem worthwhile if you know the tea you'll be drinking has large enough leaves to stay inside.
• Genuine Fred Manatea Tea Infuser : The Genuine Fred Manatea Infuser fell just short of being included on our list, mainly because its performance was inconsistent depending on the type of tea used. A green tea that we brewed had a lot of leaves slip through the filter and into the mug. The tea was drinkable and overall enjoyable, but the last few sips had too much sediment for our liking. Another minor shortcoming of the Manatea infuser is that its two silicone pieces are somewhat inconvenient to attach. While we can't fully recommend this infuser, some customers may enjoy its novelty aspect and could consider it as a gift idea. It just can't be counted on with every type of loose-leaf tea.
• Zojirushi Stainless Steel Mug with Tea Leaf Filter : This Zojirushi mug with a built-in infuser was previously included on our list as the best travel option. After testing it, however, we found it harder to use and clean than expected. For instance, the lid needs to be completely removed to take a sip, which makes the mug inconvenient while driving or walking. And the lid opening is too small to fit a hand inside, so a bottle brush is needed to properly clean the mug, as it isn't dishwasher safe. We felt it was easier to brew tea separately and pour it into a different travel mug than to use the Zojirushi mug for a morning commute.

What to Look for When Buying a Tea Infuser

The more space that tea leaves have to roam around inside the cup or pot while steeping, the better. This means large infusers are superior to small ones, as they disperse the flavors more evenly throughout the water. If possible, look for an infuser with a basket shape that fills up your entire mug. Does this mean tea balls are too small be effective? Nope! Even small tea balls produce a better result than most tea bags , since bagged tea is all too often filled with low-quality dust, fannings, and broken leaves. Those looking for a teapot with a built-in infuser can follow the same rule of thumb: a larger infuser likely means more flavor. Of course, the best way to brew tea would be for the leaves to swirl around freely and then be strained after steeping, but that is a messier and more time-consuming process than using an infuser.

When searching for tea infusers you will quickly see that they come in a number of different styles. Each one has its own pros and cons. This topic is covered in greater detail below, but here is a quick breakdown. Tea balls are the most common style. They are usually crafted from mesh stainless steel and attached to either a chain or handle for easier usage. Another popular style is the filter basket, a larger option that can be made for either a single cup or a full teapot. Other styles include: tea sticks, portable infusers, novelty infusers, and more.

Ease of Use

One reason tea drinkers may hesitate to switch to infusers is that tea bags are so convenient. No one wants to spend extra time brewing and cleaning up afterward, especially if they drink several cups a day. However, there are actually many tea infusers that are extremely easy to use and dishwasher safe. To get a sense of an item’s ease of use, see how it opens, closes, and seals shut. As a quick tip, infusers with silicone parts are often more rigorous to put together than simple tea balls and filter baskets.

Leaf Retenion

Along with the actual size of a tea infuser, it’s also worth paying attention to the size of an infuser’s holes. Some loose leaf teas are fine enough to slip through larger holes, clogging up each sip and rendering the infuser entirely useless. For those who prefer a specific kind of tea, think about whether the pieces are on the larger side or finer side and it will be easier to select the right infuser for you. Oolong, black, and green teas tend to contain larger leaves, while red and herbal teas often have smaller bits. As far as infusers go, tea balls generally have smaller mesh holes, while infuser eggs and silicone infusers have larger ones.

Types of Tea Infusers

Tea balls are the most common type of infuser, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they brew the most flavorful tea. Many are very small and may not diffuse as thoroughly as a basket infuser, for instance, so keep that in mind when searching. Tea balls are usually made from mesh stainless steel and open in half via a clasp. They are often attached to chains or handles (the latter are sometimes called “tea pincers”) to make them easier to use. Infuser eggs, an ovular and slightly larger alternative, can also be sorted into this category.

Infuser Basket

Whether they are meant for a single cup or a full teapot, infuser baskets are a simple and efficient brewing method. Look for ones that take up as much space as possible, as this will allow the tea to diffuse evenly throughout the water. Most have handles or arms that help them rest on top of your mug, while others fully submerge into the water. Another small difference to pay attention to is if it has a lid that also functions as a drip tray, as this is an especially handy feature. Expect infuser baskets to be more expensive than tea balls but still extremely affordable.

Portable Infuser

Many travel mugs today come with infusers for delicious tea on the go. The infusers themselves are typically basket style, but they are specially designed for the mug’s dimensions. The brewing process, which can be done for both hot and iced tea, is no different than standard models: simply fill the infuser, pour the water, and steep for the tea’s ideal length of time.

Compact and elegant, tea sticks are an excellent option for those interested in a sleeker aesthetic. They are not always the easiest to fill, since they are so slim, but are just as affordable as other types of infusers. The slim design can also make them less powerful than large infusers, so be sure to stir the stick around in your mug for a more thorough diffusion.

Maintenance

Perhaps the best part about buying an infuser, aside from getting tasty tea, is how easy they are to use and clean. Now, the exact instructions depend on the type of infuser, but the basic steps are this: first, fill the infuser with 1 teaspoon of tea for every 6 to 8 ounces of water; second, put the infuser into your cup or teapot (some require the water to be poured before the infuser is in place, some after); finally, let the tea steep for the recommended time and then remove the infuser before drinking. That’s it. Quick, easy, delicious. The recommended water temperature and steep time are based on the type of tea you use, not the infuser. Lighter varieties, like green tea and white tea, are best brewed with lower temperatures and less time, while black, herbal, and rooibos require hotter water and more steeping time.

Once finished with your tea, dump the leftover leaves into the trash or compost (unless you plan on reusing them) and rinse the infuser with water. If smaller tea bits cling to the infuser, remove them with an appropriate brush and some dish soap. Many tea infusers are dishwasher safe, which makes the process even easier, so check for this before purchasing. Don't worry if your infuser stains over time. This is completely normal. However, there are several ways to remove stains and slow down the staining process for those who are interested, from cleaning with vinegar, alcohol, or baking soda and even holding stainless steel infusers over gas flames to burn off residue. 

Cosori Electric Gooseneck Kettle

The Spruce Eats / Fred Hardy

Any kettle gets the job done when making tea, but the Cosori Electric Gooseneck Kettle comes with added benefits. It has five temperature settings, four of which suit different tea varieties while the other is designed for coffee. The gooseneck spout makes pouring smoother and more precise–something that comes in handy when using a small tea infuser. It's pricier than most stovetop kettles but typical for an electric one. We found that water boils in four to five minutes.

Contigo West Loop Insulated Travel Mug

The Spruce Eats / Tamara Staples

It's nice to have a travel mug to take your tea on the go, whether you're commuting or running errands. One of the best travel mugs we've tested is the Contigo West Loop . We confirmed that it's leakproof and keeps drinks warm for over seven hours. It's also available in various sizes and colors, so you can personalize it to fit your preferences.

Are infusers different from strainers?

Yes, tea infusers and tea strainers are different tools with different purposes. Tea infusers are a brewing device that is used from start to finish while making a cup of tea. Strainers, on the other hand, come into play after tea is finished brewing. Their sole purpose is to separate tea leaves from the tea, typically accomplished by pouring a teapot over the strainer and into either a mug or another teapot. Many brands and websites use the terms interchangeably even though infusers and strainers are different.

How much tea do I use when brewing?

This question pops up often with tea infusers, especially when people switch over from tea bags. While specific measurements vary depending on the type of tea used, the general rule of thumb is 1 teaspoon of loose tea for every 6 to 8 ounces of water. Adding more tea will lead to a stronger flavor, as will steeping for a longer amount of time. Too much of an extreme for either will lead to an overly bitter cup of tea, however, so keep that in mind when brewing.

According to Shunan Teng , the founder and CEO of Tea Drunk, one tip for making better tea at home is to use hotter water for high-quality tea and lower-temperature water for subpar tea. "Hotter temperatures bring out the flavors in better tea," she says, "and lower temperatures dilute the flaws in lower-quality tea. With bad tea, the bitterness and astringency would come out with higher temperatures."

Can an infuser be used for other drinks?

For the most part, no. A tea infuser isn't much help for making a drink besides tea or iced tea. In a pinch, some infusers can be used as a cocktail strainer , but it would probably be messier and more difficult than convenient. Tea infusers don't work very well for brewing coffee either. Though basket-shaped infusers may look like pour-over coffee makers , the mesh is often too large to retain coffee grounds and the rate at which water would flow through the infuser would lead to some bad-tasting joe. If you purchase an infuser, it will likely just be used to make tea.

How many times can a tea infuser be reused?

Tea infusers can be used an unlimited number of times, which makes loose-leaf tea more sustainable than paper tea bags. General wear and tear can shorten the lifespan of a tea infuser, especially if it's on the cheaper side, but there's no set number of steeps you can get out of it. An infuser should work anytime unless damaged.

This piece was written by  Derek Rose , the coffee and tea expert for The Spruce Eats. He researches a variety of products, from measuring scoops to commercial espresso machines, and interviews field experts for their insight. For this piece, he tested every tea infuser on the list firsthand and wrote reviews about what he liked and disliked about each one. He also researched the differences between tea varietals and methods for brewing loose-leaf tea. Derek received an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University and a BA in Communications from Marist College.

Shunan Teng is the founder and CEO of Tea Drunk and an avid tea educator. Tea Drunk was founded in 2013 and has a brick-and-mortar tea house in New York City. Its teaware and Chinese teas can be purchased online.

Camryn Rabideau is a freelance writer and product reviewer. She's an expert on all things home, including kitchen appliances, grills, and other cooking gadgets.

8 Best Tea Infusers, Tested by Kitchen Gear Experts

No more loose leaves in your last sip!

We've been independently researching and testing products for over 120 years. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more about our review process.

Our top picks:

Best overall tea infuser

Oxo brew tea infuser basket.

Best value tea infuser

The tea spot tuffy steeper.

Best Tea Infuser Mug

Davidstea nordic mug with infuser.

In the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab, we've tested over 15 tea infusers in a variety of forms in the last year alone. Our analysts have tried tea infuser mugs and tumblers , tea infuser teapots, electric tea kettles with infusers and standalone tea infusers in a variety of shapes and materials .

When we test tea infusers in our Lab, we brew tea the same way each time using the same ratio of water to tea leaves and steeping it for a controlled amount of time. We test for taste, how well the infuser strains out tea and sediment and how easy it is to fill, empty and clean. We also recruited over 15 consumer testers to put tea infusers to the test in their daily lives with their favorite loose-leaf tea. Our top tea infusers brewed up a balanced and flavorful cup of tea without leaving behind tea leaves and sediment.

Scroll to the bottom of this guide to learn more about the testing process, plus everything you need to know to shop for your perfect tea infuser. Looking for more gifts for the tea lover in your life? Check out our guides to the best iced tea makers , gooseneck kettles and matcha powders and don't forget to check out Good Housekeeping's Coffee and Tea Awards !

OXO Brew Tea Infuser Basket is easy to use and easy to clean, and it performed well in our Lab's testing process. I t produced a very flavorful and balanced cup of English Breakfast te a , but we did notice that there was some sediment lingering in the cup afterward. We love that this basket infuser allows for tea leaves to easily move freely and expand while steeping, instead of being compressed inside of a small infuser. One consumer tester said, "In comparison to a ball, I liked that this gave the leaves more space, especially the flowers. This made for a cup of tea with a slightly more robust taste."

This tea infuser features a dual-function lid. Use it to cap the infuser while it's steeping and then as a resting place for your infuser after it's steeped. Silicone was thoughtfully added to high-touch places so that they remain cool to the touch, and all pieces are dishwasher-safe.

The Tuffy Steeper from The Tea Spot is an affordable, compact and durable silicone tea infuser. It comes in four different colors and its lid doubles as a saucer to rest the infuser after steeping. In our Lab testing, we found this infuser was very easy to fill and clean. It produced a cup of tea that was full of flavor , with some lingering astringency, but we did notice some sediment at the bottom of our cup. "I like that it collapses for compact storage and toting," said a consumer tester. "I liked the clever design: The handle for lifting your steeper out of your tea also served as a way to hold the lid in place during travel. And the lid doubles as a drip tray." Another consumer tester did notice that when the tea infuser is resting in a mug, it can be hard to see how much water the mug contains.

A GH Tea Award-winner , this DavidsTea Nordic Mug brewed up a great-tasting cup of tea with its included infuser. The tea was balanced in flavor with barely any sediment at the bottom of the mug . We also appreciated the design of the double-walled glass with an easy-to-grip handle and lid that doubled as a place to rest the tea infuser after steeping. A consumer tester enjoyed that she could watch the dried flowers in her loose-leaf tea bloom by peering through the mug's glass lid. The glass pieces are dishwasher-safe, but the tea infuser requires hand washing. The stainless steel infuser was still easy to clean since tea leaves and sediment didn't linger inside the small holes.

Breville Tea Maker

Though it's the most expensive tea infuser on this list, the Tea Maker from Breville has plenty of bells and whistles that make it the ultimate tea-infusing appliance. This electric tea kettle brews your tea at the temperature of your choice, and it features five pre-programmed settings for black, green, herbal, oolong and white tea so your tea steeps at the ideal temperature to bring out the subtleties of the leaves. The built-in timer controls the steep time, plus it allows the user to adjust between mild, medium and strong brews. It features a large removable tea infuser basket that automatically lowers and retracts based on the programmed time to prevent over-steeping .

The Tea Spot 34-oz. Satin Teapot

This teapot from The Tea Spot can hold up to 34 ounces of tea which is about three to four teacups. This stoneware teapot features a satin finish, a stainless steel handle and a large stainless steel basket infuser. In our Lab testing, we appreciated that the stainless steel infuser has very fine holes that strained out tea leaves and sediment well and produced a delicious cup of English breakfast tea that wasn't astringent. There aren't many things we found at fault with this teapot, but one consumer tester stated, "I wish you could heat it on the stove rather than have to boil water separately and pour it in, it adds an extra step."

Genuine Fred MANATEA Silicone Tea Infuser

While you can certainly brighten someone's day with a cup of tea, a Genuine Fred ManaTea infuser can make the gesture even more adorable. This cute silicone tea infuser peers over your mug while it steeps your tea. In our Lab testing, we found that some big tea leaves came out of the infuser, but no sediment escaped. It brewed a very clean-tasting cup of tea. While this infuser is a little harder to clean by hand because of its nooks and crannies, you can simply empty it and place it in the dishwasher.

Fire Belly Stop-Infusion Travel Mug

This GH Tea Award -winning tea-infusing travel mug from Fire Belly is designed to brew loose leaves right in the bottle without an additional infuser attachment — and you simply push down on the plunger insert to stop the infusion. The insert also doubles as an ice holder. In our Lab tests, we liked the markings on the inside of the cup that suggested how far we should fill it for hot and cold tea. It is slim and comfortable to hold and didn’t leak in our tests. It also brewed a smooth and delicious cup of tea.

Our consumer testers enjoyed using this as well. One consumer tester noted, "I did use this item on the go. Once the tea was ready, I was able to put the cap on and take it with me. It kept my tea hot for a very long time." Take note that this mug should be hand-washed and that it has a pretty narrow interior, requiring a bottle brush for thorough cleaning.

DavidsTea 16 oz. Tea Steeper

While a little different from a traditional tea infuser, a tea steeper is a great alternative for sediment-free tea. Simply fill the steeper with loose-leaf tea and hot water, then let it steep. Once you're done steeping, place it on top of your desired mug and press down to release the tea. In our Lab testing, we found this model from DavidsTea was easy to use and great for making one cup of tea at a time, rather than a whole pot. I t produced a cup of English Breakfast tea that was completely clear or sediment or tea leaves — and it tasted earthy and complex. This steeper is not dishwasher-safe, and it requires extra care when cleaning it because of the nooks and crannies in the bottom of the steeper where tea leaves can get stuck. It's also larger than most infusers and requires more room for storage.

How we test tea infusers

In the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab, we've tested more than 15 tea infusers in the last year alone. This includes tea infuser mugs and tumblers, tea infuser teapots, electric tea kettles with infusers and standalone tea infusers in a variety of shapes and materials.

When we test tea infusers in our Lab, we brew the same proportion of loose-leaf English Breakfast tea and filtered water for a controlled amount of time. We taste-test each freshly brewed tea for flavor, astringency and bitterness. Then each brewed tea goes through a fine mesh strainer to see how well each infuser strains out tea leaves and sediment. We also evaluate how easy each tea infuser is to fill, empty and clean.

In our recent side-by-side testing, we also recruited over 15 consumer testers to put tea infusers to the test in their daily life with their favorite loose-leaf teas.

What to look for when buying the best tea infuser

✔️ Type: Tea infusers come in a variety of different types, which are all designed for loose-leaf tea, but some have different benefits.

• Basket infusers like our best overall tea infuser from OXO , make up the majority of this list because they perform well, are easy to fill and clean and allow for tea leaves and dried flowers to open up fully, producing a flavorful tea.
• Floating infusers like the Genuine Fred MANATEA , often provide less space for tea leaves to fully open up and are harder to fill and clean. They usually have a cute design or are in tea ball format and tend to be more compact.
• Steepers like this model from DavidsTea , allow for tea leaves to fully expand and freely move through the water. They can often contain the leaves and sediment better than their tea infuser counterparts. They usually require more storage space though.

✔️ Material: There are a few different materials that tea infusers are constructed with like stainless steel, silicone, plastic and glass.

• Stainless steel tea infusers are the most common and come in a variety of different shapes and sizes. Some have very fine holes for filtering out leaves and sediment, and they retain heat well, which means they can get very hot to the touch after steeping tea for a while.
• Silicone models usually cannot have holes as fine as stainless steel models which may lead to some escaped sediment, but they stay cooler to the touch and are easy to clean.
• Plastic options are less common, except for steeper models which are primarily made out of plastic. They allow you to observe the tea leaves or dried flowers as they open and bloom while steeping.
• Glass infusers are fragile and also less common, but offer the same transparency benefits as plastic models.

✔️ Tea infuser holder: It's convenient when tea infusers come with lids that also double as holders for after your tea is steeped. Lids help ensure heat remains inside your cup and that aromatic compounds of your loose-leaf are captured as well. And as an infuser holder, they ensure you don't have a mess on your hands after you're done infusing.

✔️ Ease of cleaning: Some tea infusers can be a pain to clean. If this is a concern for you, look for an infuser that's dishwasher-safe for the easiest cleanup or one without super-fine holes that can trap leaves.

What does a tea infuser do?

A tea infuser holds tea leaves and dried herbs and flowers and is used to brew up a cup of hot tea. Tea infusers are used to ensure that you don't consume tea leaves while drinking your cup of tea — they strain out tea leaves and sediment for a smooth and delicious cup of tea.

One would choose to use an infuser over a tea bag because it broadens the variety of tea they can enjoy. Fresher tea and bigger, whole tea leaves with better saturation — both leading to a fresher, more flavorful cup.

How do you use a tea infuser?

• Consult your loose-leaf tea packaging. It should tell you the recommended proportion of tea to water, the temperature of the water and the amount of time for steeping.
• Measure out the recommended amount of loose-leaf tea and fill your tea infuser.
• Place the tea infuser in the mug of your choice.
• Pour the recommended temperature of hot water over the tea infuser so the contents are thoroughly saturated.
• Set a timer to the recommended time so that you don't over-steep your tea, which could make it bitter.
• Remove the tea infuser from your cup of tea and enjoy.

Can you use a tea bag in a tea infuser?

While you can use a tea bag in a tea infuser, there isn't a need to do so. Tea bags already strain your tea, and if you were to put a tea bag inside of a tea infuser, you would be double straining it, and it might lose a bit of its flavor by doing so.

Why trust Good Housekeeping?

Eva Bleyer has professionally tested all kinds of kitchen equipment, from oven ranges to juicers to kitchen scales to blenders . Eva conducted the recent Lab and consumer testing of tea infusers in the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab. Eva has always loved drinking tea, but over the last couple of years has gotten into loose-leaf teas and has valued having a high-quality tea infuser at the ready whenever she is in the mood for a cup.

Eva (she/her) is a reviews analyst in the Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab, where she tests kitchen gear, home appliances and culinary innovations. She graduated from NYU with a bachelor of science in food studies, nutrition and public health and is a trained chef through the Natural Gourmet Institute. Eva has more than 10 years of experience in the food industry, working as a food stylist, personal chef and marketing manager.

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• Coffee & Tea

We Reviewed Tea Infusers by Brewing Cup After Cup of Tea—Four Topped Our Tests

Our winning steepers were from Fenshine and Norpro.

Serious Eats / Abigail Clarkin

The Winners, at a Glance

What we learned, the criteria: what to look for in a tea infuser, our favorite tea infusers, the competition.

• Why We're the Experts

Straight to the Point

The best ball tea infuser we tested was the Norpro Stainless Steel Mesh Tea Infuser Ball . The top basket tea infuser was the Fenshine Tea Infuser . Both were easy to load, unload, and clean, and barely any tea leaves escaped them during steeping.

For tea drinkers, a morning feels incomplete without a steaming cup of their favorite brew . And as dedicated tea people know, buying loose-leaf tea is where it’s at. But, for that, a tea infuser is needed.

For those new to the tea world , tea infusers are a great way to save waste (by avoiding single-use tea bags) and unlock tea’s fuller flavor. Individual tea bags can hinder tea extraction, but steeping loose-leaf tea allows tea leaves to expand fully during infusion so water can draw out more flavor compounds.

So, to find the best tea infusers, we tested 10 of them by steeping fine and large-leaf teas and examining how easy they were to load and clean.

The Best Overall Tea Infuser

Fenshine stainless steel tea infuser.

The Fenshine proved an excellent choice when it came to basket tea infusers. It was easy to load, whether it was with fine-leaf tea to flower bud tea. No leaves escaped through the infuser and into the hot water. The handy rubber and stainless steel cap doubled as both a top and a small dish for the infuser after steeping.

Another Great Basket Tea Infuser

Oxo brew tea infuser basket.

We were very pleased with how this dainty infuser from OXO handled fine leaf, whole leaf, and flower bud teas. From loading to steeping to cleaning, this infuser was excellent from start to finish.

The Best Large Basket Tea Infuser

Finum stainless steel mesh brewing basket.

For those looking for a larger basket infuser, the Finum is a great option. It was excellent for making multiple servings of tea, as well as for fitting an entire flower bud with room to spare. Nothing got past this infuser’s mesh (and we couldn't say this for all the models we tested.)

The Best Ball Tea Infuser

Norpro 2-inch mesh tea infuser ball.

Out of the ball tea infusers we tested, the Norpro was the easiest to load, remove, and clean. This stood true for fine leaf, whole leaf, and flower bud teas. The small clasp ensured the infuser stayed closed during steeping, and the chain—attached to an adorable mini teapot weight—made retrieval easy.

• Fine-Leaf Tea Test: In order to see how the strainers handled fine-leaf tea, we steeped one to two servings (depending on the height of the infuser) of fine-leaf tea in each infuser. We paid careful attention to if any of the leaves fell through the holes.
• Larger Whole-Leaf Tea Test: We used larger-leaf tea to test each infuser’s usability and performance. We noted if any leaves escaped the infusers.
• Flower Bud Tea Test: We loaded a dried flower bud into each infuser and then noted how the buds expanded and if they fell apart during the removal process. 
• Usability and Cleanup Tests: Throughout testing, we evaluated how easy the infusers were to load, unload, and clean. 

We Tested Two Types of Tea Infusers

The 10 infusers we tested fell into two camps: ball and basket infusers. Ball infusers were great for single servings of tea. These small orbs are made of two mesh or stainless steel halves (with tiny holes for straining) and were hinged in the middle. Sometimes a clasp held each half closed, while other models required a twisting or pinching motion to shut them. During steeping, the infusers rested on the bottom of the mugs. When it was time to remove them, we pulled a long handle or chain to tug the infusers back up to the surface.

Then, there were the basket infusers, which are great for anyone looking to steep more than a single serving of tea. These were cylindrical and open at the top. Loading simply required setting the infuser on the lip of the mug and then dropping the appropriate amount of tea leaves inside. Their lids also doubled as small dishes to rest the infusers on after use. Like the ball infusers, the basket models we tested were made from mesh and plastic or stainless steel, with small holes for filtration.

Some Tea Infusers Struggled, Especially with Fine Loose-Leaf Tea

It’s always great when something meets the basic requirements of its job description. And, happily, nearly all the infusers contained tea leaves well so we're happy with them as essential tea gear . We were especially pleased with the performances of some of the cylindrical basket infusers, such as the Fenshine and Finum . Both of these infusers passed our fine loose leaf, whole loose leaf, and flower bud tea tests with flying colors.

A few of the other infusers struggled. The Teabloom Universal Glass Tea Infuser leaked leaves with every single test. (Had we wanted to watch pretty petals swirl gently in a glass vessel, we would have purchased a tea-themed snow globe.) Each of the ball tea infusers had shortcomings too, specifically when handling fine loose-leaf tea. While the Norpro Stainless Steel Mesh Tea Infuser Ball was one of our overall top picks, even this model leaked, though it was one singular, fine leaf.

Certain Infusers Were Easier to Load Than Others

Out of all the basket and ball tea infusers we tested, we found the basket models were much easier to load. All you had to do was drop the tea into the infuser's open top, then set it on a mug.

Ball tea infusers, though, required a bit more work. For example, we had to add tea leaves and then twist the handle of The OXO BREW Twisting Tea Ball Infuser to close it. There was also the Jexcull Snap Ball Tea Strainer that relied, annoyingly, on squeezing both of the infuser’s stainless steel arms together to split the mesh orb in two. Much tougher!

When It Came to Basket Infusers, Size and Length Were Important

Since we removed each infuser at the end of every test, it quickly became apparent which basket infusers had superior handles. The best options had plastic and rubber handles (these stayed cool!) or ones that extended beyond the diameter of the mug. The Fenshine, FORLIFE , and OXO basket handle lengths all excelled here: we could easily pick them up and out of the mug.

The Teabloom had no handles at all, and we admit some strong language escaped us when we removed the hot glass infuser. With its stubby, small handles, the Vahdam Classic Tea Infuser was hard to pick up, as its handles got coated with condensation after brewing.

Cleaning the Infusers Was (Mostly) Easy

Giving the infusers a quick rinse with hot, soapy water immediately after use removed most of the debris. But while cleaning, we did run into some issues. The Teabloom, for example, flaunted a few tiny slits in the glass for filtration. These slits were more of a hindrance than a help, though, since multiple leaves became stuck inside the narrow passageways and were tough to remove.

During testing, we carefully considered each tea infuser’s performance, usability, and cleanup. The best infusers retained almost all tea leaves. Our top picks were also very easy to handle. We looked for minimal spilling when loading tea leaves, handles that did not gather too much heat or condensation (which could lead to burnt fingers), and mesh that did not trap leaves during cleanup.

What we liked: Loading and unloading the Fenshine was effortless thanks to the two thin stainless steel arms that extended away from the basket itself. The arms stayed cool and dry during steeping since they reached over the edge of the mug and away from any steam. This made removing the infuser from the mug especially easy. The Fenshine also came with a lovely rubber and stainless steel cap that acted as both a lid—it snapped easily into place—and a small dish that the infuser could be placed on top of after steeping. Cleanup was very easy as well. And for those who want to travel with a tea infuser on hand, the Fenshine was one of the smallest, most compact basket infusers we tested and had adjustable handles. (The basket did have room for more than one serving of tea, though.)

What we didn’t like: The slight unsteadiness of the Fenshine was our sole disappointment. The rounded, stainless steel arms did not have any grip on the lip of the mug where it rested. This meant that when we picked up the mug to move it, the infuser did shift from side to side (but its contents didn't spill into the water).

• Materials: Stainless steel and rubber
• Includes: Infuser and lid
• Care instructions: Dishwasher-safe

What we liked: Loading the OXO was easy since it's cylindrical and didn't leave too much room for tea leaves to spill over the side. Unloading was also easy. The infuser’s arms extended beyond the lip of the mug so we did not have to deal with any hot, condensation-flecked stainless steel when removing. We also liked that two out of three of the tests—the whole leaf and flower bud tea—resulted in zero tea leaves escaping the infuser.

What we didn’t like: While the OXO performed very well overall, a few specks of fine tea leaves did indeed make it past the infuser. We also wish that the handles were adjustable (like the Fenshine) so that storing the infuser did not take up as much space.

• Materials: Stainless steel and silicone

What we liked: The Finum was one of the largest infusers we tested (though it should be noted it is sold in a smaller size as well ). It handled teas of various sizes well. After steeping fine leaf, whole loose leaf, and flower bud teas, not even the tiniest bit of tea escaped. The entire infuser was quite lightweight, including the lid, and easy to load and unload. The small plastic handles were unaffected by condensation and heat, so removal was painless.

What we didn’t like: When cleaning the Finum, we ran into multiple difficulties. While the depth of the infuser was a plus for capacity, the infuser’s narrowness at the bottom meant that reaching it was a challenge. We had to stick our entire hand into the infuser to remove any leaves that were stuck. That said if you turn it over and give it a rinse with your sink's spray attachment, that should do the trick. We also wish that the lid snapped on a bit more snugly.

• Materials: Stainless steel and BPA-free material

What we liked: The Norpro was one the easiest ball tea infusers to use. While others required spinning or pinching to open and close the two halves of their orbs, the Norpro consisted of two simply designed but generously sized halves connected by a hinge and closed with a clasp. We really liked the size of this infuser; there was even room for a flower bud to completely unfurl within its confines. Only during our fine tea leaf testing did we notice a small singular leaf escaped it. Unloading this particular infuser was also very easy. We were pleased with the chain that connected the infuser and the adorable mini teapot weight. The chain meant we didn’t have to fish out the infuser after steeping, and the weight ensured that the chain didn't go completely overboard. We’d recommend this infuser for those looking to make a single serving of tea.

What we didn’t like: While we were very pleased, overall, with the Norpro infuser, we did wish that the chain had just a little bit more length. We conducted our testing using a 20-ounce mug, and there was very little give to the chain as it extended down the outside of the cup. This meant the infuser was not resting at the bottom of the mug.

• Materials: Stainless steel
• Includes: Infuser
• OXT 3 Pcs Tea Infuser : For anyone looking for a bargain, this set of three identical infusers might prove tempting! But we did not love the infuser’s clasp (it was stubborn to close) and a few leaves escaped during steeping.
• Teabloom Universal Glass Tea Infuser: We really liked the appearance of the Teabloom infuser, but it proved very inconvenient (and damp) to remove from the mug. Pieces of leaves repeatedly got stuck in the filtration slits during cleaning.
• Vadham Classic Tea Infuser : Unfortunately, we were not fans of the Vadham’s tippiness. It was also challenging to clean since leaves got stuck in the infuser’s filtration pores.
• OXO BREW Twisting Tea Ball Infuser : While we didn't mind the cool twist-to-open feature of this ball infuser, the number of leaves that escaped during steeping made it not worth it.
• Jexcull Snap Ball Tea Strainer : When measuring out tea, we definitely prefer to avoid a mess. The Jexcull made this difficult since we had to squeeze both handles together in order to open and load the infuser.
• FORLIFE Brew-in-Mug Extra-Fine Tea Infuser with Lid : Although the FORLIFE was definitely in the running as one of our favorites, a few leaves escaped during steeping and it was a bit of a hassle to clean.

How do you use a tea infuser?

Ball tea infusers can be loaded with a serving size of tea leaves, snapped shut, and then submerged in hot water. For basket tea infusers, loose leaf tea leaves can be measured out directly into the basket and then hot water can be poured over the basket. Over time, the leaves will unfurl and the tea leaf flavors and qualities will steep into the water.

Can you use a tea infuser for coffee?

Only a few of the tea infusers we tested also doubled as brewing baskets for coffee. We found that those that were cylindrical and had a tight mesh were sometimes advertised as able to filter both tea and coffee. While this may work fine in a pinch, we recommend just investing in a pour-over coffee maker .

How does a tea infuser work?

Tea infusers are usually small, reusable stainless steel strainers, or mesh baskets. Users can spoon loose-leaf tea directly into the infusers, pour hot water over the leaves, and then wait for the tea to steep. These infusers ensure that little to no tea leaves end up in the final cup, while also allowing the tea leaves to fully unfurl and infuse their flavors.

Why We're the Experts

• For this review, we tested 10 tea infusers. We used them to steep a variety of teas and evaluated how easy they were to use and clean.
• Abigail Clarkin is a freelance writer who's contributed to the site since 2022. She's also written our reviews of pepper mills and water filter pitchers .

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Best Tea Infusers of 2024

Dropping a tea bag into a cup of hot water is a reliable way to make tea. But if you sip it every day (or multiple times a day), you might consider getting an infuser. The best tea infusers allow you to soak larger leaf particles so they have a chance to swell, which can result in smoother, better-tasting tea.

"A good tea infuser should have enough space to let the tea brew and move around in the water," says tea consultant Eileen Donaghey of Afternoon Tea Expert . She recommends getting one with a metal filter and avoiding anything too small.

To help you narrow down your options, we researched the best infusers, pots, baskets, and strainers for making tea.

Table of Contents

• Best Tea Infusers
• Things To Consider When Buying
• How We Chose

Bodum Assam Tea Press With Stainless Steel Filter  »

Works with loose-leaf tea and tea bags

Strong, heat-resistant teapot

Can pause infusing without removing filter

Lid is somewhat flimsy

Pricier than other infusers

If we could only recommend one tea infuser, we'd go with the Bodum Assam Tea Press. Modeled after the brand's French press coffee brewing system, it's essentially a teapot with a built-in infuser filter. The design is meant to ensure you get the best possible taste every time you make tea. And you can use it with both loose-leaf tea and tea bags.

The pot is borosilicate glass, an exceptionally strong type of glass that stands up to high heat. Since it's transparent, you can see your tea deepening in color and know when it's at your preferred strength. Press down the plunger to stop it from infusing – no need to remove the filter – and then pour yourself a cup. When you're ready for your next cup, the tea will be the same strength as when you plunged it.

The strainer is made of stainless steel, and the lid is plastic with a silicone rim. All components are dishwasher-safe. Although this tea infuser is designed to withstand years of daily use, some reviewers have noted the lid is a bit flimsy, so you might consider washing that part by hand.

Tea Forte Icon Stainless Loose Tea Infuser  »

Easy to use

Fits most mugs and teacups

Heat-resistant base and handle

Hand-washing recommended

Brews a limited quantity

For those on a budget, we suggest Tea Forte's Icon Infuser. The pyramid shape is meant to be placed directly into a mug that holds between 8 and 14 fluid ounces, allowing you to brew a single serving of tea at any time. (At just 3.5 inches tall and 1.5 inches at the base, it's smaller than it looks in the online display photo and should fit in most cups.)

First, take off the silicone base, add one to two teaspoons of loose-leaf tea, and replace the base. Holding the heat-resistant silicone leaf, lower the pyramid into your teacup and allow it to steep until it reaches your preferred concentration.

This tea infuser is technically dishwasher-safe, though the brand recommends washing it by hand. Since it only consists of two parts, it should be easy to clean.

Breville Smart Tea Infuser Compact  »

Carafe holds four cups

Five temperatures and time settings

Keeps tea warm on magnetic base

Can be used to boil water

Carafe must be hand-washed

Looking to serve guests or multiple family members? For larger batches, we recommend the Breville Smart Tea Infuser. It has a 34-ounce carafe, which is equal to about four cups.

This automatic brewer has five temperature settings, each optimized for a different type of tea: black, green, white, herbal, or oolong. And you can program it to steep for one to five minutes, depending on how strong you want your tea.

One thing to note is that you'll need to remove the basket to stop the steeping process, but the appliance beeps to let you know when it's time. And after you take out the filter, this infuser will keep the tea warm on the magnetic base until you're ready to pour your next cup. You can also use the system to boil water.

Zens Ceramic Loose Leaf Tea Steeping Mug  »

Keeps tea hot while it steeps

Wooden handle prevents burns

Lid doubles as coaster or drip tray

Can't sip through lid

Mug and lid must be hand-washed

Zens sells a number of tea-infuser cups that are both functional and attractive. This one is made of thick, hand-glazed ceramic, with a matching lid, a stainless steel filter, and a rosewood handle. The wooden handle allows you to hold the cup and drink your hot tea without burning your hand.

Fill the mug with hot water, add loose-leaf tea to the filter, then lower it into the cup and allow it to steep for a few minutes with the lid on so it stays hot. When it's done brewing, you can use the lid as a coaster or a drip tray for the strainer.

Unfortunately, the lid doesn't have a mouth opening to sip through, so this isn't the most travel-friendly option. Also, while you can put the filter in the dishwasher, the mug and lid should be washed by hand.

Rishi Tea & Botanicals Simple Brew Loose Leaf Teapot  »

Three sizes available

Gives leaves room to move and expand

Can make hot or iced tea

Glass is somewhat thin and fragile

Pitcher is not microwave-safe

The Rishi Simple Brew Loose Leaf Teapot is versatile enough to satisfy any tea drinker. It comes in three sizes (13.5, 20.3, or 33.8 ounces), so you can choose from a single-serve option or a carafe that brews up to four cups at a time (or something in between). And you can use it to make hot or iced tea.

This French-press style system is designed to give tea leaves room to move and expand, while the strainer prevents the particles from getting into your tea. The top comes off, the filter unscrews from the lid, and all three pieces are dishwasher-safe.

The strainer is stainless steel, and the pitcher is borosilicate glass, which is typically a high-strength material. That said, some reviewers have noted that the glass feels thin and can be fragile.

Oxo Tea Infuser Basket  »

Simple and user-friendly

Good for home, work, or travel

Fine filter holes contain all particles

Too large for some cups

Leaves can get stuck in mesh

Oxo's Tea Infuser Basket offers a super simple way to infuse loose-leaf tea, one cup at a time. You can use it at home, take it to work, or bring it with you on a trip. Some reviewers have said the basket is a bit too large for some mugs and teacups, but it can also be placed in a small pitcher or teapot to make a bigger batch.

We like that this tea infuser has a silicone lid that helps keep heat in while your tea steeps. Plus, it functions as a drip tray when you remove the filter.

The fine etched holes in the strainer should contain all the particles and prevent little bits from getting into your tea. However, reviewers have noted that they can get stuck in the mesh, which might make the filter tricky to clean.

The Bottom Line

If you prefer loose-leaf tea over tea bags or need a way to brew multiple servings of tea at once, a tea infuser might be a worthwhile purchase. Though it ultimately depends on your preferences and tea-drinking habits, we think the Bodum Assam Tea Press will appeal to many people. But if you're on a budget or are interested in a single-serving option, the Tea Forte Icon Stainless Loose Tea Infuser might be a better choice.

Things To Consider When Buying Tea Infusers

Type and Style: There are several types of tea infusers, including French press-style carafes, automatic teapots with various settings, and single-serving mugs. You'll also find baskets and balls that can be lowered into a mug or stirred into a cup of hot water.

When deciding which type to get, think about how you plan to use your tea infuser, whether you want to brew multiple cups at once, and if you're looking for a simple solution or a more sophisticated and versatile system.

Material: When it comes to the filter component, Donaghey is partial to metal. Stainless steel is a durable material that resists rust, so it can often be washed in the dishwasher. Some tea infusers have silicone pieces, such as a lid, rim, plunger, handle, or base. This rubbery, heat-resistant material should virtually never feel hot to the touch.

A glass container allows you to see the water darken as it gets infused with the tea. This is a helpful feature, as it means you can stop the steeping when it reaches your preferred concentration. Borosilicate glass in particular is ideal because it's generally strong and resistant to high temperatures.

Size: Tea infusers come in various sizes. There are single-serve options and larger teapots that brew multiple cups – but the capacity isn't the only thing that matters when it comes to size.

"It should be large enough to allow leaves to open," explains David Lau, co-owner of Asha Tea House in California. Donaghey agrees. "Avoid anything too small," she says, noting that the tea leaves should have plenty of room to move around when soaking in the hot water.

Ease of Use: For the most part, tea infusers are easy to use. Some, like baskets and balls, require little more effort than it takes to place a tea bag in a cup of hot water.

Others are slightly more complex. For instance, with a French press-style system, you'll need to watch the water as it darkens to know when to press down the plunger. And some automatic teapots require you to remove the filter once the tea is done brewing to prevent it from getting stronger and bitter.

Price: Tea infusers come at a range of prices. Yet, unlike coffee makers, they don’t usually exceed $200. The simplest options – like balls and baskets – are often less than $25. Mugs with built-in infusers might be slightly more expensive, but not always. Teapots and automatic brewers will be the priciest options, though it will depend on the features.

How We Chose the Best Tea Infusers

To compile this list of the best tea infusers, we first consulted two experts on the matter: Eileen Donaghey, a tea consultant at Afternoon Tea Expert , and David Lau, the co-owner of Asha Tea House . With their insights and buying tips in mind, we researched highly rated, bestselling options for every preference and budget. Each infuser was evaluated based on style, brewing method, ease of use, capacity, portability, cleaning requirements, and price.

WHY SHOULD YOU TRUST US?

Our contributors are seasoned in finding and reviewing the best home goods and lifestyle products. The author of this article, Theresa Holland , is a freelance writer and product tester with several years of experience in the commerce space. Her buying guides have appeared in The Spruce, People, HGTV.com, Travel + Leisure, and Byrdie.

The right way to use a tea infuser depends on the type and design. But essentially, you fill a filter with loose-leaf tea, then lower it into hot water (whether it's a mug or an attached teapot or carafe). Let it sit for a few minutes until it reaches your desired strength, then remove the filter to stop the steeping.

Lau says using a tea infuser isn't necessarily better than steeping tea bags – it just depends on how you like to make tea. "Tea bags are made with tea fannings, a byproduct of tea processing," he notes, adding that the flavor is typically stronger with a "one-dimensional" taste. "It's fine if you're going to brew it strong and add milk, because then all you want is the tannins and astringency."

According to Donaghey, infusers are the superior option. "Ideally, you would make tea in a teapot and use a strainer," she says. "A tea infuser can allow the tea more space to move around in the cup."

Many tea infusers can be taken apart and placed in a dishwasher for easy cleaning. But not all are dishwasher-safe, and may call for hand-washing certain pieces (like the carafe or cup) and running the filter through the dishwasher separately. We recommend checking the brand's cleaning instructions to prevent accidentally damaging or breaking your tea infuser.

About Our Team

Theresa Holland

Contributor

Victoria Sheridan

U.S. News 360 Reviews takes an unbiased approach to our recommendations. When you use our links to buy products, we may earn a commission but that in no way affects our editorial independence.

11 Best Tea Infusers of 2023

Tea lovers around the world understand the importance of having the perfect tea infuser to achieve a flavorful and satisfying cup. A tea infuser allows users to steep loose-leaf tea with ease, as it separates the tea leaves from the water, preventing an unpleasant, gritty final product. Choosing the right tea infuser can significantly enhance the overall tea-drinking experience by providing simplicity and optimal flavor extraction.

There are various types and styles of tea infusers, with each catering to specific preferences and brewing needs. From mesh baskets to silicone shapes, it’s crucial for tea enthusiasts to consider factors such as the size, material, and design of the infuser when selecting the best tool for their daily routine. By understanding the function and features of different tea infusers, tea drinkers can confidently choose the perfect device to elevate their brewing experience.

Key Takeaways

• A tea infuser is essential in achieving a satisfying cup of loose-leaf tea, with various types available to suit individual preferences.
• When selecting the best tea infuser, important factors to consider include size, material, and design, ensuring a seamless brewing experience.
• Understanding the differences between tea infusers and tea strainers can guide tea drinkers toward the optimal tool for their brewing needs.

Best Tea Infusers

Tea forte kati steeping cup and infuser.

The Tea Forte Kati Steeping Cup And Infuser is a convenient and stylish option for those who enjoy single servings of tea. It has a double-walled ceramic mug that holds heat well, and the stainless steel infuser is designed to provide an optimal steeping experience. There are so many options to choose from, so you’ll be able to find one that perfectly fits your style.

Genuine Fred Manatea Tea Infuser

The Genuine Fred Manatea Tea Infuser adds a touch of whimsy to tea time with its adorable manatee design. Made from food-safe silicone, this infuser fits most mugs and is easy to clean. I love a good tea pun, and this infuser brings so much joy.

AdHoc Tea Drop Tea Infuser

With a sleek design and simple functionality, the AdHoc Tea Drop Tea Infuser is suitable for those who prefer minimalism. The stainless steel infuser has a weighted end to ensure it stays in place during steeping.

Finum Stainless Steel Mesh Brewing Basket

The Finum Stainless Steel Mesh Brewing Basket is praised for its durability and versatile size, suitable for a range of teapots and cups. Users also appreciate the fine mesh that prevents tea leaves from escaping into their brew. I like this one because it can work with a variety of teapots, of multiple shapes and sizes.

Snap Ball Tea Strainer

Snap Ball Tea Strainers feature a ball-shaped design with a convenient handle. It allows for easy steeping and removal, and the fine mesh ensures minimal residue in your cup. They are also so easy to clean!

Yoassi Extra Fine 18/8 Stainless Steel Tea Infuser

Highly rated for its quality and effectiveness, the Yoassi Extra Fine 18/8 Stainless Steel Tea Infuser is designed to prevent even the smallest tea leaves from entering your cup. It rests nicely in your cup so you’re able to brew tea without any additional equipment!

House Again Extra Fine Mesh Tea Infusers

These House Again Extra Fine Mesh Tea Infusers come in a pack of 2, making them an excellent budget option for tea lovers. Each infuser is equipped with a chain so that it’s easy to dunk them in hot water, making them easy and burn-free.

FORLIFE Brew-In-Mug with Basket Infuser

Featuring a modern design and a roomy basket for optimal tea leaf expansion, the FORLIFE Brew-In-Mug with Basket Infuser pairs a 16-ounce ceramic mug with its removable infuser, making it a great all-in-one option.

Vahdam Classic Tea Infuser

The Vahdam Classic Tea Infuser is praised for its timeless design and functionality. Made from 18/8 stainless steel, it can easily adapt to a variety of teapot and mug sizes. Best of all, you can buy it with your favorite loose-leaf tea, making it a perfect gift for another tea lover!

Breville Compact Smart Tea Infuser

Want to be a bit more high-tech with your tea-making? Look no further than the Breville Compact Smart Tea Infuser . This infuser is ideal for those who love tea gadgets. This electric option offers preset steeping times and temperatures for various tea varieties, ensuring the perfect cup every time.

Oxo Brew Twisting Tea Ball Infuser

Featuring a unique twisting mechanism, the Oxo Brew Twisting Tea Ball Infuser makes it easy to fill and remove tea leaves from the mesh ball without making a mess. Its sturdy design adds to its appeal for avid tea drinkers. Personally, this is my go-to tea infuser for travel because it’s so sturdy.

What Is a Tea Infuser?

A tea infuser is an essential tool for tea enthusiasts who prefer loose-leaf tea over pre-packaged teabags. Typically, a tea infuser is a small, perforated, or mesh container that holds loose tea leaves and allows water to flow through, extracting the flavors and creating the perfect cup of tea. Tea infusers come in a variety of styles, materials, and sizes to suit different tastes and preferences.

One popular type of tea infuser is the basket-style infuser , which sits inside a teapot or mug, allowing for easy removal once the tea has steeped to the desired strength. These infusers often feature stainless steel mesh and heat-resistant plastic frames, making them durable and easy to clean.

Another common design is the ball or spoon-shaped infuser , which is more compact and ideal for single servings. These infusers are typically made of stainless steel or silicone, and they can be easily filled with the desired amount of loose tea leaves and submerged in a teacup or mug.

For those who are always on the go, a travel mug with a built-in infuser might be an excellent choice. These mugs are designed with a built-in tea infuser, allowing users to brew their favorite loose-leaf tea while traveling, without the need for additional equipment.

Using a tea infuser is simple: one just needs to fill the infuser with the appropriate amount of loose tea leaves, place the infuser in a teapot or mug, pour hot water over the leaves, and allow the tea to steep for the recommended time. Once the tea has reached the desired strength, remove the infuser. Voila! The tea is ready to be enjoyed.

In conclusion, a tea infuser is a practical and versatile tool for brewing loose-leaf tea, offering a variety of options to suit personal preferences and needs. Whether enjoying tea at home, at work, or on the go, the right tea infuser can make the experience even more enjoyable.

Types of Tea Infusers

A variety of tea infusers are available on the market to cater to different preferences and brewing styles. This guide will help you choose the perfect infuser for your tea-drinking needs.

Tea Ball Infuser

A tea ball infuser is a small, spherical container typically made of stainless steel with tiny holes which allow water to flow freely around the leaves. It is especially useful for brewing a single cup, as it takes up little space and can easily be removed from the cup after infusion.

Tea Stick Infuser

Tea stick infusers resemble pen-shaped stainless steel tubes with perforated sides that allow water to circulate through the leaves. These infusers are suitable for on-the-go tea drinkers who seek a compact, easy-to-clean option.

Glass Tea Infuser

Glass tea infusers offer a stylish and functional choice for those who enjoy watching the leaves steep and unfurl. Many glass infusers come in the form of a teapot , which may have a built-in strainer for easy leaf removal.

Stainless Steel Tea Infuser

Stainless steel tea infusers are a popular choice due to their durability and resistance to rust. This type of infuser is often designed as a basket or cup with fine mesh sides, allowing for optimal water flow and preventing stray leaves from escaping into the drink.

Silicone Tea Infuser

Silicone tea infusers come in a variety of vibrant colors and innovative shapes. They are soft, flexible, and easy to clean, making them an appealing choice for those seeking a playful brewing experience.

Tea Infuser Basket

Tea infuser baskets can either be made of stainless steel or BPA-free plastic, with fine mesh walls that ensure minimal leaf escape. Typically, they rest on the rim of your mug or teacup, providing ample room for the leaves to expand fully and deliver excellent flavor.

Tea Infuser Cup

A tea infuser cup is a specialized teacup that has a built-in, removable infuser. These cups are ideal for convenient, single-cup brewing and often come with a built-in saucer or lid.

Tea Cup Infuser and Lid

Teacup infusers with lids provide added functionality by keeping the drink hot while steeping and doubling as a coaster after brewing. These well-designed cups and lids offer a sleek, practical solution for enjoying loose-leaf tea at home or in the office.

Reusable Tea Infuser

Reusable tea infusers cut down on waste and are environmentally friendly, as they can be used repeatedly for brewing both hot and cold teas. They come in various shapes and sizes, including balls, baskets, spoons, and more.

Tea Infuser Spoon

A tea infuser spoon is a small, spoon-shaped mesh container that holds tea leaves, making it easy to measure and infuse tea directly in the cup. This is perfect for those seeking a simple, portable tool for brewing loose-leaf tea.

Tea Infuser Teapot

Tea infuser teapots combine the convenience of an infuser with the larger brewing capacity of a teapot. These teapots typically include an infuser basket, making it simple to brew multiple cups and share them with friends or family.

Travel Tea Infuser

Travel tea infusers allow tea enthusiasts to enjoy their favorite brews on-the-go. These portable devices often feature an insulated tumbler, a built-in infuser, and a leak-proof lid, making them ideal for commutes and busy lifestyles.

What to Look For in a Tea Infuser

When selecting a tea infuser, pay attention to the size of the holes. Smaller holes are ideal for finer tea leaves, as they will prevent the leaves from escaping the infuser and ending up in your tea. Conversely, larger holes work well for larger tea leaves or herbal blends. It’s essential to find a tea infuser with the appropriate hole size for the type of tea you enjoy drinking.

There are various styles of tea infusers available, and your choice will depend on your personal preferences and the way you prepare tea. Some popular styles include basket infusers, ball infusers, and even novelty shapes. You might also consider a teapot with a built-in infuser or a steeping cup and infuser for a more convenient experience.

Tea infusers can be made from different materials such as stainless steel, silicone, or even glass. Stainless steel infusers are generally more durable and offer a neutral taste. However, silicone and glass infusers can also be excellent choices, as they are non-toxic and can add a touch of style to your tea time. Look for materials that are heat-resistant, BPA-free, and easy to clean.

Ease of Use

The ease of use is a crucial factor when choosing a tea infuser. A good infuser should be simple to load with tea leaves, close securely and steep without allowing the leaves to escape.

Lastly, consider how easy it is to clean your tea infuser. Stainless steel and silicone infusers are often the simplest to clean, as they can usually be placed in the dishwasher or rinsed thoroughly by hand. Some infusers, like those with intricate designs or hard-to-reach areas, may require a bit more effort to clean. Choose an infuser that suits your cleaning preferences.

How to Use a Tea Infuser

Using a tea infuser is a simple and effective way to brew loose-leaf tea for a delicious cup without any stray leaves. First, choose a suitable tea infuser according to your preferences. Common styles include tea balls with chains or long handles, and brewing baskets.

Once you have selected an infuser, follow these steps to brew your tea:

• Measure the tea leaves : Depending on the tea type and your taste, measure the appropriate amount of loose-leaf tea to place into the infuser. Generally, use 1 teaspoon of tea per 8 ounces of water.
• Fill the infuser : Open the infuser and add the measured tea leaves into the basket or ball. Avoid overfilling the infuser, as the leaves need room to expand for proper steeping.
• Heat the water : Prepare hot water at the appropriate temperature for the specific tea you’re brewing. For instance, green tea usually requires water at 160-180°F, while black tea is best at 200-212°F.
• Place the infuser in your cup : Set the filled tea infuser into your teacup or mug. Ensure the infuser’s handle or chain rests over the edge of the cup for easy removal when steeping is complete.
• Pour the hot water : Carefully pour the heated water over the infuser, allowing the water to fill the cup and fully surround the tea leaves. This ensures the leaves can properly steep and release their flavors into the water.
• Steep the tea : Allow the tea to steep for the recommended time based on the type of tea. Green tea usually takes 2-3 minutes, while black tea can take 3-5 minutes. Avoid oversteeping to prevent bitterness.
• Remove the infuser : Once the tea has steeped for the appropriate time, carefully remove the infuser from the cup. Let any excess water drain from the infuser before setting it aside to cool and dry.

By following these steps, you can enjoy a perfect cup of tea using a tea infuser, making your tea time both delicious and enjoyable.

Tea Infuser vs Tea Strainer

When it comes to brewing loose-leaf tea, there are two main tools to consider: a tea infuser and a tea strainer. Both have their advantages and specific uses, but they serve essentially the same purpose: to separate the tea leaves from the brewed liquid.

Tea infusers are designed to hold the loose tea leaves while they steep in hot water. They come in various shapes and sizes, such as stainless steel mesh balls and silicone animals. The advantage of using a tea infuser is that it allows the tea leaves to expand fully, releasing their flavor more effectively than a tea bag would. Additionally, they are often made with materials that do not impart any flavor to the tea, unlike some tea bags.

On the other hand, tea strainers are used to strain the tea leaves after the brewing process. These tools are held over the cup or teapot while the brewed tea is poured, separating the leaves from the liquid. Western-style teapots with built-in strainers are commonly used for medium to large loose-leaf teas, as the holes might be too big for finer tea particles. They are ideal for flavored teas that are brewed only once.

Both infusers and strainers come in various materials, such as stainless steel and silicone, with each material having its pros and cons. Stainless steel infusers tend to be more durable and resistant to high temperatures, while silicone infusers can be more flexible and easier to clean.

In choosing between tea infusers and strainers, the decision ultimately comes down to personal preference and the type of tea being brewed. If you want the convenience of brewing tea directly in your cup without the need for additional tools, an infuser may be the better choice. However, if you prefer to brew tea in a teapot and do not mind the extra step of using a strainer when pouring, a tea strainer may be more your style.

The Bottom Line

Tea infusers are essential for those who enjoy brewing loose-leaf tea. There are various styles and designs available in the market, each catering to different preferences and needs. These products stand out for their quality, functionality, and ease of use.

In summary, selecting the ideal tea infuser depends on individual preferences and needs. Understanding the different types and features available can help one make a confident, informed decision in choosing a tea infuser that will provide an enjoyable tea experience.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the top tea infuser styles.

There are several popular tea infuser styles, including ball, basket, and novelty-shaped infusers. The ball-style infusers, like the Norpro Stainless Steel Mesh Tea Infuser Ball, are compact and easy to use, perfect for brewing a single cup of tea. Basket infusers, such as the Finum Stainless Steel Mesh Brewing Basket, provide more room for tea leaves to expand, allowing for better flavor and aroma extraction. Novelty-shaped infusers can add a touch of fun to your tea preparation but may not always be the most efficient for brewing.

Which infuser is best for single-cup brewing?

For single-cup brewing, a small, easy-to-use infuser like the Tea Strainer by Firebelly Tea is an excellent choice. It features an extra-fine stainless steel mesh design that fits most cups and a resting cup to prevent messes and for easy storage.

What types of materials are commonly used for tea infusers?

Tea infusers are typically made from materials such as stainless steel, silicone, or plastic. Stainless steel infusers, like the Norpro Stainless Steel Mesh Tea Infuser Ball, tend to be durable and easy to clean. Silicone infusers offer a more flexible design but may not be as sturdy or long-lasting. Some plastic infusers may be suitable, but one should ensure they are BPA-free and made from high-quality materials.

How can I choose the best infuser mug or bottle?

An ideal infuser mug or bottle should be easy to use, easy to clean, and well-insulated to keep your tea hot while brewing. The Teabloom Glass Mug is a highly recommended option that features a durable glass design and includes a well-fitted infuser for loose-leaf teas. When choosing an infuser bottle, consider factors like portability, insulation, and ease of use.

What are the most recommended infusers on Amazon?

Top-rated and recommended infusers on Amazon include the Finum Stainless Steel Mesh Brewing Basket , the OXO Brew Tea Infuser Basket , and the Teabloom Glass Mug . Each of these options has received positive reviews for their efficiency, ease of use, and overall value.

Where can I find high-quality tea infusers near me?

High-quality tea infusers can be found at local kitchenware stores, tea shops, and online retailers. If you are looking for a specific brand or type of infuser, consider checking the manufacturer’s website to find a nearby retailer or authorized dealer. Additionally, online marketplaces like Amazon offer a wide variety of tea infusers with detailed customer reviews to help you make an informed decision.

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The Best Tea Steeper, Tested and Reviewed

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I did not always want the best tea steeper. There was a time not too long ago when I’d open a box of tea bags , lift and lower one into a cup of hot water, wait a few minutes, et voilà! I’d wrap my hands around a toasty mug of hot tea and sip away, and all was right with the world.

Then I met and befriended a tea sommelier (yes, it’s a thing ) named James Labe—a passionate and studied guy who skyrocketed to tea-world stardom at the dawn of the aughts—and my tea-drinking life forever changed.

James taught me that making a (way) better cup of tea took learning a few simple sourcing and tea-making techniques, understanding how to properly steep tea chief among them. I went from buying boxed tea to steeping loose leaves in a nanosecond. Green tea, black tea, herbal tea, oolong, and rooibos all found their way into my teacup.

Friends noted my newfound enthusiasm and bestowed thematic gifts, often in the form of steeping gear. I tried all sorts of models, from tea balls and basket steepers to paper filters you fill with tea leaves yourself. Ultimately, I circled back to James’ guidance: The best tea infusers are simple, inexpensive, and, most importantly, designed with details that fit the core principles of proper tea brewing.

A good steeper is one that’s large enough to allow for maximum interaction between tea leaves and water, with extra-fine mesh to keep leaves and sediment from escaping as the tea steeps. If your steeper is too small, it won’t allow water to freely circulate and the tea leaves to fully expand, yielding a weak and unsatisfying drink. You also want a steeper that allows your cup, mug , pot, or thermos to be covered during the brewing process—this helps your tea retain both heat and aroma.

To find the best tea steepers, I gathered 12 models to put to the test, taking a look at ball, basket, and paper varieties. Read on for the winners. For more about the testing process and factors to consider when choosing the best tea steeper for dedicated tea drinkers, scroll to the bottom of the page.

If you are looking for travel mugs with built in tea strainers, check out our other list here .

Table of contents

Best tea steeper overall Best travel tea steeper A note on basket steepers vs. ball steepers How I tested What I looked for Other tea steepers I tested The takeaway

The best tea steeper overall: Finum Stainless Steel Mesh Brewing Basket

The Finum Stainless Steel Mesh Brewing Basket took home the gold in my test and in many other tea steeper rankings I found online. It’s above and beyond the best steeper I have ever used, and it checked off every box of my tea brewing needs. It fit well into multiple sizes of mugs and had a shape and size that allowed water and tea leaves to mingle with generous fluidity.

Regardless of which type of tea I used—from extremely fine-cut tulsi tea leaves to whole blooming flowers, like chrysanthemum—the Finum was the only non-bag steeper I tested that kept leaves and sediment, no matter how small, from leaking into my cup.

Constructed of sturdy micro-mesh stainless steal and a heat-tolerant BPA-free plastic frame, the Finum basket steeper is offered in medium and large sizes that fit cups and mugs as well as tea pots and thermoses. It comes with a lid that fully covers the steeper and acts as a lid for the tea-making vessel, so my tea stayed hot and aromatic while it steeped. After brewing, the lid flips over to become a handy holder for the steeper to rest in as it cools.

After brewing my tea, I gently tapped the steeper on the side of my compost bucket, and my spent tea leaves dropped into the bucket with ease. I mostly cleaned this steeper with a rinse under warm running water and a quick air-dry, but also gave it a run through the dishwasher, and tried a light scrub with a little drop of dish soap when I felt that it needed a deeper cleaning. All three cleaning methods were easy and worked perfectly.

Finum Stainless Steel Mesh Brewing Basket

The best travel tea steeper: Finum Disposable Paper Tea Bags

For the best steeper to take on the go (think air, car, and boat travel, camping, on overnights, and to the office or school), Finum Disposable Paper Tea Bags won my vote hands down. Though these steeping bags are a single-use product, they are made of biodegradable, Forest Stewardship Council-certified paper, and—right along with your spent tea leaves—can be tossed into your compost bucket. The ease of discarding them is what makes them a better choice to take on the go than a basket or a ball that you'd have to clean and put away.

Finum paper tea bags were easy to fill and well-constructed; their glue-free edges stayed firmly sealed during and after use. The small size, which Finum calls “slim” was perfect for making a single mug of tea. It had a nice wide opening that made the bag easy to fill without tea leaf spillage and was thin yet roomy enough to allow water and tea leaves to mingle well. Its gusseted bottom flared out when filled, which also helped provide ample room for leaves and water to interact. The top flap folded neatly over the edge of my mug, which kept the bag closed and made it easy to pull from my cup once my tea was ready to drink. While, the paper filter doesn't offer a lid, I could easily cover my mug to keep my tea hot and aromatic while it steeped. To take these bags on the go, I folded the flap over a couple of times, then tucked the filled tea bag into a small sealable bag.

Finum bags are made in Germany and come in six sizes. They’re primarily offered in a chlorine-free oxygen bleached option (a process that’s considered to be safer for use than chlorine-bleached). The large size, which the company says is idea for pots, is offered in both the chlorine-bleached and an unbleached natural material. I found that my tea tasted cleaner with the chlorine-free oxygen-bleached tea bags.

Finum Disposable Paper Tea Bags

A note on basket steepers vs. ball steepers vs. paper steepers

For this test I opted for straight-forward basket, ball, and disposable bag steepers. Basket steepers fit into a cup, mug, or pot and often come with a lid, which helps keep tea hot and aromatic as it brews. They’re a great reusable option. Ball steepers, also reusable, generally employ two sides that open for filling and are then secured with a screw or latch. Disposable bag steepers are a single-use product, which are often, but not always, compostable and biodegradable. They tend to come in a variety of material types, including chlorine and chlorine-free bleached, as well as natural papers. Some bags are made of other materials, like polyester, and some employ glue, staples, string, or other non-compostable and/or non-biodegradable materials.

I eliminated any novelty steepers. Often made of silicone, these come in a host of shapes, with whimsical, punny names like Octeapus , Deep Tea Diver , and Teatanic . While they’re fun, cute, and functional on a basic level, they don’t fit the parameters necessary to make a high-quality cup of tea.

How I tested

I brewed several cups of tea with each steeper, using teas of widely varying leaf sizes and shapes. This allowed me to evaluate whether the finest leaves and sediment would leak from steepers into my finished brews, and test how the steeper would handle larger leaves and flower-based teas. I looked at how well water and tea leaves were able to interact during brewing. I also evaluated the steeper’s design to see how easy it was to use and clean. Last, I considered the eco-friendliness of the materials used.

What I looked for in a tea steeper

The shape and design is ultimately what separates the wheat from the chaff when it comes to determining a winning tea steeper. The three significant questions are: Does the steeper allow for maximum interaction between water and tea? Is the material tightly woven enough that leaves and sediment from even the finest of teas won’t leak into your brew? Does the steeper come with its own cover? (Or, if not, can your cup, mug, pot, or thermos be covered while the steeper is in use?) I tested ball, bag, and basket steepers in a variety of shapes, sizes, and materials, including round, oblong, stainless steel, steel mesh, paper, and polyester, looking closely at these three factors to determine which steepers were best.

Is the steeper easy to use and clean?

I tested products that range from $4 to $17, looking for a functional, well-designed steeper at the best possible price point.

Other Steepers I Tested

The FORLIFE Brew-in-Mug Extra-Fine Tea Infuser with Lid was a stylish stainless steel tea infuser. It had a generously sized silicone-rimmed lid that stayed cool to the touch and could be flipped over to become a holder for the steeper. It brewed a good tasting cup, but its mesh holes weren’t fine enough to keep the sediment of my finest tea leaves from leaking into my brew.

The Oxo Brew Tea Infuser Basket had a particularly sturdy build and included a couple of smart design features: namely, two handles with silicone touch points underneath to keep them cool to the touch. Like the FORLIFE, it also had a silicone-rimmed lid that flipped to become a tray for the basket, and it brewed a delicious cup of tea. Though this model didn’t leak as much sediment as the FORLIFE, it still let some through when used with very fine tea leaves.

The Oxo Twisting Tea Ball Infuser had a nifty one-and-done twist open design that made it much easier to fill than the classic ball steeper design. The steeper's long handle, however, made it difficult to cover your cup or pot during steeping. Additionally, since the diameter of this ball is only about 1.5 inches, tea leaves become cramped, limiting their interaction with water. It's also marketed as being best for pearls, full-leaf, and large-leaf teas. When I wanted to steep finer teas, I was outta luck—they swam through the holes of this steeper and into my brew. Larger teas, like chrysanthemum, on the other hand, didn’t fit in this type of steeper.

The Toptotn Loose Leaf Tea Infuser is the classic two-piece ball design that screws together and has a handy chain that hooks around the handle of your mug, cup, or teapot. This is the sort of model you could likely find in the housewares section of a hardware store, and it’s cheap ($12 for a package of six on Amazon at the time of writing. That said, who needs six of these?). But with just a few holes on only one side of the steeper, the water and tea interaction was the weakest among my contenders.

The HIC Snap Ball Tea Infuser was another classic model. This one had a strong spring-action handle, which helped it stay closed after filling but made the steeper challenging to hold open. The long handle made it difficult to cover my cup while my tea steeped. And the small size of the ball limited the amount and types of tea I could use.

The HIC Mesh Wonder Ball was generously sized, allowing water and tea to mingle with the fluidity that makes for a god cup of tea. Whatever vessel you’re using to brew your tea can be covered while you’re using this ball. The fine mesh was nice and tight on this steeper, but there was a significant gap at the seam where the two halves of the ball met. When I wasn’t using large tea leaf varieties, there was significant leakage.

The Steep Stir , which resembles a tube with a handle for stirring, was a novel design. A casing slides open to reveal a small chamber for your tea leaves. That casing, however, was hard to open and close, and the small size and rectangular shape of the chamber was awkward to fill without spilling tea all over the counter. The chamber was also too small to allow for proper water and tea interaction, and limited the types and amount of tea I could use.

Bstean Tea Filter Bags are chlorine-free, unbleached, and biodegradable. They cinch closed with what appears to be a cotton drawstring tie (so, theoretically, these are compostable, though the company does not explicitly say so). I liked the drawstring closure on these, but preferred the roomier size and the larger range of size options of the Finum bags. I also preferred Finum’s Forest Stewardship Council certification (meaning they come from responsibly managed forests) and the explicit confirmation that their product is compostable.

T-Sac Tea Filter Bags were a close runner-up and nearly identical in design to Finum’s filter bag product. These bags are also made in Germany and they are compostable and biodegradable, but they only come in unbleached cotton material. T-Sac offers fewer size options than Finum, and I found size #1 to be too cramped for larger tea leaf types. T-Sac’s size #2 (the equivalent to Finums “slim”) was nice and roomy, allowing water and tea leaves to mingle freely without being too large for a single cup or mug. Though I preferred the taste of tea made with Finum’s oxygen-bleached bag, these also brewed a great tasting cup of tea.

The Daiso Disposable Filter Bags were winning on many accounts: easy to fill, they are designed with a fold-over flap that fully secures tea leaves. Using them produced the cleanest, best tasting cup of tea of all of the tea bags. And at $12 for 500 bags, these were the most affordable for making a single cup or mug of tea. However, they’re made of polypropylene and polyethylene, which are plastics and not compostable. Additionally, when we ordered it, this product shipped from Japan and, while it did arrive with an adorable hand-written note, shipping took several weeks.

The Takeaway

While I tested several high-quality tea steepers, the Finum Stainless Steel Mesh Brewing Basket was my top pick for quality, versatility, and eco-friendliness. Its wide design fits all common tea brewing vessels and allows for ample interaction between tea leaves and brewing water. And its micro-mesh walls block even the finest leaves and sediment from escaping into your brewed cup of tea. At only around $10, it’s the most economically priced high-quality tea steeper on the market. For steeping bags to take on the go, Finum Disposable Paper Tea Bags are well-designed and easy to fill. They come in a wide range of sizes, make a great tasting cup of tea, and are made from FSC-certified paper that is fully compostable and biodegradable.

Kendra Vaculin

Noah Kaufman

Wilder Davies

The Best Tea Infusers of 2024

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Fred & Friends Manatea Tea Infuser

Grips strongly to the side of a mug

Easy to clean

Steeps evenly

Some leaves can get stuck inside

Yoassi Extra Fine 18/8 Stainless Steel Tea Infuser

Steeps tea evenly

Fits a variety of mugs

Metal arms get hot to the touch

HIC Snap Ball Tea Infuser

Disperses tea quickly and evenly

Easy to empty leaves

Easy to store

Mesh is delicate and prone to dents

OXO Brew Twisting Tea Ball

Feels sturdy and durable

Allows leaves to escape

Twisting traps leaves during cleaning

Chefast Tea Infuser Set

Included scoop/clip is handy

Takes a while to steep

Feels cheaply made

Chain isn't functional

Updated March 12, 2024

Without a teapot, those who prefer brewing loose leaf tea or black tea with full flavor, instead of tea bags, need an in-mug tea infuser to get their caffeine fix. But, as someone who has put in years of unofficial trial and error can attest, good ones are hard to find.

From silicone to stainless steel infusers, there are a variety of options available online. Here are the best tea infusers you can get right now.

No one is as shocked as I am to find the silly Fred & Friends tea infuser in our top spot. I’ve passed over it in gift shops for years, thinking that its punny name and cute manatee form disqualified it from being a high-quality tea infuser. I stand corrected.

The design, which hangs the infuser from the rim to look like a manatee poking its head out of the ocean, is wonderfully functional. Even when tipping the mug more than 90 degrees to get the last few drops of tea, the Manatea holds on tight, eliminating the need for a drip tray. And while that means you may keep it in the mug longer than other infusers, as you sip, and the water level decreases, steeping stops. (That being said, make sure you initially fill your mug to cover all of the infuser’s holes—you’ll see it start working immediately.)

Made of silicone, the Manatea is easy to clean, and leaves don’t escape or get stuck in the holes. The one downside is that when leaves expand in its narrow body, they need a little extra help being removed (I used my finger), but then they generally come out in one relatively clean clump.

A great gift? Absolutely (especially since it was the least expensive product we tested). But this is one tea infuser even avid tea drinkers should buy for themselves.

Whether it’s raining outside, or you need a giant single cup of tea to kick-start your morning, there are some days that just call for an oversized mug. And on those days, we recommend you reach for the Yoassi. A more traditional stainless steel tea infuser, the Yoassi offers a large basket to hold enough tea leaves to flavor even the biggest mug of hot water—or to allow for an extra-strong cup for that boost of caffeine.

The Yoassi’s arms are wide enough to easily fit across our 16-ounce testing mug, and could likely work on one with an even bigger mouth. Tea steeps quickly and evenly without needing much prodding. And when the tea is steeped to your liking, the Yoassi’s dish (which fits snugly as a lid when not in use) can hold your dripping infuser until you’re ready to clean it or make a second cup with the leaves. Just be careful when you’re removing it—the metal arms get surprisingly hot to the touch after steeping.

And speaking of cleaning, the Yoassi is about as straight-forward as tea infusers come. Leaves come out easily and the mouth is wide enough to fit a sponge when washing by hand. If the Yoassi were a bit smaller to use with more standard mugs, we might have named this our top pick, but instead we’ll enjoy breaking it out on those days when we need a little something extra.

Other Tea Infusers We Tested

Full disclosure: I’ve used the Harold Import Co. tea infuser for years in my own life. I’ve always had a pleasant time using it—it’s small enough to fit any mug and it disperses tea quickly and evenly throughout. (One minor hitch: If even a small leaf gets between the two halves of the ball, others can sneak out.) But I was still curious to see how it would stand up to the other tea infusers we tested.

Mine has looked a little worse for the wear for as long as I can remember—its delicate stainless steel mesh denting from what I thought was too many washings. But after just two uses of the new one I used for testing, the fine mesh was already slightly dented. It doesn’t impede performance as far as steeping goes, but it’s a bit disappointing.

That said, it’s a solid choice for anyone looking for a simple tea infuser that’s a breeze to clean. Simply squeeze to open the hinge and watch all the leaves fall into the garbage. Just be careful with the scrubbing.

I was immediately intrigued by the functionality of the OXO Good Grips tea infuser, twisting the end of the handle and watching the ball open and close with a satisfying heft. In practice, however, this proved to be the most frustrating part of the experience.

This is not to say the twisting itself doesn’t work—it certainly does—but the movement actually traps tea leaves between its two halves, making cleaning a pain. This design also made this infuser the only one that actually let whole leaves escape, likely from being caught in between the mini cups while they were in the open position. During one test, enough leaves floated to the top that I stopped drinking it altogether.

That being said, if you’re especially thorough with your cleaning, this may not be a bad choice. I enjoyed how little space it occupied in the mug, and, since I have a tendency to leave my tea steeping as I drink, the fact that I could still sip easily around it. Also, for all its moving parts, it felt sturdy and well-made.

My favorite part of the Chefast tea infuser—sold with either two smaller or one larger infusers in a set—was the combo scoop/bag clip that came included. While not a part of any testing criteria, that scoop came in handy throughout testing for scooping tea into all of our infusers, and was the single-most talked about piece from colleagues passing by, even while sharing the company of silicone dinosaurs and manatees.

That being said, I was less excited to use the Chefast infuser itself. I tested using a big mug, so I opted for the large infuser. While it held a good amount of tea and kept leaves from getting into the water, it took a while (and plenty of dipping it up and down on my end) to get it to steep enough.

In terms of design, the chain coming from the lid was about double the length it needed to be, rendering the hook at the other end useless. And clicking the lid into the infuser basket didn’t feel as sturdy as I’d hope, making me wonder how durable this would be over many uses.

Sold separately, I’d purchase the bag clip scoop in an instant. But as a tea infuser alone? There are better ones out there.

The Forlife tea infuser was one of the more frustrating to use. Unlike the Yoassi (and most other similar-looking tea infusers on the market), the Forlife infuser only has one arm to hold it atop the mug, leaving you to balance a much thinner lip on the other side. Move it just so and that side falls into the water. While it never let any leaves escape, it seemed like such an unnecessary problem to have. I even tried it in a smaller mug, but at that point, it stood too tall to fit properly.

On the plus side, when the infuser is balancing properly, it works well to disperse tea throughout and contain leaves—and it comes with a dish to catch drips upon removal. It’s also large enough to fit a sponge into fairly easily for cleaning (even if leaves did get more stuck in the holes than I would’ve liked). But for being the most expensive tea infuser we tested, it was a let down.

Contains leaves well

Falls into the water often

What You Should Know About Tea Infusers

What is a tea infuser.

Think of a tea infuser as having the same basic functionality as a standard tea bag, except that tea infusers are not discarded after use. A tea infuser also provides the leaves more room to expand than traditional tea bags, which can mean a stronger flavor. And since tea infusers are sized for single-person use, users can steep their cup to their individual preferences in a way that making a whole pot of tea for the group wouldn’t allow. Tea brewing has never been so easy.

How Do You Use a Tea Infuser?

While exact instructions may vary by infuser and type of tea, most tea infusers are used in the same way. Fill the infuser with 1 to 2 teaspoons of the dry tea leaves and place it in the mug. Pour hot water (exact temperature depends on the type of tea) over the infuser and allow for the designated amount of steep time, typically 3 to 5 minutes, before removing.

Some tea infusers benefit by a bit of dipping or swirling while you wait for the tea to steep or before you remove it, to ensure that the tea is evenly distributed throughout the mug.

The more leaves you use and the longer you steep, the stronger the tea will taste. Half the fun of drinking tea is discovering your personal preferences so you can enjoy sipping something made just for you.

More Articles You Might Enjoy

Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.

Meet the writer

Meghan Kavanaugh

Contributor

Meghan Kavanaugh is an executive editor at Reviewed, overseeing coverage of home and accessibility topics, as well as lab and building operations. A career journalist and editor with more than 10 years of experience, she cut her teeth in community journalism before moving to lifestyle publications and then digital media. In her spare time, you can find her crafting and cooking, to varying degrees of success.

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The Best Tea Infuser Travel Mug (And Why Real Tea Lovers Need One) - Epicurious

by Mindy Fox for   Epicurious  

Photo by: Joseph De Leo

I can hear my better half, Steve, now: “Do you really need a dedicated travel tea mug? Can’t you brew a cup of tea and then use any ol’ travel mug to take it on the go?”

Yeah, babe, you could. (And he probably knows what’s coming next.) But I like to have the right tool for the job, and there is good reason to be particular when it comes to a travel tea mug.

Sure, I could place loose tea leaves in a single-use paper steeper or basket steeper and use my   favorite travel coffee mug for the job, but travel tea mugs are made with built-in tea steepers (ones that allow you to tightly close the lid while your tea steeps), which means no waste and a hotter finished brew. Plus, coffee mugs tend to take on coffee flavor over time. A dedicated travel tea mug helps keeps a   serious tea drinker’s tea   tasting pure and clean.

In my quest for the best travel mug to take my cuppa on the road, I sought out a leak-proof model that ranked high in the   heat retention department. I also wanted a mug that was easy to grip and to drink from. And because it’s nice to have stylish gear, one that looked good, too. Here are my winning picks and how I tested: 

The Very Best Tea Infuser Travel Mug: The Tea Spot Everest Tea Tumbler

The Everest’s double-walled, vacuum-sealed stainless steel insulation kept 22 ounces of tea hot and fresh tasting, and its screw down BPA-free top was terrifically leak-proof. I fell hard for its rugged adventure-meets-urban-chic look, and had a hard time deciding which of its four stylish colors I liked best.

The Everest also won my vote for smart design and functionality with an innovative screw-top and sipping mechanism that stay connected to the mug while you drink (which means when you remove the part of the lid that allows you to drink your tea, it won’t go tumbling down a cliff, through a subway grate, or down between that impossibly narrow space between the seat of your car and your cup-holding console).

The stainless steel steeper basket on this model provided ample room for water and tea leaves to mingle as my tea steeped, and its small holes kept fine leaves from passing into my tea, making a clean and full-tasting brew. The easy to grip exterior is much like that of the popular   Hydro Flask   water bottle so, if you’re a   Hydro Flask fan, you’ll likely love The Tea Spot Everest, too.

The Everest fit well in a tote bag and was also comfortable to carry on the outside of a backpack, using a   carabiner clip. And, like all of the travel tea mugs I tested, it can be used for iced tea as well as plain or infused fruit (aka spa) water. 

The Next Best (aka Runner Up) Travel Tea Infuser Mug: The Tea Spot Voyager Tea Tumbler

The Voyager, also by The Tea Spot, won my runner-up vote. At 16-ounces, it’s a smaller mug than the Everest but that’s where most of the differences end. This mug kept my tea hot and fresh for 6 hours, and is fitted with the same type of high quality stainless steel steeper basket as the Everest. Its smartly designed leak-proof lid has a comfortable, easy to drink from sip-cup style and doesn’t require removing to use—simply press down on a pop top to drink, then press it again to lock the top into spill-free mode. With its sleek metallic, glossy finish and no loop handle (for carabiner or finger hold), this model is stylistically more ‘urban’ than ‘adventure’, but also, according to highly-rated reviews for both products, a bit more vulnerable to scratches than the Everest. It’s easy to grip and carries well in a tote bag or pocket of a backpack or gym bag. 

How I Tested

I brewed loose black tea in seven leading travel tea mugs. After brewing the tea, I removed the tea basket and took the temperature of each mug’s tea using a   digital thermometer. I closed the lids tightly, then measured the temperature of each tea again after 1 hour, 4 hours, and 6 hours, recording the change in temperature at each interval.

In the breaks between temperature takes, I rolled my tightly closed filled travel tea mugs on the floor; turned them upside down, and gave them all a good shaking around to test for leaks. I took a look at how many parts came with each model and how easy they were to clean. I also considered sipping mechanism design, steeper basket quality (did the basket allow ample room for proper steeping), overall durability, and style.

The Takeaway:

The company Tea Spot makes the best tea infuser travel mugs—models that brew a great cup of tea and are easy to take on the go. Buy the  Everest Tumbler  for slightly larger capacity and a more rugged, outdoor-adventure-ready design. Buy the Voyager for a smaller travel tea mug that's perfect for urban commuters.

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10 Best Tea Infusers For Brewing Loose Leaf Tea 2024

Published: Jan 31, 2023 · Modified: Aug 15, 2024 by Mary Ann Rollano · Leave a Comment All recommendations are independently reviewed. I recommend useful products and some links are affiliates, earning a commission that supports this free publication.

A tea infuser is the best way to brew loose-leaf tea. But with so many choices, which one is best for you? I independently research, analyze, and recommend the best tea products and accessories—learn more about  my  recommendation process  here.

Yes, I have all of these tea infusers and more!

Many people ask me how to transition from tea bags to loose-leaf tea for the perfect cup. The trick is to get the right tea accessories.

When selecting a tea infuser, the type of tea doesn't matter as much as the size of the tea leaf. You can use the same infuser for herbal, green, oolong, and black tea as long as it is made of hard-glazed pottery or food-grade stainless steel. Even a glass infuser will work if it is made from borosilicate glass.

The exception is when you use an unglazed Yixing teapot. Unglazed pots tend to absorb and hold onto the tea flavor. Tea lovers dedicate one pure tea to a specific unglazed teapot.

In this post, I review infusers designed for Western or English-style tea brewing . This excludes Gungfu or Eastern-style brewing , which frequently uses a gaiwan or Yixing teapot . For more on unglazed clay pots, you can read my post here .

Different Types of Tea Infusers

Tea drinkers know the right tea infuser makes all the difference in the flavor of the tea.

• Best Tea Infuser Pot
• Best Stainless Steel Infuser
• Best Tea Balls
• Best Tea Pot With Infuser Basket
• Best Cup Infuser
• Best Traditional Tea Pot
• Best Tea Infuser Mugs
• Best French Press
• Best Tea Basket
• Best Travel Mug Infuser

Best Tea Infuser Pot: Editors Choice

My pick for the best all-around tea infuser is the one I use daily. It is a hard-glazed porcelain teapot with ten holes at the base of the spout for holding back large tea leaves.

It holds enough tea for two cups (16 ounces). I can brew just about any tea in this porcelain china teapot without worrying about residual tea flavors or cracking from boiling hot water. The size is perfect for one or two cups of tea.

This teapot is from Tea Masters , which has a nice variety of tea accessories. Good porcelain teapots with holes at the base of the spout and a clean pour are very hard to find. But if you want something to last for years and years, bone china or porcelain is the way to go.

TEA INFUSER TEAPOT

This is the Tea Master porcelain teapot. Royal Copenhagen has a similar fine-bone china teapot in blue and white.

Stainless Steel Infuser

A quick and easy way to brew a single cup of tea is to use an infuser that fits into your favorite tea mug or cup. I always use this cup tea infuser, which nicely fits a 6-ounce tea cup or an 8-ounce mug.

STAINLESS STEEL TEA INFUSER

Amazon has many choices. You can purchase a similar stainless steel infuser with a stand on Firebelly Tea .

• Brewing Tea: A Guide For Beginners
• The Best Tea Kettles For Better Tea
• How To Make Cold Brew Tea Safely
• 15 Best Online Tea Shops

A tea ball infuser is fine for small cut pieces of tea. However, an infuser ball will not brew large loose tea leaves very well since there is no room for the tea leaves to open and expand. Using a tea ball makes sense in some infusing situations, and you can also use it in cooking.

Tea balls are easy to find and come in all shapes and sizes. Some are very whimsical, with little charms attached to them. Pictured is a stainless steel tea ball that comes in three different sizes, from 2 to 3.5 inches.

Tea Pot With Infuser Basket

This little glass teapot for two comes with a stainless steel removable infuser basket. It has a nice, clean pour from the spout and is very affordable.

You can find hundreds of glass pots available on Amazon and other sites. Make sure the pot is made from borosilicate-safe glass to withstand boiling water and temperature differences. The nice thing about glass teapots is that you can see your tea brewing.

TEAPOT WITH INFUSER BASKET

Small glass teapot with removable infuser and lid, 22-ounce borosilicate glass teapot.

Adagio Tea also sells a similar petite glass teapot for two.

Cup Infuser

A teacup infuser with a holder is another quick and easy way to make a single cup. The holder keeps wet tea leaves to use for a second steep. Firebelly Tea makes this handsome infuser holder and matching stainless steel infuser basket.

CUP INFUSER

The stylish and simple stainless tea strainer has a holder to catch drippings. The strainer fits inside the holder, which fits inside a mug. The strainer is plenty large to allow loose-leaf tea to unfurl completely.

The Set fits almost any 8-ounce mug, or you can buy a matching mug!

Traditional Tea Pot

If you are looking for a larger infuser to accommodate more people, traditional teapots are perfect for tea time. I use this classic Wedgwood Ivy House teapot, which my mother handed down to me. This china teapot is perfectly proportioned for brewing, and the pour is exceptionally clean. The base of the spout has 10 holes.

The design form is so perfect Wedgwood still makes this shaped teapot today with modern patterns, almost 75 years later. It's simply beautiful!

TRADITIONAL TEA POT

The design is so perfect Wedgwood still makes this teapot today with modern patterns, almost 75 years later. It's simply beautiful!

The fine bone china holds 34 ounces.

Tea Infuser Mugs

The double-walled porcelain cup with a removable infuser is perfect for infusing a single cup of tea. The insulated wall and lid keep the tea warm. You can also use the lid to set the stainless steel strainer.

I like these mugs because they're whimsical and practical at the same time. I don't see the flip-flop design anymore that I have, but Adagio and Tea Forte have a nice selection of these mugs.

TEA INFUSER MUG

Double-wall porcelain mug and infuser with lid. Tea Forte has a large selection of steeping cup designs.

French Press

I love a good French press. This borosilicate glass design from Bodum is perfect, with a stainless steel basket and plunger. You can buy them in many sizes. This particular style holds 4 cups and has a clean pour. I've even used it for French press coffee.

Don't worry if you use the French press interchangeably. Small particles can't slip through the fine mesh basket, and the stainless steel basket and glass body don't hold any residual oils from the coffee, so it's all good!

TEA FRENCH PRESS

The Bodum glass tea press uses the same brewing system as the French press, which makes it perfect for loose teas. There is a large selection of tea press designs and sizes.

The Tea Spot has this delightful little food-grade silicone tea steeper. You can use the steeper in just about any mug. The best part is that it's collapsible and has a lid for keeping the tea warm while steeping and to use as a rest for the infuser to catch drippings. Great for taking your loose-leaf tea on the go.

TEA BASKET SILICONE INFUSER

The Tea Spot has a beautiful line of custom Steepware. The "Tuffy Steeper," shown here, is included. The collapsible steeper makes it easy to make tea at home or on the go.

Affordable and portable!

Travel Mug Infuser

Tea travel infuser mugs are becoming more popular. The trick is how to adequately steep tea in a travel mug while stopping the steeping at the right time without making a mess. The travel mug also needs to be spill-proof and keep the tea hot or cold. Most infuser baskets that come with travel tumblers are too small to let the tea leaves properly unfurl and infuse. The Firebelly travel mug infuser solves these issues.

TRAVEL MUG INFUSER

Firebelly Tea makes a "Stop-Infusion Travel Mug" that allows you to stop the tea infusion in the same way a French press stops the infusion. You can start or stop your iced or hot tea infusion anytime.

I like that it comes in a rainbow of colors!

New to Tea?  Start Here >>

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About Mary Ann Rollano

Mary Ann is a nurse turned award-winning tea specialist creating recipes and writing stories where tea, wellness, and nature meet. Newsletter

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• Cooking tools and utensils

The Best Tea Steeper

By Alexandra Chang

After over 30 hours of researching dozens of tea steepers, interviewing experts, and drinking many cups of tea made in no fewer than 15 teapots and infusers, we’ve found that the Finum Brewing Basket (the large version) is the most versatile and well-made tea steeper available..

The fine-mesh-and-plastic in-cup steeping basket allows for more water flow than other infusers, while more effectively keeping tea particles from escaping into the cup. It’s one of the only models that fit both mugs and teapots, and it’s among the easiest to clean.

Everything we recommend

Finum Brewing Basket

Thanks to its large size and fine-mesh walls, this steeper allows more water flow between the tea leaves. It fits the vast majority of mugs and cups, as well as some teapots and thermoses.

Buying Options

Forlife Brew-in-Mug

If you prefer something without plastic, this all-metal steeper offers a sturdier build than the Finum but doesn't allow as much water to flow through. It's also shorter, so tea leaves come in contact with less water, and it's a bit more difficult to clean.

Hario ChaCha Kyusu “Maru” Teapot

For company.

The Hario model brews three cups. The metal basket fills the whole pot, allowing for the leaves to expand fully. A short spout makes pouring easy.

Despite being less expensive than almost any other tea steeper we looked at, the Finum Brewing Basket was our favorite. Its tall, cylindrical shape and fine mesh facilitate water flow, for a stronger flavor, but don’t allow tea particles and residue to escape. At 4.2 inches high, the Finum Brewing Basket is a versatile steeper that you can use in a wide variety of containers.

If you want a metal alternative, we also like the stainless steel Forlife Brew-in-Mug . This sturdy, well-constructed tea steeper has great user reviews. Water doesn’t flow as freely through its holes, and because it’s shorter than the Finum, there is less opportunity for tea to come into contact with water in a vessel. Tea leaves are also a bit more prone to sticking in this steeper, but it still brews a great cup.

There’s a ring of silicone around the steeper’s lid, but that part won’t be submerged in the water while brewing.

For more than one serving, we like the all-glass-and-metal, 23-fluid-ounce Hario Chacha teapot. This is a delicate glass pot, so it requires more care in handling and cleaning than the Finum. It has a much larger brew-basket–to–teapot size ratio than any of the other pots we found, which means that leaves have more room to expand and release their flavor.

The research

Why you should trust me, who should get these, how we picked and tested, our pick: finum brewing basket, also great: forlife brew-in-mug, also great: hario chacha, care and maintenance, the competition, a note on free-float brewing and gaiwans.

I have been an avid tea drinker since I was a child, when my parents would make me cups of green tea, letting the leaves brew directly in the cup. Now I drink at least a few cups of tea a day, which amounts to spending hundreds of hours steeping different types of tea over the years.

To better understand the tea steepers market, I spoke with experts in the industry, including Tony Gebely of World of Tea and David Kosmider, the editor of 19 Lessons On Tea . I read The Tea Enthusiast’s Handbook by Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J. Heiss, and I scoured the many online tea-review communities, including Steepster , T Ching , and TeaChat .

Daily tea drinkers would benefit from using a good infuser, especially people who currently drink tea made from tea bags or tea balls. All of those tea bags you see packaged in boxes and tins on grocery store shelves are the tea equivalents of instant coffee. A bit of history on tea bags: They were an accidental invention, the result of New York tea merchant Thomas Sullivan’s decision to send out samples of his tea in small silk bags back in 1908. Instead of taking the tea out of the bag, as intended, Sullivan’s clients saved time and effort by simply dunking the bags into hot water. So the tea bag was born.

Most tea bags today are made up of “fannings,” basically leftover tea dust. The exposed surface area of all those little pieces allows you to get a more quickly brewed cup, but this produces a stale and less-flavorful tea. Even if you place full tea leaves into a tea bag, which more and more high-end tea companies have started to do, you’re still putting your tea at a disadvantage. Tea leaves need room to expand fully and to move freely through the water for their flavors to come out. A bag suffocates the leaves, preventing them from expanding to their full capacity.

Switching from confined bags and balls to a larger infuser made specifically for loose-leaf tea will drastically improve the quality of the beverage you drink.

Size and how much the steeping device lets tea leaves come in contact with water are the two most important factors that make a great infuser. “Size is most important,” World of Tea’s Tony Gebely told me. The steeper needs to be big enough for individual leaves to float and expand and dance on their own in the water during the given steeping time. For best results, “let the leaves flow in the steeping vessel for maximum contact with leaf/water,” Gebely added. Mesh infusion baskets allow water to circulate better than a solid infuser with holes in it.

You can find dozens upon dozens of steeping vessels and infusers that allow leaves to expand and come in contact with the water. They come in various shapes and sizes, including over-the-cup steepers (those that brew tea in a vessel and then drip into the cup), in-cup brewing baskets (which sit inside the cup, resting on the lip), teapots with built-in infusers, tea tumblers with strainers, and electronic gadgets for automatic tea making.

A great steeper needs to be easy to clean, especially if you drink tea at least once a day. It also needs to be durable and simple to use. “Simplicity is the key when it comes to picking out a good basic teapot,” Brent Hughes of Tea Nerd states in his Newbie’s Guide to Teaware . “Buy something simple, small-ish, functional, and with as few moving parts as possible.”

Tea infusers and teapots come in a number of materials, some better than others. For in-cup infusion baskets, stainless steel is preferable to ceramic or plastics because it offers more durability, and most such models allow more water flow. Teapot materials vary from plastic to cast iron. One of the most common and sturdy materials is ceramic, which retains heat well and is often glazed so it doesn’t impart any flavor on the tea. Glass is another common, decent option. Glass teapots also retain heat evenly. The main drawback is that glass is more delicate than other materials.

At first, we were concerned about the possible health ramifications of using plastic with boiling water, but new research shows that chemicals leaching from plastics aren’t as big a problem as researchers once thought. For example, according to a European Food Safety Authority evaluation, the much-maligned bisphenol A (BPA) probably doesn’t pose a health risk . And our tea-making experts told us that they have no problems recommending plastic if it’s heat resistant.

Price can vary drastically depending on what you’re looking for. Infusers come for as little as $2, but those tend to be poorly made and typically fall short of meeting basic requirements. Good tea infusers will cost you around $10 to $30. Depending on how many features and what kinds you want, you can also spend upwards of $200—but at that point, you may just be paying for gadgetry or show.

The tea community is fairly active in reviewing teaware. Some popular tea sites include Steepster , which has a section for its community to rate and review teas and teaware . The TeaChat forums are brimming with recommendations and suggestions for teaware, depending on what you’re looking for.

Tea preparation is a dynamic and variable part of many cultures. For this guide, we prioritized convenient, accessible tea methods fit for most tea drinkers. As such, we elected not to test methods such as single-cup gaiwan brewing (see A note on free-float brewing and gaiwans if you want to know more about this).

For our original review in 2013, we ended up with a list of 13 products. This included two in-cup infusers, four over-the-cup steepers, four teapots with built-in infusers, two tea tumblers, and one electric tea maker. We narrowed that list down to eight final products to test, including one in-cup infuser, two over-the-cup steepers, four teapots, and the electric tea maker. At the time, we eliminated tea tumblers entirely because they are designed for on-the-go travel use and make it difficult to remove the leaves after steeping. For our 2016 update, we tested five additional products, including one in-cup infuser, one teapot, and three travel mugs with built-in, removable infusion baskets that make taking the leaves out easier.

We brewed a black tea, a green tea, and a fine herbal tea (peppermint or rooibos) in each infuser, using a Bonavita 1-Liter Variable Temperature Digital Electric Gooseneck Kettle at the specific temperatures and steeping times required for each tea. We checked for how well the teas could expand and move throughout the water, and we tested for flavor. After each infusion, we cleaned the vessels and checked how easily we could dump the leaves and whether any leaves got stuck in the infusers.

The best overall tea infuser is the Finum Brewing Basket in the large size. At about $20, it’s more affordable than most tea steepers. This steeper is wide and tall, giving tea leaves a lot more space to expand and move around than other in-cup infusers we tested. The Finum’s construction makes it a standout option from other steepers—its cylindrical shape can drop into pots or larger cups, its heat-resistant handles make it easier to lift out of mugs, and its metal mesh is easy to clean. If you want to own only one steeping device, this is it.

The Finum’s two-piece design is simple and effective. The basket is made of a heat-resistant, high-quality plastic and an incredibly fine, flexible stainless-steel mesh. Unlike other in-cup steepers, which have a less-fine mesh or small perforations in metal, the Finum doesn’t allow leaves or leaf particles to escape into your cup, and water flows freely through the infuser. Even the bottom of the basket has mesh (most steepers don’t offer this design), which further helps circulation. The Finum’s handy lid helps hold the water’s heat in while your tea steeps; after brewing, you can flip it over to use it as a drip tray for the basket. This model is also easier to clean than most other steepers—just dump the leaves out and rinse it with water.

Compared with other models we tested, the Finum was by far the most convenient and versatile option for everyday use. It rests easily in anything with a diameter of 2.8 to 4 inches. You need nothing more than a mug and hot water. It also works well in a small teapot, though probably not one that stands much taller than the Finum (4.2 inches), and likely not for more than three servings since the leaves won’t be able to reach as much of the water or have as much room to expand. Over-the-cup steepers like the Adagio IngenuiTea force you to pour out its entire volume all at once, and steepers that come in teapots really work only with those teapots. The Finum also comes in a medium size for cups smaller than 2.8 inches in diameter.

Large, heat-resistant handles let you easily remove the Finum from hot mugs. Other steepers weren’t as easy to lift out of a cup—the Home Origins Ultra Fine Loose Leaf Tea Infuser had much smaller handles, while the Forlife Brew-in-Mug Extra-Fine Tea Infuser ’s steel became hot to the touch.

Thanks to its simple design, the Finum was also the least expensive steeping device we tested. (The teapots, tumblers, and over-the-cup steepers we looked at cost between $14 and $250.) It is slightly more expensive than tea balls and gimmicky cartoon-shaped tea infusers, but it represents a very small investment for consistently great-tasting tea. The Finum is also top-rack dishwasher safe, if you want to throw it in with your regular cycle.

Tony Gebely of World of Tea has called the Finum Brewing Basket the only infuser you’ll ever need. “I like to keep it simple. The absolute most versatile steeping device is the Finum Brewing Basket,” he told us. “It meets all of the requirements, it’s large, and can be removed from the steeping vessel. It can be as simple as putting it in a coffee mug, then removing it after the steep time, or inserting it inside the top of a teapot.”

The Finum received top marks on Steepster , where it currently ranks as the second-highest-rated piece of teaware, with a score of 95 out of 100.

Many tea forums, including those on TeaChat and Steepster , include numerous mentions and recommendations of the Finum Brewing Basket.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The Finum is less suitable for group tea-drinking situations, since it is made for in-cup brewing and therefore isn’t ideal for infusing large amounts of tea in teapots and pitchers.

Some Amazon reviewers also note that the mesh can stain over time, though we have not experienced this problem in our use of the product since 2014. And if you don’t clean the basket well, a patina can develop on the mesh, potentially clogging it in some parts or transferring flavors from one tea to another, which we did encounter during long-term use. If you are a tea enthusiast with a collection of multiple teas, you might want to purchase more than one Finum Brewing Basket in different colors—it comes in black, green, red, and blue—for different types of tea.

Unfortunately, the Finum doesn’t fit into our top travel mug pick , the Zojirushi SM-SA . But it does fit into a former alternate pick, the  Contigo SnapSeal Byron mug.

How the Finum steeper has held up

As mentioned above, we did notice a small amount of patina develop on the mesh—specifically on the bottom of the Finum Brewing Basket—after more than a year of use. This happened when on several occasions we let the basket sit for a day with old tea leaves, which you shouldn’t do! After we ran it through the dishwasher, most of the patina cleared. Aside from our own forgetfulness with regard to cleaning, the Finum Brewing Basket has held up extremely well to frequent use since 2014.

The Finum is made of high-quality plastic, but if you prefer metal, the Forlife Brew-in-Mug Extra-Fine Tea Infuser is a good alternative. It functions in the same way as our top pick: You just put tea leaves inside and let it rest on the rim of your mug. It feels sturdier than the Finum since it’s made entirely of stainless steel, and it comes with a stainless steel lid encased in silicone rubber.

But we found that it loses to the Finum in a few respects. The holes in the thick metal do not allow for as much water flow as the super-fine stainless steel mesh of the Finum. This model is also slightly shorter, at 3.2 inches, which means the leaves won’t come into contact with as much of the cup’s contents. Cleaning is a bit harder, since pieces of tea leaves often get stuck in the holes of the infuser. And some user reviews complain that the metal body gets a little too hot for comfort when steeping, which isn’t an issue with the plastic Finum.

If you want a brewing setup that makes more than one cup, we highly recommend the Hario Chacha . Capable of holding almost 24 ounces, this glass pot makes about three small cups, so you can share tea with another person—or you can have more tea for yourself without brewing an overwhelming amount that you won’t finish.

What makes the Hario special is its large metal-and-mesh infusing basket, which takes up the majority of the teapot. This design gives the leaves more room to expand and ensures a flavorful tea. All of the other teapots we tested had either narrow or short infusers. The Chacha is also easier to pour from than other pots we tried, thanks to its shorter, more pointed spout.

Glass teapots are more delicate than ceramic ones, so you’ll want to make sure not to bang this one around much. The infusing basket also needs a separate plate or coaster to rest in after the tea is done.

Most of these steepers require basic care, namely washing or rinsing after a single use. The Finum and Forlife are both safe for the dishwasher on the top rack; we don’t recommend putting the Hario Chacha pot in the dishwasher since it’s a bit more delicate. If you use soap to wash fine mesh, make sure to rinse thoroughly, as residue could lead to soapy-tasting tea. For the most part, we tended to rinse the steepers with water and then washed with soap or the dishwasher only after several uses.

We found so many tea-infusing options out there, and we considered more than 40 of them. We eliminated many because of user complaints, or the quality and size of the infusing basket. This is not a comprehensive list of everything we’ve tested, as we’ve removed testing notes on some steepers that are no longer available.

We tried a number of steepers in our most recent testing:

We love the Hario Chacha Kyusu Maru, so when we saw the new Hario Chacha Natsume , we had to see whether it could outdo the original. The Natsume has a slightly more elongated body and a large plastic infuser with super-fine plastic mesh. Though we love the redesigned shape and the familiar short spout, the new Chacha didn’t quite beat its predecessor since its infusing basket allows less water flow.

And we tested several other infusers in 2013:

In the previous version of this guide, we recommended the over-$200 Breville One-Touch Tea Maker , but we think it is too expensive for most people. The Breville heats water to preset temperatures for different types of tea, allows varying brew strengths, steeps the leaves, and keeps the tea warm in one handy glass kettle. It can brew up to 40.5 ounces of tea or heat up to 51 ounces of water. The reason it makes a bit less tea is because it needs space for its infusing basket, which hangs above the water as it heats. When the water reaches the designated temperature, the basket slowly moves down. After the allotted steeping time, the basket moves back up to stop steeping. Buttons and an LCD screen on the gadget’s stand let you set and monitor the temperature and length for steeping. And like high-quality tea kettles, the Breville brings water to the exact temperature requested instead of boiling and then cooling the water. The biggest drawbacks are that it costs quite a lot and takes up a large amount of counter space. “I have a few friends that swear by them, but tea making is such a simple process; it can be as simple as steeping the leaves and straining them with stuff you have around the house—I wouldn’t spend $250 on this,” World of Tea’s Tony Gebely said. Still, the Breville is a great brewing option if you can justify the price for the extra features and convenience.

With the Adagio IngenuiTea , a 16-ounce over-the-cup model, a plastic cup serves as the steeper, where you place the water and tea. Simply position the steeper atop a cup and push a mechanism up to let the tea out. (Several companies make a similar design, varying in size and shape). The IngenuiTea is very good at steeping tea, since the leaves float around through the water and have the entire vessel in which to expand. It’s easy to clean too. The filter pops out so you can wash that separately, and it’s made entirely of plastic for easy cleaning. (It’s top-rack dishwasher safe, too.) Unless you have a clear mug, however, you can’t see how much of the tea is pouring into the cup. In our testing, we kept having to lift the infuser to make sure tea wouldn’t spill out. At one point, we thought we had enough room in our mug but ended up with an unpleasant overflow of burning-hot tea. As one reader points out, you can avoid this problem by using your mug to measure out the amount of water you need first.

Forlife’s Stump teapot is basically just a small ceramic teapot with a built-in Brew-in-Mug filter. It comes in a variety of bright colors, but it has the same water flow and cleaning issues as the Brew-in-Mug infuser. It’s a highly rated teapot, and ceramic is more durable than glass, but it holds only 18 ounces—not much more than a typical mug.

As noted earlier, making tea is simple. You don’t absolutely need a separate steeping device or a teapot with a built-in infuser if you don’t mind drinking some tea leaves (or drinking around tea leaves). In Chinese culture, just brewing leaves right in a teapot and pouring around the table is common. This approach is great if you’re drinking tea with several people and can pour all of the tea after it’s done steeping.

Another option is to brew right in a small cup, like my parents do, filling it back up with hot water as you finish. It’s a somewhat makeshift version of drinking from a gaiwan or a yixing pot, two traditional Chinese brewing vessels that are very small and made for drinking tea with multiple steepings. People commonly use the yixing pot and gaiwan to make pu-erh tea, a fermented dark tea that usually comes in circular bricks. The technique involves steeping this kind of tea multiple times for varying lengths, first for as little as 20 to 25 seconds and then gradually up to several minutes.

That said, pu-erh tea is not common in Western cultures. And even though you can brew tea without an infuser, doing so is not as convenient in larger teapots and cups, where you’d want to take the tea out as soon as it’s done infusing, and drinking the tea is more difficult. For the vast majority of tea drinkers, we recommend using some sort of brewing basket or strainer.

This article was edited by Christine Cyr Clisset.

Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J. Heiss, The Tea Enthusiast’s Handbook , March 30, 2010

Tony Gebely, The Hacker's Guide to Tea , Lifehacker , November 23, 2010

Brent Hughes, Newbie’s Guide to Teaware , Tea Nerd , April 3, 2009

Brendan Waye, Discovering the best tea steeper , T Ching , December 18, 2009

Melissa Chua, Teaware 101: How to Choose the Right Teapot , Art of Tea , February 15, 2013

Anyanka, Finum Brewing Basket , Steepster

jesusapproves, I'm looking to start drinking tea properly. Where do I begin? , Reddit /r/tea

Hiroyuki Ikezi, Hario ChaCha Teapot , Amazon user reviews , December 12, 2012

Meet your guide

Alexandra Chang

Further reading

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Give your caffeine routine a jolt with these Wirecutter-recommended electric kettles, coffee makers, tea steepers, mug warmers, and more.

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All the Things I Forget to Have on Hand When Hosting Thanksgiving (But Not This Year)

by Rose Maura Lorre

After hosting Thanksgiving six years in a row, our writer has come up with a checklist of five little things to make the meal run as smoothly as possible.

• Ingredients

Reviews You Can Trust. See Why .

Travel Tea Infusers

Could we find a travel-friendly mug that's also capable of brewing loose-leaf tea?

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What You Need To Know

For tea aficionados who want to make a loose-leaf beverage but don’t have time to wait for it to sit and steep on busy mornings, travel tea infusers offer a solution. These double-insulated mugs use either a removable or a retractable metal basket that holds the tea leaves, so you can brew, and drink, on the go. But do any work? We tested four models priced from $15.99 to $22.99. Three used brew baskets that had to be removed manually in order to stop brewing. That meant that we had to open the lid, remove the basket, and find somewhere to discard hot, wet leaves while contending with an open mug of hot tea. Worse, the same three mugs did not hold up in transit, dripping tea during bumpy commutes due to poor seals and leaky lids. And knowing that we all let our mugs slip once in a while, we dropped the full mugs from waist height onto the pavement. While a stainless-steel model survived, one model broke on the first drop and another shattered on the third. As for the fourth mug, flipping a lever lifts this mug’s basket and tucks it under the lid, out of the water. This mug survived shaking and tossing, and we appreciated its microwave- and dishwasher-safe design. But it, too, was flawed: The thin latch on the brewing basket came loose a few times when we used the lever to lift it, releasing the leaves into the brew. We’re still looking for a travel mug that can reliably make loose-leaf tea.

Everything We Tested

Not recommended.

• Portability

Aladdin Tea Infuser Mug

This mug was commuter-friendly; it features a brewing basket that retracts out of the water and into the lid by flipping a lever so you can steep on the go, and it suffered barely a scratch when we dropped it on the pavement. But testers were troubled by the basket’s flimsy latch, which sometimes opened when we operated the lever.

Model Number : 10-00753-002

Microwave-Safe : Mug portion for 3 minutes max

Dishwasher-Safe : Top rack only

Price at Time of Testing : $18.99

Thermos Nissan 12-Ounce Stainless Steel Tea Tumbler with Infuser

This mug held up when dropped, but its separate lids for brewing and drinking were bulky and awkward for commuting. The brewing lid has to be removed before the tea can be enjoyed, and its large holes drop leaves into the liquid, while the sipping lid is recessed more than an inch deep in the mug, resulting in spills and awkward drinking.

Model Number : JML350

Microwave-Safe : No

Dishwasher-Safe : No

Price at Time of Testing : $22.99

Trudeau Tea Mendous Tea Tumbler

Testers found this mug’s large cylindrical brewing basket hard to clean, and it had to be manually lifted out to stop brewing. Though this infuser could hold up to 16 ounces of liquid (compared with our 10- and 12-ounce mugs), we were troubled by its lid, which leaked while we sipped and dribbled when the mug was thrown into a bag. Worse, the mug shattered the first time we dropped it to the pavement (in our abuse testing).

Model Number : 08711725

Price at Time of Testing : $15.99

Majes-Tea Thermal Tea Brewer

Large holes in the brewing basket produced gritty tea riddled with floating leaves. While the double-insulated mug kept contents warm, the lid, when open, pressed uncomfortably against testers’ noses. In our abuse test, the mug shattered the third time we dropped it to the pavement from waist height.

Model Number : MC-3275T-G12

Price at Time of Testing : $17.99

*All products reviewed by America’s Test Kitchen are independently chosen, researched, and reviewed by our editors. We buy products for testing at retail locations and do not accept unsolicited samples for testing. We list suggested sources for recommended products as a convenience to our readers but do not endorse specific retailers. When you choose to purchase our editorial recommendations from the links we provide, we may earn an affiliate commission. Prices are subject to change.

Reviews You Can Trust

The mission of America’s Test Kitchen Reviews is to find the best equipment and ingredients for the home cook through rigorous, hands-on testing. We stand behind our winners so much that we even put our seal of approval on them.

Have a question or suggestion? Send us an email at [email protected] . We appreciate your feedback!

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• Travel Gear

Take Your Tea on The Road: The 10 Best Travel Tea Sets (2023)

Modern travel culture has fully integrated itself with coffee culture. Airports now offer plenty of suitable cups of coffee, decent hotels have put Keurig and Nespresso machines in each room, and visiting exciting cafés and coffee shops is a standard itinerary consideration. But where is the love for tea fans? To help tea drinkers enjoy their lifestyle, find the best ways to enjoy tea while traveling with the ten best travel tea sets listed below.

Outside of Asia, where tea drinking is an integral part of daily life, tea drinkers don’t see the same availability and quality of tea options while traveling, with loose-leaf tea and quality tea bags being hard to find. Suffer no longer, with tea culture on the rise globally, there is a much wider availability of portable tea sets, travel tea mugs, and every imaginable style of glass tea tumbler to bring delicious tea from home with you. 

Tea lovers each have a unique style for tea drinking and individual preference for tea. So whether you are into black tea, green tea, hot tea, iced tea, or any of the many herbal teas, the world of tea is seemingly endless. And let’s be honest, it’s not likely the different teas at the airport restaurants or tea bag options in the hotel room will include your favorite.

The below list of tea sets offers the right travel gear for those in need of a good cup of tea in transit or at the hotel. We have sorted through the plethora of options and found the best designs, styles, and materials to provide you with high-quality hot tea while traveling. Find the ten best travel tea sets listed below to upgrade your tea experience while traveling.

For further detail on the considerations and feature options amongst the best travel tea sets, continue reading past the bottom of the list or click here .

The 10 Best Travel Tea Sets

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ZENS Travel Tea Set for Two

The perfect tea set for two, the ZENS Travel Tea Set for Two offers a borosilicate teapot and two glass cups, all double-walled, making them comfortable to the touch, avoiding burnt fingers. With a fitted zipper case, self-filtering silicone lid, and one of the most modern yet thoughtful designs in this list, the ZENS Travel Tea Set for Two is the lightest weight option with multiple cups. While the glass may be slightly less durable than the ceramic sets, its lightweight and affordable price make it an excellent choice for those who prefer to travel light.

OMyTea Handmade Porcelain Travel Tea Set

Looking to impress your travel partners while on the road? The OMyTea Handmade Porcelain Travel Tea Set is the perfect option to enjoy yourself from your hotel, out the back of your car, or in a sleeper train compartment on the other side of the world. With four small porcelain teacups, a small teapot with a built-in filter, a bamboo tea tray, and a cotton tea towel, you’ll have everything you need for a relaxing moment. In addition, the tea set comes with a foam-lined zipper case for safe travel; all you need is hot water.

Teabloom All-Purpose Beverage Tumbler with Tea Infuser

Simple and effective. The Teabloom All-Purpose Beverage Tumbler with Tea Infuser features a stainless steel tea flask with a brushed metal finish that is available in multiple colors. With a 16oz capacity, the Teabloom tumbler comes with both a straining lid and infuser, making it useful for steeped loose leaf tea, fruit infusions, and cold brew coffee. With a simple, understated design and a durable metal build, the Teabloom tumbler is an easy and affordable option to drink tea on the go.

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ZENS Travel Tea Set for One

One of the more unique designs available, the ZENS Travel Tea Set for One is made for travel and works well in a carry-on bag. Put your loose leaf tea in one of the two compartments and screw it onto the filter. When ready for tea, fill the cup with hot water and let it steep. Invert the tea set when you are prepared to drink, and press the button to have the hot tea filter into the cup.

Made of Tritan, the world’s safest BPA-free plastic that was made popular with Nalgene water bottles years ago, the main drawback of the ZENS Travel Tea Set for One is also one of its best qualities. Low-profile in size, the Tea Set for One can only carry up to 200ml or 6.75oz of water at a time, requiring refills from time to time.

LeafLife Premium Bamboo Thermos with Tea Infuser & Strainer

Nearly identical in design to the Teabloom tumbler listed earlier, the LeafLife Premium Bamboo Thermos with Tea Infuser & Strainer offers a more natural feel, with a bamboo finish on the outside along with a stainless steel interior. There are three sizes to choose from —12oz, 17oz, and 22oz — each offering the same range of uses, such as tea, fruit infusions, and cold brew coffee. With vacuum flask insulation, the tumbler is designed to keep drinks warm for 12 hours and cold drinks cool for up to 24 hours.

TOLOG Purple Clay Travel Tea Set

Made out of Chinese purple clay, used for hundreds of years in traditional tea sets, the TOLOG Purple Clay Travel Tea Set includes four small teacups, a ceramic tea caddy, and a dragon-spouted teapot with a built-in filter. With a more traditional design than the modern options in travel sets, this set is made in a timeless style that is less likely to wear over time due to the usage of purple clay. All set parts can fit into the included bag for safe travel.

Dltsli Mini Ceramic Travel Tea Set

Compact and well-designed, the Dltsli Mini Ceramic Travel Tea Set is made of porcelain and features two small cups, a teapot with a lid, and a filter that is also made of porcelain. The modern Chinese-inspired design is stylish and practical; with the cups and filter stored into the teapot, it can all be stored into a small padded zipper case, taking up minimal space in your bag while traveling.

Wenshuo Ceramic Travel Tea Set

Just add water. The Wenshuo Ceramic Travel Tea Set features a practical and beautiful design and everything you need for a traditional Chinese tea ceremony. The dark ceramic set includes two small teacups, a larger cup, a teapot with a wooden handle, and a tea caddy for traveling with loose leaf tea. Stored in a double-layered zipper pouch with this ceramic travel tea set, all you need is a kettle of hot water.

Pure Zen Tea Tumbler with Infuser

One of the more intriguing designs on this list, the Pure Zen Tea Tumbler with Infuser features a double-walled borosilicate glass tube with screw-on caps at either end and a stainless steel infuser that fits with one of the caps. This design allows for steep tea and remove, for long steeps, or to have multiple steeps without removing and readding the tea. In addition, the insulated double-wall provides for easy handling, making for the perfect travel tea infuser for use in day-to-day lives and through travel.

Ceoon 13oz Double Wall Glass Water Bottle

Another unique design for a travel tea infusing bottle, the Ceoon 13oz Double Wall Glass Water Bottle includes a drip-through tea infusion method. The bottle allows you to place the tea in a glass compartment and screw it on at one end, then fill the bottle section with hot water, screw it on, and invert. Once the tea has steeped, flip the bottle back over, unscrew the filter and tea compartment, and enjoy. Made of lightweight borosilicate glass and BPA-free, the Ceoon offers a thoughtful tea set design in an easy to carry bottle

Features To Consider

Tea sets for one or multiple cups.

Depending on the way you travel, you may or may not be considering options that can serve more than one person at the same time. For personal consumption, it’s not hard to find a great tea infuser travel mug that can offer both a bottle to steep tea and a single cup, which will become a must-pack item in your travel bag. However, if you are looking for an option to serve a small group or share tea with your travel partner, convenient travel tea sets include small tea cups to enjoy tea as a group while traveling.

Integrated Tea Bottle Infusers

The most common option amongst the best travel tea sets and best tea infuser mugs, the integrated tea bottle infusers come in different styles and designs but ultimately offer a similar tea experience. These bottles include a bottle and internal tea strainer with small holes that provide a great way to steep your favorite loose leaf tea inside an insulated water-bottle-sized infuser.  

To choose the best travel tea infuser or best travel tea set for yourself, you should first consider what materials work best for you. Unfortunately, there is no consensus best material, as different options have different benefits. One of the most popular options is borosilicate glass, a lightweight glass often used in double-wall designs, which is a relatively less-fragile glass built for long usable life and easy cleaning.

Those looking for lightweight and less-fragile options can opt for a stainless steel tumbler, which can last a long time and is less likely to break than glass, though it can be hot to touch and is not transparent, not allowing you to see inside as your steep tea. Other lightweight options include plastic, though the different materials are your best bet if you are looking for the best travel tea infuser. If you prefer a plastic alternative, make sure it is made of BPA Free plastic. 

Beyond the glass, stainless steel or plastic, ceramic, and bamboo-lined stainless steel options are also included. While a ceramic portable tea set will typically offer the most beautiful design, it will undoubtedly come with additional weight compared to the other options. However, if you are willing to set aside some dedicated bag weight for a beautiful ceramic tea set, you will be sipping your cups of tea in style.  

The bamboo-lined stainless steel offers a nice natural look and insulation from the heat for your hand, though it serves more of a decorative purpose overall.

When considering the best tea strainer or tea steepers, the best options are to find a tea set with a stainless steel strainer or at least stainless steel infuser baskets. These are by far the best options as they will be resistant to rust, allowing you to enjoy loose-leaf tea for years to come.

There are many thoughtful designs available depending on your tea drinking preferences. For example, some offer the ability to steep loose tea leaves inside a tea infuser bottle, with a separate small cup that can be screwed off to be used to drink out of. In comparison, others are effectively water-bottle-style tea mugs with internal tea steepers, where you can sip out of the bottle directly.  

Some bottles and cups offer a double wall design, which is advantageous when traveling. It can provide a layer of insulation to keep your tea hot and allow you to handle the cup or bottle comfortably.

The tea sets usually include a small ceramic or clear glass teapot to steep loose leaves of tea in and strain into two to four small cups. These can then be packed away into compact protective cases for easy traveling.

Size and Packing Space

A key consideration for those looking for the best travel tea set or right tea infuser is the size and packing space that it will take up. If you are looking for the best way to drink tea while traveling but are unwilling to sacrifice space, a tea infuser bottle will be your best option, with different sizes available depending on how much tea you want to carry. 

Conversely, if you are looking for a tea set for more than one or the perfect gift for a couple, the different tea sets with small cups are still relatively compact and won’t take up much room across bags for two travelers.

Carrying Case or Protector

Importantly, if you opt for more breakable materials like glass or ceramic options, many of the options on this list come with a carrying case or soft sleeve to protect the infuser bottle or tea set. This consideration is essential for a long life with the bottle and those who prefer the beautiful design choices.

Bottom Line

There is no perfect tea infuser bottle or tea set for everyone. Each design and material option has its own pros and cons, though, among the above list of best travel tea sets on the market, you can find the best choice for yourself or the perfect give for a tea lover.

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The best tea infusers

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• Tea leaves are far superior to tea bags, but brewing them can get messy without a proper tea infuser.
• The  Finum Brewing Basket is the best tea infuser for most mugs and teapots, with its roomy fine-mesh basket design.

Tea is serious business and real aficionados prefer loose leaf tea over the leftover leaves most companies stuff into tea bags. However, if you want to brew tea properly, you are going to need the right equipment. In addition to getting one of the best electric kettles to bring your water to just the right temperature for the leaves you're using, you'll also want a tea infuser to separate the leaves from your brew once it's ready.

Picking the best tea infuser sounds like a simple task, but it's actually quite complicated. Tea experts will even tell you not to get an infuser and truly let your tea leaves float in the hot water to maximize their flavor. If you're going to follow that approach, you'll still need a strainer to keep the leaves out of your drink. However, you can get the flavor or uninhibited tea leaves with the best tea infusers. The more space you give your tea leaves to move around inside the infuser, the better. 

We've researched tea blogs, read expert reviews, and done our own personal testing to find the very best tea infusers you can buy. We also selected the best tea infuser travel mug and teapot to accommodate those who want to drink tea on the go or consume a whole pot's worth. Before we get into our picks, here are things to consider when choosing the best tea infuser for your needs and a few tips on how to make the most of your tea.

There are lots of different kinds of tea infusers, including brewing baskets, mesh metal balls, cute silicon infusers, as well as travel mugs and teapots with infusers built into the design. 

• Brewing baskets:  Brewing flavorful, rich tea requires the perfect temperature of water, quality tea leaves, and the right amount of space. Brewing baskets are deep and spacious, so they provide ample room for the tea to float about and brew properly. The bigger the basket, the better. 
• Ball tea infusers:  Mesh and metal tea balls are small, compact, and easy to use. Some have long handles and others have a ball-and-chain design. The mesh is good at keeping out fine tea particles, but tea balls are typically too small to properly infuse your tea with the full flavor of the leaves. Tea experts don't recommend ball-style infusers, but we've included our favorite long handle one. 
• Silicone tea infusers: Silicone tea infusers are similar to mesh metal balls, so the smaller ones aren't great for getting the most flavor out of your tea. Some people complain about silicone leaving a taste to the tea, but most buyers love their fun silicone tea infusers. If you're a casual tea drinker, you may like one of the cute designs by Fred & Friends, which we recommend. 
• Travel mugs with infusers:  Travel mugs with infusers are great for tea lovers on the go. Many come in glass housings, but they're not terribly durable. We chose a travel mug with a more traditional thermos-style design that's durable, but you will need to buy the compatible metal tea infusing basket separately.
• Teapots with infusers:  If you typically drink a pot of tea or want to share with others, you'll want a teapot with an infuser built in. There are lots of teapots in all kinds of materials from glass and ceramic to clay and cast iron. The size of the infuser is the most important thing — it should be as big as possible to let the tea brew well. We've chosen a durable glass teapot with a giant metal mesh brewing basket. 

Here are the best tea infusers of 2020:

• Best overall: Finum Brewing Basket
• Best with a long handle: OXO Good Grips Twisting Tea Ball  
• Best quirky: Fred & Friends
• Best travel mug: Contigo West Loop Travel Mug
• Best teapot with an infuser: Hario Cha Kyusu Maru Tea Pot

Prices and links are current as of 6/9/2020.

The best overall

The Finum Brewing Basket  lets your tea leaves swim around in hot water to make excellent tea in any mug or teapot.

The more space your tea leaves have to roam, the better your brew will taste. The  large Finum Brewing Basket  is the very best tea infuser you can buy if you want a versatile, roomy steeper for your tea.

Although it has a plastic frame, the mesh is made of stainless steel, and it's so fine that nary a tea leaf will escape into your teacup or teapot.  The plastic frame is heat resistant, so you won't burn your fingers when you lift the basket out of the mug or teapot. You can flip over the plastic lid to make it into a tray to hold the brewing basket when your tea is done brewing.

The large Brewing Basket's plastic arms allow it to fit inside any mug that's 2.8 to 4 inches wide, and it's tall enough to simply stand up in shorter mugs or teacups at just under 4 inches. The company also makes a medium-sized one that's a bit smaller to fit cups that are 2.3 to 3.5 inches wide.

The fact that it's easy to clean and its low price point are other big draws.

Some tea purists argue that plastic changes the taste of the tea or that it is bad for you — even if it's BPA free — but experts say plastic isn't really a problem. Opinions are divided on the merits of plastic versus metal tea infusers, but we don't imagine it will make a huge difference to most people. If it does, try one of our other picks from the slides below.

Pros:  Lots of room for tea to brew, mesh doesn't allow tea leaves to escape, fits in most mugs, comes in two sizes, you won't burn your hands when you pull out the basket by the plastic rim

Cons:  Plastic sides and rim may deter some

The best with a long handle

The OXO Good Grips Twisting Tea Ball  takes the fuss out of tea making with a simple stainless steel ball infuser design.

Tea purists say you need more space to brew your tea properly, but sometimes a ball infuser is easier for a single cup of tea. The OXO Good Grips Twisting Tea Ball is the best tea infuser for people on a budget who are just making tea for themselves.

It's a brilliant design that turns your tea infuser into a tea scoop as well. With a twist of the rubbery end of the long handle, the stainless steel ball splits in two and one half of the ball rolls back to make a tea scoop. You scoop up your tea, close the ball, and drop it in your teacup with the hot water. It's very simple and requires no fuss.

The ball infuser has perfectly sized holes that don't let big tea leaves through. You may find a few stray leaves in your cup now and then, though. Although the Twisting Tea Ball is small, if you don't pack too much tea in there, the leaves will still have space to move and expand with the water. If you have very fine tea with many small particles, you may have some left in your cup. OXO says it's best used with whole leaf teas and tea pearls.

When you're done brewing your tea, you take it out, open it with a twist, and toss out the leaves. A simple rinse later, and you're done. I own two of these Twisting Tea Balls , and they're great. When I don't want a full pot of tea, I pop one in my mug. Sometimes a leaf or some tea particles get into the cup, but it's negligible.

Pros:  Easy to use, long handle for easy extraction, almost no tea escapes, sturdy tool, affordable price

Cons:  Small area for tea to brew

The best quirky

Fred & Friends designs the most eccentric and adorable tea infusers you can find anywhere from Mr. Tea to the Manatea .

Tea infusers don't have to be boring utilitarian objects. Fred & Friends makes some of the cutest and craziest tea infusers we've ever seen. If you're into funny kitchen gadgets, you'll love these tea infusers.

Serious tea snobs may turn up their noses at these small silicone tea infusers, but others will simply add them to their wonky collection of weird tea infusers. Fred & Friends makes all kinds of funny designs, including Mr. Tea , Manatea , a sloth , a whale , and more. Whatever humorous one you choose, they're mostly the same design.

The silicone infusers have little holes in them that shouldn't let tea escape once it's in there. Unlike metal infusers that can get hot from the tea and burn you when you try to remove them, silicone tea infusers stay relatively cool. The infusers are also really easy to clean.

Along with their novelty appeal, the infusers get the job done well, too. The infusers are small, though, so they can be finicky to use and they won't circulate the tea leaves around in the water

They're probably best for the casual tea drinker, kids who love tea, and people who just want a funny infuser in their collection. Regardless, for less than $10, Fred & Friends' tea infusers are a fun, cute purchase for your tea making habit.

Pros:  Lots of cute designs to choose from, easy to clean, silicone stays cool in hot water,

Cons:  Small space for tea to brew, some complain about silicone changing the taste

The best travel mug

The Contigo 16oz Stainless Steel West Loop Travel Mug and Tea Infuser  keeps your tea warm and brews great tea with its own infuser.

Travel mugs are very popular for tea and coffee drinkers because they can keep your drinks warm for hours. There are lots of travel mugs with tea infusers built in, but most of them are made of either fragile glass or plastic, which may leave a strange taste in your tea. Our favorite travel mug and a tea infuser combination is the 16oz Contigo West Loop Travel Mug and Tea Infuser  (sold separately).

Contigo's West Loop Travel Mug is a great option all on its own, but the addition of a special tea infusing basket to its classic design makes it even better for tea drinkers. The infuser is made out of stainless steel with etched holes for steeping, and it measures 4.4 high and 2.3 inches wide, which is pretty decent for a travel mug infuser.

The company's autoseal lid prevents leaks and spills, while the vacuum-insulated mug design keeps heat in longer. The addition of the tea infuser makes it an even better deal in our view, though you do have to buy the infuser separately from the mug. Contigo does sell a set, but it sells out often, and the price is the same regardless. 

Notably, this particular mug is more durable than other glass tea infusing travel mugs on the market. The stainless steel design also ensures that you don't get a weird plastic taste in your tea. Plastic travel mugs also seem incapable of keeping tea above a tepid temperature, and often, the infusers break. The Contigo West Loop Travel Mug and Tea Infuser avoid all those pitfalls, and it's a good deal.

Pros:  Stainless steel design, built-in mesh infuser basket, keeps tea warm, durable build

Cons:  Pricey and the infuser section isn't huge

The best teapot with an infuser

The Hario Cha Kyusu Maru Tea Pot lets your tea leaves mingle with the hot water in a giant brewing basket to make a delicious pot of tea. 

Sometimes a cup of tea just isn't enough — you need a full pot. The  700ml Hario Cha Kyusu Maru Tea Pot  is a beautiful Japanese teapot made of strong glass, which has a giant mesh brewing basket, so your tea leaves can be fully immersed in the hot water.

Hario's teapot comes in three different sizes to suit your brewing needs. The  700ml one holds about three 8-ounce cups of tea, while the 300ml teapot is really only for one big cup. We recommend the bigger one for anyone who likes to have friends over for tea or just drinks multiple cups in one sitting. It's lovely to watch tea steep in a glass teapot, and it'll look gorgeous in any home.

The mesh is very fine, so your tea leaves shouldn't escape its confines while you brew the tea. The teapot itself is short and squat with a cute short spout, a big lid, and a slim handle. 

One complaint that comes up is that it is very fragile, but that's common for teapots of all kinds, whether they're ceramic or glass. As a plus, it's relatively easy to clean, too, because the tea spout isn't long and narrow and the brewing basket is nice and big.

The low price tag, big brewing basket, and pretty design make the  700ml Hario Cha Kyusu Maru Tea Pot  the best one you can buy. If you want an even cheaper option and you have access to an Ikea, the  Riklig teapot  is very similar, and it's the one I personally use.

Pros:  Big brewing basket makes great tea, fine metal mesh material doesn't let tea leaves escape, short spout is easy to pour, glass design is pretty, inexpensive

Cons:  Glass is fragile

Tips on how to brew the perfect cup of tea

To make the most of the expensive tea leaves you've bought, you need to make sure the water you use to brew them is correct. 

Most experts agree that white and green teas should be brewed at temperatures between 160 and 185 degrees Fahrenheit, with white teas on the lower end of that range. Oolong teas should be brewed between 180 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit, while black and herbal teas need 212 degrees Fahrenheit to reach their peak.

Brewing times will vary, and many tea shops will give you advice on how long to brew your tea. A lot of it is personal taste, too, so do what makes you happy. 

Check out more tea-related buying guides

The best kettles

There are two main categories that tea kettles fall into — electric or stovetop. Each style has its own merits, and the type you choose often comes down to personal preference. An electric kettle tends to act as a permanent countertop fixture, as it's more of a small appliance than a stovetop kettle. Stovetop kettles are classic, smaller, and, of course, analog. We've included the best of both in our guide. 

The best teas for every time of the day

Tea is the most popular beverage in the world after water. It's also one of the oldest, and it's the center of a wide range of traditions all around the globe. There's a variety of tea that's perfect for every time of the day from the first cup of the morning to your before-bed relaxation brew. These are the best teas to carry you through your day.

You can purchase logo and accolade licensing to this story here . Disclosure: Written and researched by the Insider Reviews team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our partners. We may receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at [email protected] .

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5 Excellent Tea Tumblers for Travelling with Loose Leaf

Tea tumblers are the perfect item to have if you’re travelling or just want to prepare tea in a bottle. You can still use tea bags, but most tea tumblers make taking loose leaf tea on the go more convenient. They are great whether you prepare your tea to go hot, iced or even cold brew . I have tried my fair share of tea tumblers over the years, and this is a small collection of the ones I find to be excellent based on their quality, durability, usability, and affordability. If you need to take your loose leaf tea on the go, I think a reliable tea infuser bottle is important.

5 of the Best Tea Tumblers

In someway, these five I recommend are different from one another. It ultimately comes down to what you find is the most important feature. These tea tumblers are either made from glass or stainless steel, so the actual bottle should not affect the taste of your tea. Most of the brands below also market their tumblers as a great bottle to make fruit infused water.

This tea tumbler from Libre Tea (Canadian brand!) has been my go-to for the longest. I’ve had mine for over 5 years with no issues. It’s different than most tea tumblers you’ll find because it encourages you to let tea leaves loose as it doesn’t have an infuser basket, but a fine mesh strainer at the drinking top instead. Letting your tea leaves steep loose give you the opportunity for the best flavour since they are not expanding in a tight space and therefore don’t have enough room for flavour extraction. This also is a great way to encourage multiple steeps from leaves as you can just refill on the go.

However, Libre Tea also gives you the option to steep teas that can’t handle longer or multiple steeps. Check out their website here to see how to use their glass infusers.

What I also love about this tea tumbler is that the interior glass is protected by a strong BPA free poly exterior. I do have some entirely glass tea tumblers (as you’ll see below) but sometimes that extra protection is necessary so I don’t shatter my beloved tea infuser bottle!

Capacity: 9 ounces or 14 ounces Price: $21.95 or $26.95

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*This tea tumbler is available in different colours and designs.

The Lotus Glass Tea Tumbler by Sacred Lotus Love

With this tea tumbler you have the option of steeping your tea with the infuser basket or steeping tea loose in the bottle with the strainer. Both the infuser basket and strainer fit inside the bottle at the top, lightly clicking into place. You unscrew them to use together, septerately or none at all.

What I really love about the company behind this tumbler is the small details added to their packaging. Included in the packaging were a beautiful poem and Rumi card inspired by the design. Also, I can’t help but love the message “listen to your soul” . I like that the company decided on a beautiful statement to live by rather than canvasing the tumbler with branding.

Even though this tea tumbler is entirely double-walled borosilicate glass (aside from the bamboo lid), it does come with soft sleeve for additional protection when on the go. If you’re looking for a tea tumbler with minimal amount of plastic used, this may be the one for you! Makes a great gift for a tea lover, too since it comes gift ready!

Capacity: 15 ounces Price: $30.97

UEndure Glass Tea Infuser Travel Mug

Like the tea tumbler above, this one from UEndure also appears to now come with a soft travel sleeve for additional protection when on the go. It didn’t come with one when I first got it, so it might be a newer feature! Like some other tumblers, you can use this one similar to an hourglass. How? When using the infuser basket on the bottom, you flip it over to steep. Then you remove, seal and flip back over to drink from the top. However, the infuser basket can actually attach to the top lid too if you prefer it there instead. Of course, you can also choose to just let the leaves steep and drink as you go.

This glass bottle is BPA and lead free, the top and bottom lids are stainless steel. This is another great tea tumbler if you’re looking for one with little to no plastic involved.

Capacity: 14 ounces Price: $24.99

Full Circle Tea Time Glass Bottle

I initially loved this tea tumbler because of the sleek and smart design. However, to be honest, this one did take some time for me to learn how to properly use. Simply because what makes this tea tumbler different from others is that you don’t remove the top to drink. Instead the top portion of this bottle locks and unlocks to drink right from it. The special twist-to-lock lid was created to minimize spills. Of course, you can decide to remove and drink from the bottle, not the lid, if you want.

This tea tumbler is BPA free. The removable infuser at the bottom is made with plastic and the bottle is made with borosilicate glass. I also appreciate the insulating cork sleeve that protects hands from heat.

Capacity: 19 ounces Price: $24.99

David’s Tea Travel Mug

If you’re looking for a tea tumbler and your top priority is the tea to stay hot for as long as possible, then I highly recommend this one from David’s Tea. I have made tea to go for a 6 hour ride and arrived at my destination with piping hot tea still! It is double-walled, so you don’t have to worry about it being too hot to hold. I think that’s the best feature from this tea tumbler. However, I do also love the hidden compartment for you to store some loose leaf tea you’ll want to steep at a later time. It’s located right under the lid (shhhh!).

This tea tumbler is not made with glass. It does have a removable fine mesh infuser, and also a strainer if you wanted to just steep your leaves directly in the tea tumbler and drink.

Capacity: 16 ounces Price: $34.00

*This tea tumbler is available in different colours.

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Do you have a favourite tea tumbler that is not on this list? Let me know in the comment section below!

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9 thoughts on “5 Excellent Tea Tumblers for Travelling with Loose Leaf”

Thanks for sharing these great options. I may be in the market for an upgrade so these are all great options. Thanks for a great post with some great options!!!

You’re welcome, Beth! I hope you find one you’ll love for those on the go tea moments 😊

I have mentionned TeaseTea in the past and I love my TeaseTea portable for my favorite tea – hot or cold.

Hi there I am the owner of UEndure Tea Company and would love to send you a free travel sleeve. Just reach out and let me know where I can send it. Thanks for adding our bottle to your article!

I am looking for a glass bottle with zero plastic and I wasn’t clear which of these was made like that. I wonder if you could reply and let me know. I can always taste plastic or metal in my tea. I did finally find an electric kettle that was all metal inside: Precise Heat Electric Water Kettle, 1.5 L. Although checking on Amazon that one is no longer available now. Oh dear.

Hi Annette, the lotus glass tea tumbler by Sacred Lotus Love is probably the best option on this list for that. The bottle is entirely glass – no plastic inside with the tea – however the lid does have a plastic seal so that it is leak proof.

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Lu Ann, I’d love for you to try out a Mosi Tea Infuser 🙂 Please email me and I’ll send you one!

Hello, I was wondering if you would recommend which tumbler has the securest top that will not leak if you throw it into your bag? Thank you!

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Last Updated on November 8, 2019 by Lu Ann Pannunzio

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11 Best Tea Infusers – Steep the Perfect Cup of your Favorite Tea!

How can you be sure that you buy the best tea infuser? A lot of people who prefer loose leaf tea over the ones stuffed into tea bags ask this question. We know that the tea-brewing technique requires a serious approach, and if you are looking to achieve the best results, then you’ll need to have the right equipment.

Choosing the best tea infuser might sound easy. But, the task might be more complicated than it seems since there are too many products available on the market. Indeed, finding the best one for your desired quantity, tea-drinking frequency, and even brewing control is the key. With that being said, we came up with a review of the best models on the market. To choose them, we considered several criteria: pieces in the set, dimensions, weight, and whether they can be placed in dishwasher or not. All of these are important because they help you choose the best tea infuser that will brew you the perfect cup of tea every day. After a thorough research, we decided to make the Yoassi Extra Fine Stainless Steel Tea Infuser our Editor’s Choice.

• Quick Summary
• Editor’s Choice: Yoassi Extra Fine Stainless Steel Tea Infuser "An outstanding option with two handles and extra-fine holes that will catch even the smallest tea particles. It also fits a variety of teapots and is easy to clean"
• Best Value: HIC Mesh Tea Infuser "Are you looking for something more affordable? This tea infuser is available in a variety of shapes and forms, doesn’t need much space to store it and can be used for mulling spices"
• Best Full Set: Chefast Tea Infuser Set "An amazing set that includes one large and two single-cup tea infusers with beautiful stainless steel design. Additionally, you will get a multi-functional scoop"
• Most Fun Design: Fred MANATEA Silicone Tea Infuser "This tea infuser looks quite cute and funny. On top of that, it is made of soft silicone and can be placed in the microwave if needed"
• Most Convenient: FORLIFE Brew-in-Mug Extra-Fine Tea Infuser with Lid "With this extra-fine tea infuser, you are sure to prevent the small tea particles from getting in your cup. Also, there is a lid and a convenient handle for ease of use"
• Best with Drip Tray: Finum Coffee and Tea Infusing Mesh Brewing Basket "The lid of this mesh brewing basket can be used as a drip tray that will help you avoid the kitchen mess. It is made of BPA-free materials and comes in two sizes"
• Best Twisting Tea Infuser: OXO BREW Twisting Tea Ball Infuser "For those who wish to use the tea infuser for herbs and spices as well, it’s hard to look past this twisting tea ball model that fits most cups and mugs"
• Best Tea Bag Style: Ecurfu Silicone Tea Bags "This set includes 6 BPA-free silicone tea bags with a heat-resistant, transparent body, and small holes. Each piece has its unique color and works perfectly for a single cup"
• Best Mesh Tea Balls: Fu Store Stainless Steel Mesh Tea Balls "These stainless steel mesh tea balls come with chains and attached hooks, so you can hang them if needed. Lockable clasps seal them tightly to prevent the tea from escaping"
• Most Attractive Design: House Again Extra Fine Mesh Tea Infusers with Drip Tray "For those who wish to find an attractive set, these cute tea infusers come in four different colors and have extra-fine mesh filters for all types of tea"
• Budget Pick: JEXCULL Tea Infusers "The JEXCULL tea infusers are specifically designed from high quality stainless-steel with food grade silicone handles."

Top 11 Tea Infusers Review 2024

Yoassi Extra Fine Stainless Steel Tea Infuser

• Material: 304 food-grade stainless steel
• Dimensions: 4.6 x 3.5 x 3.2 in.
• Weight: 3.98 oz.
• Dishwasher safe: yes

More features: two handles, extra-fine holes, roomy basket and sturdy lid, easy to clean

We adore the Yoassi Extra Fine Stainless Steel tea infuser because it is equipped with a large basket that can hold many tea leaves. Not only does it allow for an extra-strong cup of tea, but it also prevents tea leaves from sinking directly into your mug.

The wings at both sides of the tea infuser are practical and wide enough so they can fit across any 16-ounce teapot and prevent tea spills when you are done brewing your beverage. Additionally, they offer you stability during tea steeping without you needing much prodding.

The holes available on this stainless steel tea infuser help make the tea much faster, and they are perfect for keeping all kinds of grit from entering your teapot. You can, therefore, use any kind of leaves. Its impressive porosity provides good circulation and favor extraction.

We love the fact that it is easy to clean. Its mouth is large enough to fit a sponge when you want to wash the tea infuser with your hands and remove the leaves.

However, the metal arms can get hot after steeping. You have to be careful when you want to remove it from your mug.

• Easy to use and clean
• Fits a variety of teapots
• Steeps tea evenly
• The metal arms can get too hot

HIC Mesh Tea Infuser

• Material: stainless steel
• Dimensions: 6 x 1.75 x 2 in.
• Weight: 0.81 oz.

More features: spring action handle, great for mulling spices, multiple designs available

This convenient tea infuser is made with 18/8 stainless steel. It is corrosive-resistant, dishwasher safe, sturdy, and easy to use. We love the fact that it has a compact design that makes it easy to store when you are done using it.

The HIC Harold Import Co. tea infuser has a strong spring-action handle that facilitates filling and emptying the strainer. Also, it is small enough to fit any teapot and mug, and it brews tea evenly and quickly.

If you are looking for an affordable and solid choice, then this simple stainless steel tea infuser is one for you. It is easy to clean, and you will simply have to squeeze it to open the hinge and remove the leaves.

On top of that, it can be used for more than just tea. Indeed, this model is great for mulling spices for cooking. Also, the HIC tea infuser is available in multiple designs, including triangle, heart, and snap shapes. One minor hitch is that its mesh is delicate and prone to denting.

• Available in multiple designs
• Can also be used for mulling spices
• Compact and easy to store and clean
• The mesh is delicate and prone to denting

Chefast Tea Infuser Set

• Pieces: 3 infusers + 1 multi-functional scoop with bag clip
• Material: 304 stainless steel
• Dimensions: 2.44 x 2.55 in. multi-cup; 1.9 x 2 in. single-cup; 7 x 1 in. scoop
• Weight: 5.6 oz.

More features: one multi-cup size and two single-cup infusers, great for spices and herbs, 1-year full warranty

Although the Chefast set of tea infusers is a bit expensive, when you consider everything that is provided, it is a good deal, if you are going to use all the components. It is supplied with 2 single-cup infusers, 1 large strainer, and 1 multi-functional scoop with a bag clip on the handle. All these are practical because they provide you with everything you need to brew tea for yourself and even more!

This large tea infuser can hold a good amount of tea and prevent leaves from escaping. Next, it is sturdy! This product is made from premier-grade 304 stainless steel, which is corrosion-resistant and long-lasting. Besides, all pieces are backed by a 1-year warranty. In case of any problem with your tea infuser, you can just contact the manufacturer, and you will get a solution.

That being said, it takes a while and plenty of dipping to get this stainless steel infuser to steep thoroughly.

• Made from 304 stainless steel
• 1-year warranty
• Includes a scoop/clip and various sizes of infusers
• It takes a while to steep thoroughly
• The price is high

Fred MANATEA Silicone Tea Infuser

• Material: silicone (BPA-free)
• Dimensions: 3 x 4.5 x 1.5 in.
• Weight: 0.352 oz.

More features: fun design, hassle-free cleaning, soft, non-toxic, and tasteless material, microwave safe

If you are looking for a funny tea infuser, you will love the Fred MANATEA. This nice and charming animal design will surely make you smile while also brewing your tea perfectly. On top of that, it is packed in a colorful box, and it will be ideal for gifting.

Next, it is easy to use as you simply have to fill your loose leaf tea, and perch your infuser on your mug. After a few minutes, you will be able to enjoy your perfectly brewed tea.

Once you are done using your tea infuser, you can remove the loose tea leaves and rinse it before storing.

This unique tea infuser is also safe for use. It is made from a soft, non-toxic and tasteless silicone material. It is microwave and dishwasher safe, and you can take this product wherever you want.

However, cleaning it from the inside can be tricky. Additionally, the holes are small, making it difficult for water to get in and out.

• Dishwasher and microwave safe
• Soft, non-toxic and tasteless material
• Cleaning it can be tricky
• The holes are small

FORLIFE Brew-in-Mug Extra-Fine Tea Infuser with Lid

• Material: silicone rim, stainless-steel
• Dimensions: 4.5 x 3.62 x 3.25 in.
• Weight: 4.8 oz.

More features: multiple colors of silicone rim available, comes with a lid, perfect for all types of tea

The Brew-in-Mug Extra-Fine Tea Infuser with Lid is perfect for people who love tea a lot. It is complete and possesses an easy-grip silicone rimmed stainless-steel lid that keeps it closed and prevents spills. Once you flip the lid, it perfectly works as an infuser holder or a drip tray.

Additionally, the infuser provides you with a perfect and even brew at any time. This will let you enjoy a wide variety of whole-leaf teas. Also, it is possible to fit this infuser in standard American mugs. With this product, brewing your favorite beverage will be easier and faster than ever.

The silicone rim is available in different colors, and you can choose according to your liking. Besides, the tea infuser’s body is quite durable. Each material is safe to use, secured, and not dangerous for health. However, cleaning is a bit tricky as getting the leaves out of the tea infuser is a pain.

• Equipped with a lid
• Multiple colors of the silicon rim
• Perfect for all types of tea
• Very difficult to clean the mesh

Finum Coffee and Tea Infusing Mesh Brewing Basket

• Material: stainless steel mesh, plastic (BPA-free)
• Dimensions: 3.75 x 3.75 x 3.75 in.
• Weight: 1.76 oz.

More features: multiple colors, two sizes, and designs available, comes with a lid that can be used as a drip tray

The more you give space for your leaves to roam, the better your beverage will taste. That is why the Finum Coffee and Tea Infusing Mesh Brewing Basket is the best tea infuser for you. It is versatile and provides you with a roomy steeper for your tea.  Next, the mesh is made from stainless steel, although it has a plastic frame. It is safe to use and prevents tea leaves from escaping into your teapot or mug.

As you can expect, the plastic frame is heat-resistant and prevents you from burning your fingers when lifting the basket out of the teacup. When your tea is done brewing, you can flip over the plastic lid to transform it into a tray that will hold the brewing basket.

This is one of the best travel tea infusers that comes in a variety of designs. You can, therefore, choose yours, according to your preference. Additionally, it is equipped with plastic arms that make it easy to fit or install inside any mug. Depending on the size, it can fit in cups from 2.3 to 4 inches while being tall enough to stand in shorter teacups. Unfortunately, the lid doesn’t attach or isn’t tight to the infuser, and the cleaning is a little bit difficult.

• Multiple colors and designs
• Lots of room for tea to brew
• Fits in most teapots
• Difficult to clean
• The lid does not attach to the infuser completely

OXO BREW Twisting Tea Ball Infuser

• Material: stainless steel, polymer handle (BPA-free)
• Dimensions: 4.5 x 1.5 x 10.5 in.
• Weight: 2.08 oz.

More features: twisting design, great for herbs and spices, comfortable non-slip grip, accommodates most cups and mugs

What we enjoy about OXO Brew tea infuser is the twisting feature with which it comes. This ensures ease of operation and favors the optimal use of the tea leaves. The ball is equipped with a meshed surface, which extracts all the flavors from the tea leaves and provides you with rich, colorful, and strong beverages.

This design is also practical because it encourages the free flow of water from the inside to the outside of the tea infuser. Additionally, using this equipment helps you make your beverage faster. The meshed ball is connected to a long handle that facilitates dipping in most sized teacups.

This handle can both be used as a tea diffuser and stirrer. At the end of it, a soft grip is included. This helps you take adequate control of your product, without it slipping off of your hands. Besides, it can be used for herbs and spices.

Cleaning this affordable BPA-free tea infuser is simple as it is safe to use. But, it allows tea leaves to escape, especially if they are small.

• Affordable price
• The long handle makes it easy to use in almost all mugs
• Durable design
• Allow small tea leaves to escape

Ecurfu Silicone Tea Bags

• Dimensions: 2.3 x 1.6 in., 4.7 in. rope length
• Weight: 2.39 oz.

More features: a non-toxic, heat-resistant, variety of bright colors, transparent body with small holes

The Ecurfu silicone tea bags are reusable and made of high-quality and BPA-free silicone. They are non-toxic, healthy, and durable. Additionally, they are heat-resistant, and they will prevent you from burning your hands when removing them from your teacup.

Even though each part is made from silicone, it does not alter your beverage’s flavor. Besides, smaller holes are integrated into the infuser, and they allow water to flow through the tea leaves easily.

These are probably the best tea infusers for loose tea since they prevent leaves from escaping into your mug. Additionally, they are easy to use. The rope length and the size of the tea bag make it easier for the infuser to fit in most cups.

Moreover, Ecurfu tea bags are easy to clean. You will just have to open them to discard the used leaves, and throw the bags in the dishwasher or rinse them with warm soapy water. As for the drawbacks, some people noticed that these teabags took more time to steep when compared to larger tea infusers.

• Set of 6 silicone tea bags with various colors
• Safe, heat-resistant and BPA-free
• Takes a while to steep

Fu Store Stainless Steel Mesh Tea Balls

• Material: 304-grade stainless steel
• Dimensions: 2.1 in. diameter, 4 in. chain

More features: chain with attached hook, lockable design with clasp

Made of 304-grade stainless steel, Fu Store Stainless Steel Mesh Tea Balls come with chains and hooks to attach them over your mug. The mesh of these balls is quite wide, so they will not be suitable for finer herbals or leaves. Also, it’s quite delicate, so you must be careful with that.

Still, each tea infuser gets the job done and is easy to clasp shut and brew your loose tea without difficulty. Additionally, the attached hook can be easily removed when your leaves or herbs are fully steeped.

What’s also great about this product is that it is easy to use and clean. The tea infuser is dishwasher safe, which can save some time for you. Besides, it is sold at an affordable price, and everybody can get one. The product doesn’t take much space, and it can be a perfect companion to take to your next outdoor adventure or just make a fresh cup of tea every day.

• Easy to use and wash
• Two tea balls with hooks and clasp locks
• Not suitable for small loose leaf tea
• The mesh is not that durable

House Again Extra Fine Mesh Tea Infusers with Drip Tray

• Material: silicone (BPA-free), 304 stainless steel mesh
• Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.4 x 1.9 in.

More features: four different colors, flower handle design, drip tray, 30-day return period, extra-fine mesh for all types of tea

Not only are the House Again tea infusers cute, but they are also incredibly easy to use, of great value and effective. They come in packs of four and boast a flower handle design that sets you in the mood for tea. We love the fact that they look like decorative items while being solid at the same time. The flower of this cute tea infuser goes down to join a stainless steel mesh with many holes.

The product is made with food-grade silicone, has a stainless steel body, and is BPA-free. The mesh made with stainless steel is extra-fine and prevents tea particles from entering into your tea mug, no matter how small they are.

Another feature of this silicone tea infuser is that the flower stem can easily hook over the edge of your teapot, making it simple to use with various sizes of teacups. Additionally, each infuser in this pack includes a drip tray that you can place on after you are done steeping. This reduces the potential mess or spills. However, the holes are too small, which makes them harder to clean, and the mesh quality could be better.

• Four pieces in the package
• Beautiful design
• Fits various cup sizes
• Not everybody liked the mesh quality

JEXCULL Tea Infusers

• Material: silicone, stainless steel
• Dimensions: 5.91 x 1.97 x 1.97 in.
• Weight: 2.4 oz.

More features: anti-slip flower shaped handles, rust-proof, anti-scalding

The JEXCULL tea infusers are specifically designed for medium or large leaf loose tea. They are made from high quality stainless-steel with food grade silicone handles that will not transfer heat to your hand. The design is both stylish and fun with a flower shaped bright blue and green handles to choose from.

These tea infusers are simple to use. Scoop the tea into the steel cup, close the top and place the infusers into a cup or glass of boiled water. JEXCULL has included a small drip tray which is a practical way to deal with the drainage mess. The handles are comfortable, they are coated with anti-slip and anti-scald silicone.

These are travel size tea infusers, they can be used on the go and they are durable. They are suitable for medium to large leaf loose tea, including Ceylon, chamomile, raspberry leaf tea, and many more. If you like very fine tea leaves and/or ground tea, you will need to look elsewhere.

• This is a stylish and affordable way to make tea at home.
• These are good traveling companions for tea lovers on the go.
• The extra coaster to avoid drips is a nice addition.
• This tea infuser will not work with ground tea or fine tea leaves.
• Things to Consider

Generally, loose tea is of better quality than the one found in teabags. The reason is that the latter contain partial and smaller leaves. Besides, they are packed densely, which can reduce leaves’ expansion and release of their total flavor. Even with all the tea infuser reviews available out there, it is not easy to know which one does the best job. It is quite true to say that features make them different from one another, and stand apart from others. To help you choose the best tea infuser, we have prepared for you, a series of criteria that will be useful when you make your decision to buy!

Things to consider before getting a tea infuser

Think of a tea infuser as a traditional tea bag, the difference being that the former is not discarded or thrown after use. Besides, it provides leaves with more space to expand than classic tea bags, which means they liberate a stronger flavor.

Next, tea infusers are sized for many or single-person use. They also give you the ability to steep and mix different flavors according to your preferences.  If you want to find the best loose tea infuser, you should check multiple parameters that we will discuss here.

• Number of pieces in the set

The first criterion to consider when buying the best tea infuser is the number of pieces in the set. This generally depends on what you want and how much you are going to use your tea infuser. Some models come only in one piece, while others integrate more than one.

A larger number of pieces means more possibility to brew a tea of different flavors.

If you are looking for a tea infuser with many pieces, then you will love the Chefast Tea Infuser Set available in our review. It includes two single-cup and one large infuser as well as a multi-functional scoop, which can be quite useful.

The materials used are also very important when you are looking to buy the best tea ball infuser. Generally, this kind of utensil if made with either stainless steel, plastic, or BPA-free silicone, such as seen with the Ecurfu Silicone Tea Bags . The choice here will solely depend on your preferences.

It is crucial to know that each material used to create the best tea infuser is of high-quality and is food-grade one. Thus, it should be safe to use in hot and boiling water.

All tea infusers reviewed in our article, including the FORLIFE Brew-in-Mug Extra-Fine Tea Infuser with Lid , are made with these materials, and they are solid, sturdy, and durable.

The size of the product is also an important criterion to consider whether you want to buy the best single-cup tea infuser or a larger model. Again, this will depend on your preferences, your usage frequency of the product, and if you will travel with it or not.

The dimensions of the tea infuser will tell you where and how you can store it. Don’t just buy any tea infuser, but look for something that you will fit in your favorite mug. You might also want to get a compact product that you can easily carry around your office and take outdoors, too.

If it is something that you will use with others, then you can opt for something bigger. Of course, prices will differ according to your choice. The Yoassi Extra-Fine Stainless Steel Tea Infuser is probably the best portable tea infuser because it is compact, affordable, and durable, and you will be able to take it with you anywhere!

Do you want to get a durable model a with fine-mesh basket or just wish to find a cute and compact silicone tea infuser? Fortunately, these products are available in various designs: regular baskets, balls, animal-shaped infusers, just like the Fred MANATEA , and many more.

The design does not necessarily affect the infuser’s performance or capacity to provide the perfect beverage.

All the tea infusers available in our reviews possess different designs. Do not hesitate to check them and choose the one that suits you!

• Dishwasher safe

All of the best tea infusers from our list are dishwasher safe. This makes them easy to clean and reduces the work you should put in.

On top of that, some models are even microwave safe, and this broadens your scope of usage. This is the case with the Fred MANATEA Silicone tea infuser . It is dishwasher and microwave safe, easy to use and clean, and made with soft, non-toxic and tasteless material.

• Warranty period

The warranty is another great deal that you might benefit from and look for. Although not all manufacturers provide a warranty for their products, and those who do, they prove their objective to satisfy their clients’ needs.

This is the case with the Chefast Tea Infuser Set . The manufacturers have provided a 1-year full warranty period, giving you the peace of mind. If anything goes wrong, you can be sure to get an adequate solution.

The prices of tea infusers vary from one model to another, but it is not going to be too high. Still, it depends on the quality of the product, number of pieces and extra accessories, materials, etc.

For tea lovers, buying a tea infuser at an affordable price, such as the HIC Mesh Tea Infuser , is a great deal. It costs below $10 and represents excellent value for tea lovers. Apart from being inexpensive, it is made of durable 304 stainless steel and easy to use.

For those who want to get something attractive, we recommend the House Again Extra Fine Mesh Tea Infusers with Drip Tray that also doesn’t cost much. This 4-piece set features extra-fine mesh filters for all types of tea.

No matter how high the price is, if the particular product is efficient, then you are sure to benefit from all the advantages it has to offer.

• Do tea infusers offer better-tasting tea compared to teabags and pads?

It will be true to say that tea infusers do offer better-tasting tea compared to teabags and pads. The reason is simple: the former offers more room and space to leaves to expand and liberate all their flavors. Teabags and pads are densely packed, which can reduce leaves’ expansion and release of their flavor.

• What is the proper way of making tea with my infuser?
• Which type of tea infusers is the simplest in terms of washing?
• How long do tea infusers last?
• Our verdict

The perfect tea infuser is able to deliver all of the leaves’ flavors. Our reviews consist of the top picks that should meet your needs, and it’s time to look at our winners here.

Our Editor’s Choice is the Yoassi Extra-fine Stainless Steel Tea Infuser . It is easy to use, boasts extra-fine holes, a roomy basket, and sturdy construction. Thanks to the handles, this product seems to be very convenient.

If you are looking for the best value, then you will love the HIC Mesh Tea Infuser . It is affordable, compact, and is also great for mulling spices and herbs.

The Chefast Tea Infuser Set is a full set of beautiful tea infusers made of stainless steel. And they also come with a multi-functional scoop!

We hope that this article helped you find the best tea infuser, and now, you can enjoy your favorite beverage everywhere!

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What Are the Best Teapots?

Tea, like so many drinks we obsess over, is all about both ritual and flavor. The teapot you steep the leaves or teabag in will make a subtle difference to how the tea tastes — and it helps when the pot looks good, too. “You want a pot that’s well suited for the kind of teas you drink and for the way you brew them,” says Ken Cohen, host of the podcast Talking Tea . “You also want a teapot that’s easy to handle and pours well.” The teapot’s material will matter, whether you’re shopping for yourself or picking up a gift for a tea lover. “Porcelain, for example, has an elegant look and is neutral in terms of flavor — it doesn’t absorb the flavors of the tea,” Cohen adds. “Unglazed clay teapots, on the other hand, do absorb and impart flavor, so they interact with the tea differently from porcelain.” To help you sift through the options out there, we spoke to seven stylish tea drinkers about the best stoneware, porcelain, glass, and clay teapots to suit a range of budgets.

Best under-$50 teapots

“Most Japanese teapots are meant for ceremonies — they are not for everyday use,” says Maiko Kyogoku , owner of East Village restaurant Bessouhey . This one “combines the beauty of Japanese design with actual function.” Kyogoku appreciates the wide handle and comfortable grip she can get on her teapot, as well as its easy-to-clean mesh strainer. “I was having such a hard time finding a tea-brewing device with the right size mesh,” she says. “This one has a fine mesh sieve that brews the tea super cleanly, and when you are done, you just tap it against the garbage and the tea leaves will come out.”

Laurel Gallucci, owner of Sweet Laurel Bakery , loves this inexpensive glazed teapot when just brewing for herself. It has a six-cup capacity, is both microwave- and dishwasher-safe, and has space for a tea strainer inside. It also comes in a nail-polish-like range of colors, including flamingo pink and mint green (Galluci’s favorite).

Tea consultant Sara Shacket told us about this glass tea press she uses for brewing her drinks. She appreciates the transparency of a glass teapot for really “admiring the color of your tea.”

Best under-$100 teapots

Tea sommelier Kathy YL Chan prefers a slightly larger teapot, like this 800-milliliter one. “When you brew tea, you want to give the tea leaves room to breathe and move, so jamming leaves into an infuser is not ideal,” she says. You can watch as the tea brews inside the pot, taking the guessing game out of how strong you may want your cup. Its stainless steel filter is then easy to remove and clean after a brew.

Best under-$150 teapots

Margaret Dabbs, celebrity podiatrist and CEO of Margaret Dabbs London , likes to brew in her traditional Fortnum and Mason teapot. The brand’s one of a few synonymous with afternoon tea, and Dabbs keeps things simple with a teapot coated in a single lick of Fotnum’s turquoise-green paint. “With the tea, warming it in a pot, in the old way — I love doing that,” says Dabbs. “I’m quite English in that sense.”

Galluci likes to brew tea for guests in a white-and-green toile teapot . The classic pot is handcrafted, and at six inches tall, has plenty of space for brewing. Gallucci loves its patterned motif (which even inspired some of the décor in her own L.A. cottage home.) “I’m a sucker for toile,” she says. Galluci’s teapot of choice is nearly sold out, so we’ve found a similar one from Fortnum and Mason.

Scott Norton , a blogger and a member of the Tea Arts & Culture nonprofit, recommends the thoughtfully crafted wares from Brooklyn-based Kettl. “They offer a wide variety of Japanese green teas, paired perfectly with an equally wide variety of Japanese and locally made wares,” he says. According to Norton, their handleless Shiboridashi, as recommended here, are ideal for finer green teas like Japanese gyokuro.

Kettl also sells a range of Kyusu teapots, which can, according to Norton, brew a wide range of teas “from Japanese sencha and hojicha to darker, more robust teas like roasted oolongs and puer from China.” This handmade Kyusu is slightly larger than average and can brew around 480 milliliters’ worth of tea at once — about two cups of tea.

Best over-$150 teapots

For gongfu-style brewing , a method of brewing that uses small teapots for really concentrated, flavorful brews, Cohen uses teapots from Tea Masters. “Based in Taiwan, they’re a go-to source of high-quality unglazed clay pots personally curated by owner Stephane Erler,” says Cohen. Of all the richly detailed options in Erler’s collection, this illustrated teapot caught my eye — I particularly like how the pine green shines against the unglazed clay of the pot.

Strategist senior editor Winnie Yang has been brewing in her minimalist Mono Filio teapot for years. “I first saw it mentioned by Heidi Swanson, one of the original food bloggers, who used to sell it in her shop, Quitokeeto,” says Yang. “I drink whole-leaf oolong tea, and the large brewing basket allows the leaves plenty of room to unfurl and for water to circulate among them.” You can also keep the tea warm with an integrated warmer heated with a tealight.

“You cannot talk about teapots without mentioning Yíxìng clay,” Norton says. The clay’s found in China’s Jiangsu province north of Shanghai and has long been celebrated “for its distinctive porosity, heat-conducting properties, and lush colors, all of which make it ideal for brewing tea.” That porosity means the teapot will start to absorb the flavor of the teas you brew over time. Norton’s go-to supplier for Yíxìng clay is the West China Tea Company, which has sourced this miniature 100-milliliter capacity teapot. It’s ideal if you’re brewing for one.

“I love the delicate strawberry motif here,” says Gallucci, who has happy memories of picking strawberries in both her childhood home and now with her own family. Each of the floral pots are handcrafted in England and made from a fine-bone china.

Some other teapots we’ve written about

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Swig Life 12oz Wine Tumbler with Lid, Stainless Steel, Dishwasher Safe, Portable, Triple Insulated Moscow Mule Cup in Cocktail Club Copper

12oz Stemless Cup

22oz Highball Tumbler

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About this item.

• KEEPS COLD UP TO 9 HOURS, HOT UP TO 3 HOURS. Copper plated, triple insulated wine cup is double-walled and vacuum sealed with thick, professional grade 18/8 stainless steel.
• EASY TO HOLD, EASY TO CARRY, our 12oz stainless steel wine glass is the perfect travel companion for trips to the beach, pool, boat, or camping.
• HAMMERED TEXTURE is a one-of-a-kind combination of an insulated stainless steel wine tumbler mixed with the feel of a classic moscow mule cocktail mug (NOT DISHWASHER SAFE).
• SLIP-FREE, SCRATCH-FREE, NOISE-FREE SILICONE BASE keeps your stainless steel wine tumbler from tipping over or making too much noise when you set them down.
• OVER 40 COLORS AND PRINTS to choose from makes our Swig Life insulated wine tumbler the best wine gift for wine lovers; women, men, mom, dad, teachers, coworkers, Birthday, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, and Christmas.

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COCKTAIL CLUB HIGHBALL TUMBLER (22oz)

Your favorite mixed drinks belong in our hammered-finish Highball Tumbler. The tapered silhouette means you can easily hold this Swig til the very last sip!

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12 Best Travel Gifts Inspired By The Fall Season

This list of travel gifts gets you in the fall spirit while also supporting small businesses and Black-owned brands.

Faith Katunga • Aug 20, 2024

With the arrival of fall comes the need for cozy new adventures and travel gear. So, if you’re looking to spoil yourself or a friend who loves to travel , this list of travel gifts gets you in the fall spirit while also supporting small businesses and Black-owned brands . From natural accessories to seasonal cosmetics, these 12 items will make any fall trip more enjoyable.

Our Top 12 Picks

Diaspora candle set by bright black candles, vintage jet magazine collection by blk mkt vintage, tea gift box by brooklyn tea, hyper even daily duo kit by hyper skin, seamless high-waisted exercise leggings by iconi, buttah skin supreme kit for melanin-rich skin.

• Car coat By Mifland

Smile Jamaica Wired Noise Isolating Headphones By House Of Marley

• 1.5 oz Travel Bottles By Wndr Ln

Nichet Backpack By MinkeeBlue

Wine by mcbride sisters wine company, chocolates by bon appésweet.

Bring the comforting scents of the African diaspora wherever you go with this Diaspora Collection from Bright Black Candles. This Black-owned candle company creates scents that celebrate Black culture and history. The set features five candles honoring cities of Black greatness. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Durham, United States; Kingston, Jamaica; Paris, France; and Salvador, Brazil. The candles are perfect for packing in your luggage and creating a cozy atmosphere in your hotel room.

What better way to embrace the fall season than with a piece of Black cultural history? BLKMKT Vintage offers an exquisite collection of vintage Jet magazine covers from the 1990s and 2000s, perfect for the discerning gift-giver. These iconic covers, featuring stars like Salt N Pepa, The Williams Sisters, and Whoopi Goldberg, capture pivotal moments in African American culture. Here’s a chance to offer a present that has cultural relevance, practicality, and flair all in one.  

Brooklyn Tea’s Holiday Gift Box is the ultimate companion for the globetrotting tea lover. This set’s flavors feature four premium loose-leaf tea pouches that capture the essence of Brooklyn’s diverse tea culture. The included stainless steel infuser makes sure you can brew the perfect cup anywhere your travels take you. The gift box’s portable design is ideal for travelers, allowing them to carry a taste of Brooklyn wherever they roam.

The Hyper Even Daily Duo Kit is a limited edition collection featuring the brand’s favorites in tiny versions of deluxe. It’s perfect for combating the drying effects of fall weather and travel. The Daily Duo Kit contains best-selling daily routine items, such as the award-winning vitamin C serum. This serum reduces the appearance of uneven skin tone and black marks. The kit also has the hyper-luxurious mild brightening cleaning gel, which smoothes texture and leaves it softer and more radiant. Founded and run by Black people, this skincare brand focuses on addressing the unique needs of melanin-rich skin.

For the active traveler, ICONI’s exercise leggings are a must-have. This Black-owned brand focuses on creating comfortable, stylish activewear perfect for on-the-go adventures. The leggings are squat-proof and feature moisture-wicking fabric. They have a high-waisted design for extra support and hidden pockets for small essentials. These versatile leggings are ideal for long flights, impromptu workouts, or exploring new cities on foot.

Traveling can take a toll on your skin, which is why the Buttah Skin Supreme Kit is an excellent gift for jet-setters. This Black-owned skincare brand caters specifically to melanin-rich skin. The four-product set includes a cleanser, toner, moisturizer, and brightening serum. This compact kit helps maintain a skincare routine while on the road, keeping skin healthy and radiant despite changing climates and long flights.

Car Coat By Mifland

This stylish and versatile piece is the perfect fall gift. Crafted with attention to detail, the Car Coat boasts hidden close buttons for a sleek silhouette and a tonal Mifland script logo that elegantly wraps around the lower half. Available in a vibrant orange or classic light khaki, this standard-fit coat adapts effortlessly to any wardrobe, making it an ideal choice for the fashion-forward individual in your life. The Car Coat’s thoughtful design also accommodates unpredictable fall weather, providing just the right amount of warmth for brisk morning commutes or weekend apple-picking adventures.

Music lovers will appreciate these eco-friendly headphones from House of Marley, a brand inspired by Bob Marley’s vision of universal love and sustainability. The headphones are made from sustainable materials like FSC-certified wood. They are compact and provide excellent sound quality for enjoying music or podcasts during travel while also aligning with eco-conscious values.

1.5 Oz Travel Bottles By Wndr Ln

Revolutionize your travel routine with Wndr Ln’s ingenious 1.5-oz Travel Bottles — the ultimate solution for jet-setters who refuse to compromise their self-care rituals. These compact bottles are your ticket to hassle-free, TSA-approved packing that doesn’t skimp on style or functionality. These bottles are designed to withstand the rigors of travel while keeping your precious serums, creams, and medicines secure and easily accessible. Available in a stylish trio of Black Forest, Sahara Honey, and Mykonos Blue, these bottles add a pop of color to your travel kit while maintaining a sleek, professional appearance.

The Nichet backpack’s spacious interior makes it easy to store your laptop, water bottle, lunch, shoes, and other daily necessities like a handbag. It also has the first backpack necklace ever made (available in black), so you can keep your phone and cash close at hand. If a woman needs to carry her possessions for lengthy periods, this bag is ideal because of the adjustable straps that create a comfortable fit.

The McBride Sisters Wine Company, founded by sisters Robin and Andréa McBride, is one of the largest Black-owned wine businesses in the United States. A bottle (or case) of McBride Sisters wine makes an excellent gift for wine enthusiasts. Beyond the quality of its wines, the brand’s dedication to social impact through initiatives like the She Can Professional Development Fund adds an emotional appeal to this gift choice.

These chocolates make a perfect gift for anyone with a sweet tooth, especially those who prefer healthier alternatives. Their delicious treats contain no processed sugar and use fruit-based sweeteners, making them a thoughtful choice. Bon AppéSweet, founded by Thereasa Black, offers handcrafted, dairy-free chocolates made with natural ingredients like cacao, cocoa butter, and dates.

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