We have four Bodum plastic-and-mesh strainers that we rotate. Thank you thank you. Kids LOVE using it too–you place it on top of a mug and watching the tea drain from the teapot down into the mug is like magic. We currently have a variation of the mesh strainer with bamboo handle shown above, and while it’s terrific for a small-necked mug, it sinks directly to the bottom of all of ours. As someone else pointed out, there are two types of tea strainers in this post: The large ones that you use to steep tea in a mug or pot and then remove, and the shallow ones (like the antique or the porcelain ones) that you use to sift out any stray leaves when you pour tea from the tea pot into the cup. Indeed, I’d prefer the leaves to stay mostly out of my tea. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Anyone have recommendation for a good tea kettle? I am exclusively a tea drinker and drink multiple cups a day, so I’ve tried a number of strainers over the years. They are also wonderfully inexpensive (a tradeoff, but we do try to buy exclusively fair trade tea). The circular top would be wide enough to fit over my mugs and the large basket looks like it could be used for one cup or several. Works really well! it’s simple and cute but definitely not very practical considering you really do have to find the perfect circumference to use it. While this doesn’t check the local/small business boxes, we LOVE our stainless steel tea strainers from Ikea. By far my favorite is the OXO Twisting Tea Ball. Because the tea drains out the bottom valve, absolutely no tea leaves get through. We like having more strainers than people because that way the tea leaves dry in the strainers that have been unused for a day or two, and you can easily tump the dried tea leaves out (no efforts to get the wet tea out of there). What are you drinking lately? (You can also save time by pouring out the majority of the tea leaves while they are still wet, and then let the rest dry before you clean the strainer.). The strainers are flawless, not a single tea leaf left behind. Read more ». We love loose leaf tea and we have been SO happy with these strainers: https://www.davidstea.com/us_en/davids-perfect-infuser/900602US01.html?dwvar_900602US01_color=102000&cgid=#cgid=root&q=Infuser&sz=12&start=30 https://www.adagio.com/teaware/ingenuiTEA_teapot.html My partner prefers a Muji glasss tea pot with a basket for his black tea. So, my first priority is a wide-mouthed strainer for easy filling. An ideal strainer for me, is one without too many parts and that doesn’t require fussing. We use it daily for coffee, and I used to fill it up with tea regularly, too. The simple little dish is one of the things I love about it! Works just fine to make gallons at a time. AS a bonus, I’m linking to a video on the Victorian way to make a cup of tea, you can see how to use the shallow (antique) tea strainer at around 1 minute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7uciURYjvI, Also, a pro tip: let the tea leaves dry before you try to clean the strainers. Cleaning the loose tea out of the strainer isn’t my favorite task, but it’s probably a bit of a pain with any strainer. I usually prepare my tea by putting the leaves at the bottom of a cup and adding water, then strain it by putting an old saucer on top and pouring the tea in a new cup (just like you would use a pot lid to strain a pot of boiled pasta). It’s similar to but much larger and deeper than the one you show in the post. Works on all but the grainiest tea. + Mesh Tea Strainer: I get asked so many questions about this strainer (mentioned above), that I thought I would add it here for those curious. Please don’t buy that vintage brass one ! https://m2.ikea.com/us/en/p/ljudloes-tea-infuser-stainless-steel-80360239/2,99. I’ve been on the hunt for a more perfect tea strainer ever since—and, thanks to some of you, I’ve also been reminded of what I can use that’s already right under my nose. In the summer, I brew iced tea in a big stock pot and hang a screw-top Swiss gold strainer from one of the handles. Since so many of you reached out to say they’re your favorites, I wanted to make sure to add them to the list. Reading My Tea Leaves is a lifestyle blog, written by Erin Boyle, celebrating a practical and purposeful approach to a simple, sustainable life. It hardly has space to let the tea leaves soak in the water. When I was given a glass tea pot with a strainer of its own a few years ago, I fell out of the habit and by the time the glass strainer met its early, toddler-precipitated end, I’d forgotten all about using the French press for tea instead. (Those are some moving parts I can get behind.). I love that it fits perfectly in my little 3-cup saucepan (makeshift tea kettle). I have this brass one and love it: You’ve put up some lovely strainers here. Maybe too soon for you to use a glass tea pot again with the littles around, but I love my Hario glass pots. Not real ones anyway. + Schefs Premium Stainless Steel Tea Strainer: One of my sisters swears by this simple stainless strainer. So easy, and it cuts down on single purpose kitchen items (the strainer is useful for all kinds of things, not just tea making). This way I’m boiling the kettle less often during the day (I work from home) and saving energy too.