What's coming between you and your tea? Part I - The tea infuser

Tea is a pretty simple beverage. However, for those of us who live the “tea life” the equipage seems to be getting more complicated every day – many items being proclaimed a “must” for your tea enjoyment. This is especially true of items “guaranteed” to give you a better-tasting brew. I’m talking about infusers.

 

Are they really needed? Or are they just coming between you and your tea?

 

I’ll be exploring the issue more fully in the next few articles.

 

Let’s start by taking a minute to see what infusing means. For the purpose of this article, I will be talking only about true teas, made from leaves of the Camellia Sinensis plant, not herbals, dried flower petals (chamomile, hibiscus, etc.), rooibos, and more.

 

Basically, infusing is the interaction between tea leaves and hot water. That interaction is accomplished by putting a quantity of tea into a container (cup, teapot, measuring cup, whatever) and adding water heated to the appropriate temperature (usually boiling, but some teas need cooler temps). Then, the magic begins. Those tiny atoms of H₂O work to separate the good from the bad, the aromatic and flavorful from the dregs (one reason it’s important to stop the infusion process at the right time, keeping those dregs from joining the party). The result is called a “liquor” and ranges in color from almost clear to dark reddish-brown, depending on what tea you started with (white, green, red, black, etc.).

 

Another thing to consider is the size and shape of those tea pieces. Tea is available in several forms: whole leaf, pieces (also called “broken leaf”), fannings, dust, and powder (usually green tea served in Asian countries and some Asian restaurants here in the U.S.).

 

Speaking of dregs, they lurk in your tea bags (usually containing fannings or dust). So, if you’re tempted to get a pair of tea bag tongs for use in squeezing the last drop from your tea bag after infusing, consider this: When you squeeze out that last drop, you are squeezing out those bitter-tasting dregs. Just as when brewing a fine cup of coffee you want to avoid over-brewing and using an inadequate amount of grounds, the same goes for tea. If you’re going to spend the money on the tea, don’t spoil it with those bitter dregs.

 

On the Websites that sell infusers, they instruct us to fill the infusers only halfway. Why? So that the leaves have room to expand fully within the infuser. Good advice, but the leaves still don’t get to fully interact with the water as they would if loose in the pot. That means, you don’t get the full taste and wonderful aroma from your expensive whole leaf tea.

 

As one who truly lives the “tea life,” I see tea infusers as just coming between me and my tea, especially a fine whole leaf tea, and they are virtually worthless on teas that are comprised of fannings or dust (which should only be used in a non-bleached bag).

 

For those of you still wanting to use an infuser, which after all provides convenience and better tasting tea than from most bagged tea, I’ll go through the different options available in my next two articles, along with some places to find one that is just right for you.