If you are new to drinking tea, you will want to understand what your options are in terms of selecting and preparing teas. Organic, fair-trade certified, black, green and flavored teas come available in tea bags or as loose tea. Tea bags offer a convenient way to enjoy this tasty beverage; they are even transportable so that you can keep some in your purse or briefcase to take to the office. Loose tea, however, offers you a world of flavor options because you can mix your own blends and choose the right amount of tea in order to bring your cup to the intensity you prefer. When you are using loose tea, a tea infuser makes preparing the tea much easier, whether you use a simple cup or make an entire pot. By using a wide mouthed infuser, your leaves will have more room to expand and the flavor will be deeper.

A tea infuser is simply a small cup-shaped hollow object with a tight-fitting round lid. It is also known as a tea ball. An infuser can be made out of stainless steel or ceramic. Both of these types of infusers come with small holes pierced over the ball. Many infusers also come with a short chain and hook attached to the ball. Another popular type of infuser is the mesh tea infuser. This is crafted out of stainless-steel fine mesh, and because the mesh is flexible in can be formed into fun shapes, such as a heart shape. You twist or pull the two halves apart, fill the tea infuser with tea, snap it firmly shut, then place it in your cup or hang the hook on the cup rim with the ball inside the cup and pour hot water over it, allowing the tea inside to steep.

After you have used a tea infuser for the first time, you will quickly understand why you need one. Without a way to capture the tea leaves in your cup, after letting the leaves soak you would be left with an undrinkable, murky mess. With the tea infuser, you end up with a clear, potent hot drink.

The beauty of the tea infuser lies in the fact that you can blend your own tea from loose tea. You are no longer stuck with only the varieties that are available pre-bagged, opening up a world of flavor possibilities. A tea infuser also allows you to choose the amount of tea to infuse, letting you select the strength of the tea. It is usually recommended to fill the infuser half full, in order to leave room for the wet tea leaves to expand in the hot water.

If you are interested in the health benefits of teas and discovering teas from around the world, be sure to see our previous posts on Hibiscus tea for your health, an overview of Japanese green teas and our tasty Chai tea recipe.