Let’s face it: tea bags suck; loose tea all the way. Since getting into loose tea more often, I’ve needed a better tea infuser. There are LOTS of different infusers to choose from, and everyone’s got a different preference or a different way of infusing tea that they feel is the perfect or only way someone should steep tea.
I’d been using a ball-and-chain style infuser for a while, but it’s a pain in the ass to use when you don’t have a good place to set the thing down when steeping time’s up. So, enter the two contenders for taking over the job, both from Norpro. First up: the mesh tea ball with cup rest handle.
As you can see from the picture, this infuser has an indent in the side of the handle that allows it to rest on the side of the cup when you’re done steeping your tea — a pretty clever design. It does keep the infuser in a spot that won’t leave a puddle of tea on a nearby table our armrest, and the ball isn’t overly large, meant just for one cup of tea.
One downside of the cup rest handle infuser is that the ball still sits in the tea while it rests on the cup! You have to drink up to half of the tea in the mug before the ball is finally out of the water, and by then it’s too late — over-steeped tea. Blech!
The other downside to this infuser is that it doesn’t fit all mugs. One mug I have has a pretty thick lip on it, and the infuser’s indent wasn’t wide enough. So, two big thumbs down for this one.
This is the Grip-EZ tea infuser, which is sitting in the aforementioned cup with the thick lip. The way you fill this infuser is by squeezing the rubber handle together, which opens the ball. Just scoop up the loose tea with one half of the ball, gently let go of the handle and you’re ready to steep.
Once you’re done, the infuser comes with a small metal cup that fits the ball nicely. The downside is that you still need a flat surface for putting the thing down, whereas with the previous infuser you could be walking around and not have to put it down. Really, though, that’s the only downside of this baby.
The clear winner here is the Grip-EZ. It’s got a perfect-sized basket, is incredibly easy to fill and still offers a way to set it aside without a mess. Got an infuser that you stand by? Let us know!
Clacked by Keith McDuffee 
on May 03, 2009 @ 10:00 EST5EDT
