How to Use an Infuser for Brewing Tea
There are many different types of tea infusers available, however most are fairly basic in design and are used in similar ways for brewing a pot or a cup of tea.
Infusers are often made from mesh, or these days from stainless steel that is perforated with tiny holes. Usually these open in half, allowing the tea leaves to be packed into one half of the tea infuser which is then closed and snapped shut.
Usually you should plan on filling up one half side with tea leaves and leaving the other side empty. This allows room for the tea leaves to swell, and still leave enough space for the water to circulate around the tea leaves. This is important if you want a good, tasty cup of tea. If the tea leaves are packed too tightly you may end up with an insipid cup of tea as the water will not be able to freely flow around the leaves and absorb the flavor of the tea. Naturally, too few tea leaves in the tea infuser will likewise result in a rather tasteless, watery tea.
If you are drinking Chinese teas, choose a larger sized infuser than if you are brewing black tea. Loose leaf Chinese tea expands much more when exposed to water than black tea does. When buying an infuser for a cup you are usually presented with several different sizes, simply choose the largest sized cup infuser.
Another detail: If you are planning on using the infuser to brew black tea, choose one with small holes or a fine mesh covering. The leaves used to brew black tea are very small (as they are not whole leaves, but rather crushed leaves) and they can escape into the pot or the cup if the holes are too large, thus making the reason for using a tea strainer rather moot after all.
It is very simple to brew tea using a tea infuser. Follow the instructions on the tea regarding how long you should allow the infuser to sit in the water before taking it out. Chinese teas will also give you instructions on how hot the water used for making the tea should be. Follow the instructions and you should be able to brew yourself a delectable cup of tea.
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