Reddit mentions of NORPRO Tea Ball, 1 EA

Looks good, but why not just use your regular tea ball ?

The water lays calm and undisturbed in my mug. Each H20 particle relaxed and at rest going about doing what ever it is still water does. Then things begin. The water resting in the mug becomes shaken, as if an earth quake has just hit, as I place my mug in to the microwave. There is a loud bang as I shut the microwave door. Then all seems calm again for the water for a few brief seconds. Then the beeping begins. With each button push on the microwave its like a siren goes off to the the helpless water within the mug. A flash of light goes off, the water inside burning. Steam begins coming off the mug, the water dieing as its spirit leaves the cup here it once laid so peacefully. I open the microwave looking down at my victims. they seem helpless but they still haven't suffered enough to satisfy my appetites. Thats when i grab the bomb I open it up and fill it with leaves herbs and spices, although delicious to us, these things are poisonous and deadly to the citizens of my mug. I drop the bomb in and the chemical explosion happens instantly. You can see the corpses of the water rapidly turn brown, all the while their souls still leap from my mug. But this is still not enough for me. I reach for a spoon and stir, the mug has become an inescapable vortex of death with my tea bomb right at the center. I celebrate my victory by adding some honey, as victory is sweet. then to savor that victory I slowly sip from the mug, feeling empowered and ready to start my day.

Change Jar, just in case.

A replacement is fairly cheap

Happy Birthday! make sure you treat yo self first. Stainless Steel Tea Ball $1.99

a used book, valued at $5 or less

$4 or less if you look at the other options

$3 or less

$2 or less

I give up, I can't find the last one haha... happy birthday!

Before you go out and buy a lot of tea, only to find out it's not to your liking, explore your options a bit by trying out sampler packs.
A bunch of good samplers where linked to over here, but that's mostly for straight unblended teas.

I hardly drink flavoured teas myself, so I can't really give you any good recommendations on that, but perhaps someone else will chime in.
Adagio carries a lot of samplers, many of them containing fruity tea blends, so you might want to check that out.

If you don't have anything to steep your loose leaf in, I recommend picking up an infuser basket that allows you to brew directly in your cup/mug. If you end up liking hot tea, you can always invest in teapots and whatnot later. (And so begin the hopeless teaware addiction many of us suffer from!)

This, and this should do well. Avoid smaller infusers such as this, as your leaf needs the room to expand and interact with the water while steeping. A cramped infuser will not allow your leaf to do so, and may lead to an inferior brew.

> I think I will start with some fruity tea, is it acceptable to put honey/sugar into that?

It's your tea, you're free to drink it however you like it best. I do recommend steering away from your usual preferences every now and then to experiment a bit. There's a lot of different flavours to be found in straight tea, and it'd be a shame not to give it a shot. If you like it better with sweetener though, by all means drink it with sweetener.

> I had some tea bags but wasnt a huge fan, not very strong of a taste, would loose leaf tea be better?

You betcha!