
What is a Tea Infuser?
To brew loose leaf tea, we often rely on a tea infuser. Dry tea leaves are put into the infuser, which is then placed directly into your cup or teapot. Infusers have holes large enough to let the hot water interact with the leaves, but small enough to stop most of those leaves from escaping. They essentially do the job of a tea bag.
A strainer, meanwhile, is used after the tea in your pot has already brewed. It catches the leaves in the liquid as it is poured from the spout into the cup.
Both infusers and strainers tend to be reusable, and might come in the form of a basket, ball or built-in filter.