Place the infuser in a cup
For black tea, chai, rooibos, fruits blends and herbals pour water boiled at 100oC, into the cup
For green tea pour water (almost boiled) at 80-90oC, into the cup
You will see colour emerge from the tea leaves in the cup almost straight away but you should allow the leaves to infuse (steep) for 3 – 5 minutes to get the full flavour.
If you use a large cup or mug, adjust the “1 teaspoon per 250ml” guide accordingly. A bigger infuser is better for larger mugs or travel cups.
Tip: Try not to overfill the infuser, as the water needs to be able to circulate around the leaves and most tea leaves will swell when immersed in water. Tea balls (round mesh infusers with a hinge and clip) and springjaw infusers (round with a spring and clip and handle like tings) are generally small and hold approximately 1 teaspoon of tea and can restrict the natural expansion of the leaves when brewing. These are ok if you like weak tea and perhaps use less than 1 teaspoon of tea per 250ml.
Our favourite infuser is the style that fits over most cups and mugs and has a lid to keep the tea warm whilst brewing and a drip saucer to sit the infuser on between making cuppas. This infuser style allows full expansion of the brewing leaves and if you like your tea stronger you can add more than 1 teaspoon of leaves easily.
Good quality tea leaves can be re-used, that is you can make a second or third cup of tea from the same leaves. The brew will be weaker and each time contain less caffeine (see our other article on caffeine in tea.
Our favourite infuser is: Mug Infuser Stainless Steel with lid/saucer
Is it normal for the tea leaves to get into you tea?
Brenda – yes, depending on the type of tea and the type of infuser you’re using, its definitely possible for some leaves to sneak into your cup. While ingesting the leaves won’t do you any harm, for taste and aesthetic purposes you may want to re-strain your cup prior to drinking.
I wont to purchase a tea ball. But I would like to know if I can use the keriug k cups for my tea ball. I like the green tea in the k cups. Thank you
Maria – I’m unfamiliar with keriung k cups, can you provide me with some more information?
I was wondering about the keurig k cups too. They are popular for coffee – the little prepackaged plastic cups that hold enough ground coffee for 1 cup. ‘www.keurig.com’ can give you more info. I know you can buy re-usable ones and I guess theres no reason you cannot use them to brew tea too.
I have two tea ball infusers that, after the tea has been in the water, the expand and are hard to open. Is there a trick to opening a tea ball infuser?
cjg.
Carol – some styles of teaballs will not have a large amount of space for the tea leaves to expand. When placed in water, varieties of black and green tea (especially) will expand in size, which may be making it more difficult for you to open it. Otherwise, it may just be a difference in design of the teaball. Depending on your style of teaball will depend on what is the easiest way to open it – we suggest having a play with it out of water so you’re more comfortable with the design.
Jenna: Thank you. I will do that. But, I “copped out” and bought a spoon infuser. Its a lot easier. ; )
I’m glad you have an infuser that works for you!
hey Jenna,
I recently bought a tea infuser with my 28 day teatox program! the infuser is strawberry shaped with a leaf on the end. It seems like a lot of the leaves are escaping into my tea, but it’s the same website which supplies the infusers so is this meant to be happening? is there extra benifit from drinking the leaves?
Thanks, Taylor 🙂
Taylor,
A great infuser won’t be letting tea escape into your cup. It should be easy but firm to open and close, simple to fill and easy to clean out after use. The only tea that is likely to end up in your cup is rooibos – due to the very fine needle-like leaves of this variety, they can escape some infusers.
There should be no harm in drinking Camellia sinensis leaves – and its thought that consuming the leaves can only add to the health benefits found in them. Matcha green tea is thought of in this way – as a powdered green tea, you get the benefits more directly by consuming the whole leaf. Of course, check the ingredients of the particular product you are using for your own circumstances. Removing the leaves usually makes the cuppa more palatable – a great outcome!
Good luck!
I can’t get the teaball open.
Carol – what style of teaball do you have? Many of the teaball styles have a clip, perhaps also with a section that closes over the clip to hold it in place. They can be firm when they are new, so sometimes a firmer hand is required. Good luck!
Thank you for your informative article. I heard oolong tea was great for weight and just over all health benefits. I love this tea often in Chinese Restaurants but there are so many great teas out there really tea is meant to be savored.
i bought a tea infuser and i’m using real fine leaves.
their almost a powder their so small. my herald import tea infuser is allowing some to escape. apart from using a coffee pot to make my tea, do you have any advice concerning the infuser?
God bless
Timothy,
Without being able to see the infuser or the tea in question, it is a little hard to make a good recommendation. Quality loose leaf tea will have a little bit of tea dust or sediment in it, but should still be mostly leaves, so even a rooibos should be suited to a fine mesh strainer. A little bit of the leaf will always make it through into your cup, but it shouldn’t be too much. Feel free to email marketing@artoftea.com.au with any more detailed queries.
hi! thank you for sharing your ideas, im new to drinking tea. so i appreciate your blog. im looking forward for more interesting post. goodday!!!
My question can you used the loose tea over and over in a silver spoon tea infuser or the loose tea leaves need to be change out?
Teresa Stern
Teresa, you can reuse loose leaf tea at least once, and for some greens or white teas you may get more.
Do you put the loose tea in the tea pot and then use a tea strainer or; put loose tea into strainer and then pour the water over the strainer into the tea cup?
Teresa Stern
Either option is fine! I personally prefer the infuser in the pot option, as its less messy. We recommend using a large infuser in a teapot to allow full circulation of the water through the tea.