Four things decide whether a tea infuser suits you. Here is each one, and how the Teabrim range answers it.
Our criteria
Room for the leaf. Dried tea can triple in volume as it rehydrates, and an infuser that cannot hold three times what you put in it only brews the outside of the leaf. The Teabrim basket is 7 cm (2.76 in) deep, 4.8 cm across the base and 6.5 cm across the rim, and the teapot insert runs most of the height of the pot. In 8 fl oz cups, the 420 ml bottle pours about 1.8, the 600 ml teapot about 2.5 and the 1000 ml teapot about 4.2.
Mesh against the hardest tea. Whole leaf passes through nothing, so it proves nothing. The teas that expose a coarse mesh are rooibos, which is almost entirely fine needles, and broken-grade black tea, which carries dust. The basket's fine perforations run over the lower two thirds, the part that sits in the water, and hold both back while the brew still moves freely.
Fit on the mug you own. A mug infuser is useless if it does not sit on your mug. The basket rests on the rim on two asymmetric handles, one 4 cm (1.57 in) flat arm and one 1.5 cm (0.59 in) hook, and needs a cup opening wider than about 7 cm, which covers most standard mugs and teacups. The figures are on the mug infuser page.
Cleanup. Tap the spent leaves out while the basket is still warm and rinse it under running water; a soft brush clears anything lodged in the mesh. The domed lid that keeps the heat in while you steep flips over into a drip tray, so the wet basket has somewhere to sit.
What this changes for you
You get the dimensions, the capacities and the fit up front, so you can choose the format that suits how you drink. Every order carries a 30-day money-back guarantee.
