#76 in Kitchen & dining accessories
Reddit mentions of Finum Reusable Stainless Steel Coffee and Tea Infusing Mesh Brewing Basket, Large, Black
Sentiment score: 27
Reddit mentions: 40
We found 40 Reddit mentions of Finum Reusable Stainless Steel Coffee and Tea Infusing Mesh Brewing Basket, Large, Black. Here are the top ones.
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Permanent filter that is suitable for brewing tea, coffee, and herbs.Brewing Basket is made of stainless-steel micro-mesh in a heat-tolerant frame from BPA-free material.Lid helps maintain warm temperature for a longer period and can be flipped over and used as a drip-off tray.Set contains one permanent tea filter and one hat. Individual packaging in 4 languages (EN, DE, FR, ES)These filters are durable and dishwasher-safe.
Specs:
| Color | Black |
| Height | 4.25 Inches |
| Length | 3.75 Inches |
| Size | Large |
| Weight | 0.07936641432 Pounds |
| Width | 3.75 Inches |
I have been using this one and the mesh is amazing, no dust or anything getting through, and it is easy to clean.
http://www.amazon.com/Finum-Brewing-Basket-large-black/dp/B000J3JFJU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452869656&sr=8-1&keywords=brewing+basket
Honestly something like this would be much better as it it half the cost and basket is bigger which allows more leaf expansion. I have the 300ml version that I like. Also consider a tea basket strainer like one of the following. Also reference the vendor list here for vendors in the EU.
https://www.hario.co.uk/collections/tea-tea-pots/products/hario-chacha-kyusu-maru-teapot-450ml
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KY69ZKH/
https://www.amazon.com/Reusable-Stainless-Coffee-Infusing-Brewing/dp/B000J3JFJU/
You'll want to get a brew basket most likely. I recommend either the finum (http://amzn.com/B000J3JFJU) or Forlife (http://amzn.com/B001JPA3Y8). You can leave the leaves in the basket and resteep. I wouldn't hold it over a day, though. You can also get an inexpensive gaiwan to start (http://amzn.com/B00HNJQWU8)
Also, different teas should be steeped at different temperatures (don't boil everything!) so you'll want a good kettle for that too. Or a pot and a thermometer. Doesn't have to be fancy!
I'm fairly serious about my tea (although still a lightweight around these parts) and drink pretty much exclusively iced black tea.
Short answer: Harney & Sons Malachi McCormick ("Decent Tea") if you're looking for just a better version of what you're drinking; a good Irish Breakfast tea if you're wanting to really start exploring. (H&S also does about the best Irish Breakfast I've managed to find.)
Long answer: Icing tea does a couple of things. It kills aromatics and kind of damps down the entire flavor profile. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it just means that you want to emphasize different flavors to make sure you have a nice cup of tea. This means what you don't want is a low-body aromatic tea; what you do want is something with a lot of body and a strong characteristic taste -- black breakfast teas and similar blends will do you no wrong, here. Irish Breakfast tea is a (very) full-bodied tea with strong assam notes that takes very well to being iced; if that's a new one to you it's going to come out as a bit of an experience, so go slow and give it a chance to grow on you. Most put milk and possibly a little sugar in it; I drink it black, but it's definitely an acquired taste. The "Decent Tea" blend at H&S
(Note that all tea if cooled too quickly -- like icing immediately after brewing -- will have solids precipitate out, turning the tea opaque. This doesn't affect flavor at all; some consider it unsightly, but I actually have kind of come to enjoy the grey-brown of a good Irish Breakfast or the more orange tint of a Scottish Breakfast. Don't let the appearance put you off. Cheaper teas frequently don't turn opaque as there are insufficient solids; sometimes they will merely turn 'cloudy'.)
Normal rule of thumb is one teaspoon of leaf per 'cup' -- for iced you want it a little stronger, so i'll fill an 18oz glass with ice and do two solid teaspoons (maybe just a bit more), ending up with something like 16oz of chilled tea, which should be about right.
Note that details of brewing will make a big difference too -- it's not nearly so sensitive as coffee, but details still matter. For black tea, you want to get water to a boil and on the leaves and steep for 5 minutes. Use filtered water for brewing and (ideally) for the ice -- this makes a big difference, as the dissolved minerals in tap water not only affect the taste but reduce the solubility of the tea. Put the leaves in something decent -- try to avoid using a tiny cheap tea ball or something. I use this basket for brewing in a 12oz wide-mouth mason jar, which I then pour directly over ice in a solo cup (or thermos or w/e for travel).
If any of that is daunting, though, jump in with what you have and you'll easily be able to improve on what you've been drinking thus far. Twinings has a decent irish breakfast blend in tea bags at most supermarkets that makes an okay cup if you're curious about the blend.
Let me know if you have any questions; I'm a huge iced tea fan and could likely talk about it indefinitely.
You should get a basket infuser like one of these:
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2
These are large enough to let the leaves open up so you can the whole flavor. There are other options such as a gravity steeper or infuser thermoses, but these are a good place to start :)
Just re the caffeine, it does make tremors worse so put a lot of effort into getting rid of it or at least reducing way down.
I had to do that myself a few years ago, and didn't think I could do it. I only had one big strong cup of coffee in the morning, or sometimes black tea (during day or in morning), but I was really seriously attached to that dose (as well as flavor, ability to clear my throat/lungs/etc).
For me the hardest part turned out to be just finding a decaf coffee (and black tea) I could still drink and enjoy, but eventually did after reading many reviews online then trying a bunch of different ones.
The ones that work for me are Peet's Mocca Java Decaf coffee, and Luzianne (black) tea.
I buy the tea at amazon in "family size" bags, cut open the bags to pour into a jar, then make it strong and brew it in a Finum "brewing basket" or a single cup mini basket with hinged lid for a Keurig coffee machine.
I buy the coffee locally at Safeway (I'm in California) or at a Peet's store, but should be online too.
Here they are if you're interested:
https://amazon.com/Peets-Coffee-Mocca-Java-Ground-12-Ounce/dp/B00857ZBSG (btw, it's not really "chocolatey" or only a tiny hint)
https://amazon.com/gp/product/B008EJRS54
https://amazon.com/gp/product/B000J3JFJU
https://amazon.com/MaxBrew-Reusable-Filter-Keurig-Single/dp/B016TZKU54 (mine is black though)
Oh, and I no longer drink soft drinks because I eat low carb (LCHF in my case) which also helps with other health/etc problems (and no longer really get "hungry," and never shaky from hunger--and carbs). They either have a lot of sugar I don't want, or have various alternative sweeteners I can't stand the taste of. But before I started low-carb, the Decaf regular Coke tasted the best to me, and there are a few like Ginger Ale, etc, that at least don't have caffeine.
I now also drink other hot and cold beverages though, especially when I'm sipping or just want a taste in my mouth, etc. Had to figure those out too.
If you want easy, you can buy a mug strainer or empty tea bags to pack yourself:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001JPA3Y8
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JIRDSCC
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000J3JFJU
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HW1C7VK
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00027CM5C
Many of us use something like this. I drink enough tea that it is way more economical to buy loose leaf and I can get any tea I want and have control over how I brew it with nothing getting in my teeth at all. I don't doubt that there are good bagged teas out there but I just don't think they are going to be better than the loose leaf I can get at a much more reasonable price per gram. And I do believe that there are teas that are loose leaf that are, to my palate, of higher quality than what can be found in bags at a grocery store. But I do grab bagged tea for vacation etc. and I certainly don't wrinkle my nose or sigh and exclaim how I wish I didn't have to drink this stuff. I like Twinings bags etc.
I use one of these : https://smile.amazon.com/Finum-Brewing-Basket-large-black/dp/B000J3JFJU/
and I just put it in a disposable coffee cup to catch any drippings between steepings. That way it doesn't sit in a puddle of liquid, and after I clean it out at the end of the day, it has space for air to circulate and properly dry out.
But if you want something nicer, a dark coffee cup would be better.
Save yourself some money up front and get an electric kettle and a Finum basket filter. Focus on what really matters - the tea. Here's a sample pack for you that gives a nice overview on tea styles.
Hands down best tea steeper: Finum Brewing Filter Basket with Lid and Drip Tray (large)
Believe me. Don't get any cute tea balls or devices. Novelty tea diffusers suck over time, as any tea enthusiast will find them clumsy and hard to clean in the long run. Trust me, this is the best one.
You could also get her a cute, large mug to go with and maybe a gift card to take her on a date to a place like David's Tea/teavana. That way she can pick out some new loose leaf teas to try, and you can see what flavours interest her.
A tea storage box is also a fantastic gift. Tea bags are inferior to loose leaf, but if you do get bags to fill the box, be sure to get some darjeeling or assam - the best teas in the world.
One thing that's rather overlooked in tea is a tea thermometer. Certain teas need particular temps to steep. I even have a chart printed on glossy photo paper we keep in a plastic sleeve and pinned to the inside of our cupboard (where we keep tea). It'd be a really sweet touch to include that costs practicly nothing.
I know tea. I've visited the tea gardens and tea factories. My great grandmother was a poor tea seller girl by the roadside and met my great grandfather who was a well-to-do soldier. The brigades would have to wait for a bridge to open and that's how they met. Its pretty romantic, lol.
But yeah, tea runs in my blood, so to speak. If you have any questions, feel free to fire away!
That looks like a good starter green tea. I'm not sure how happy you'll be with "Mister tea" though. It doesn't leave a whole lot of room for the tea to expand, and that gunpowder green definitely will. The basket for your contigo mug looks pretty good. You may want to look in to a basket type infuser for normal mugs, as well. This ForLife infuser and this Finum basket are both pretty popular around here.
Welcome to the world of tea. Cheers!
My husband prefers CTC assams so he uses this one. I also use it for my rooibos teas.
In my office where I have a smaller pot with a large opening I use this one that floats. At home I mostly use this one. It has larger holes but is much easier to clean than the mesh one. It fits the mouth of most of my tea pots.
It's not the most convenient for travel, but when I'm brewing one mug at a time at home I strongly prefer my brewing basket. It's better than tea balls because it gives the leaves lots of space, then you just take it out and rest it in its own lid until you want to re-steep the leaves. When I'm done I dump it, rinse it, and every so often throw it in the dishwasher.
Try one of the basket shaped infusers, as large as will fit inside your mug. That way the tea will always have room to expand, and there are no open/close mechanisms to mess with. The one I have fits in my mugs as well as my small teapot, which is convenient.
edit: On Amazon at the moment the large infuser for $7.25 is actually cheaper than the standard one.
For single cups, I use one of these. I'm very happy with it. It allows the leaves to float freely when steeping, then I just pull the filter out and the leaves are removed from the tea.
https://www.amazon.com/Finum-Brewing-Basket-large-black/dp/B000J3JFJU/
Tough, light, and really lets your tea bloom. The diffuser ball things are terrible.
Hey man, great work so far. A few food tips from a guy closing in on two years of keto:
Good luck, and thanks for sharing your story so far :)
Upton Tea Imports is super cheap, US seller. They got a huge selection and quality range.
Upton is cheaper than Adagio - a quick look comparing Adagio's cheapest black, it's $8 for 3oz vs Uptons 4.4oz for $5.80 to $7.40
I do rec buying a bunch of samples first, about everything has a 12g sample to try out, then next size is the 125g/4.4oz
edit, then yeah, get an in mug infuser, Finums are cheap. http://www.amazon.com/Finum-Brewing-Basket-large-black/dp/B000J3JFJU/ and hyjack a tin/tupperware from a dollar store to put the bag of tea in. Or put $20-$30 towards a travel tea tumbler.
I recommend these.
You would probably be better off buying an infuser basket separately as any teapots I've seen with infuser baskets have always been on the small side. You could probably pick up a large teapot quite easily on ebay, as iamacowmoo suggested, and then get yourself one of these or something similar to pop into it.
I just got my strainer basket that sits in the pot, then you just take it out once the tea is properly steeped. It works fantastically. That, or a mesh ball strainer for individual mugs seems to be the best way to do loose, for me.
The brewing vessel that I use the most is a gaiwan, which is basically just a lidded cup that you throw a bunch of leaves in and steep for a very short amount of time, then strain the water off using the lid. This is used for gongfu style steeping, meaning high leaf to water ratios and many infusions. The idea of this is that you get a more complex and nuanced taste, and you can see how the tea changes over many infusions. If you don't want to brew using this method then I'd either recommend a basket infuser for one cup at a time, adagio's ingenuitea for two cups at a time, or adagio's personalitea for a few people at a time. Note: I'm not sponsored by adagio or anything, I just think they make good affordable teaware.
*I'm not an expert but this is my personal experience!*
If you have teas that like to open up at all, getting stuffed into a tiny bag can prevent them from opening and steeping out all it's goodness! When I was first getting into tea I always made jasmine pearls loose in a teapot and it tasted amazing. Then I tried ordering one of those tiny novelty steepers to use at work and my tea tasted like nothing.. because the jasmine pearls had no space to open up!! and something like oolong? there's just no way it will be able to open up to its full potential in a tiny bag or steeper. It sounds to me like when the tea actually had room to open up and steep more in the bigger bag, it was getting over steeped at 5 minutes. When the tea was cramped in the smaller bag and wasn't steeping to it's full potential, you had to steep it longer to achieve a similar taste. It might be interesting to experiment steeping in a large basket or steeping free in the cup grandpa style to see if you get a similar effect!!
One caveat; I haven't had this problem with teas/tisanes like rooibos or certain black teas that already come in small fragments. If the tea itself doesn't expand a lot, the small steeper should be okay!
To echo everyone else, gaiwans are inexpensive and really great to use. I find making tea in mine a lot of fun :D If you would still like to brew western style, I'd recommend getting the Finum Brewing Basket, which is really easy to use and also not expensive ($10). I find that, although I prefer gongfu brewing, it demands more time and more attention, and isn't something I can do while I'm working. So I end up using the brewing basket and my gaiwan about equally.
Oh, tea infuser. I have one of those.
Would this work too? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000J3JFJU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I already have this.
I have 3, two 24 oz and a 45 oz. I love them. The infuser on the 45 oz is too small, so I use a large Finum basket instead.
I like the 24 ounce for teas that can be brewed in volume- blacks and herbals, mainly. I use smaller glass pots for teas that can be resteeped, like oolong. The Forlife pots look great, are easy to pour from, have nice brewing baskets (on the 24 oz), they're durable, and the gasket on the lid keeps it in place both with and without the basket.
I've been using [Finum Brewing Baskets] (https://www.amazon.com/Finum-Brewing-Basket-large-black/dp/B000J3JFJU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479061928&sr=8-1&keywords=finum+basket+large) for the last decade or so for brewing one cup of tea at a time. The fine mesh is easy to clean if you rinse is out right after steeping. The large one is ideal for most mug sizes. I find the medium-sized basket to be a little too small for mugs larger than 10 oz.
EDIT: If you're looking for a decent and affordable tea pot, [Hario] (https://www.amazon.com/Hario-Chacha-Kyusu-Maru-700ml/dp/B0007WTBQ0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479062141&sr=8-1&keywords=hario+tea+pot) makes some good ones. Despite the glass looking thin, it's actually quite sturdy.
To brew loose leaf you would need a teapot with an infuser basket or for brewing in a mug you would use a brew basket like this
Get a brewing basket with super fine mesh such as this.
Back when I was western style brewing everything I used this extensively
basket
I was looking for a new filter, something like This but now I'm really looking into the Perfectea steepers. Thank you!
Basket like /u/picklechip5 is quite handy. Depending on the model and size of it, it can be used for single cup, gongfu style brewing, and for huge pot.
I use it with small 2dl cup when I want 1 cup with western style brewing, I also use it with same 2dl cup if I want 2 smalelr cups with gongfu style. It is not has handy to to use in gongfu style as teaware meant for gongfu, but it allows you to experiment and try out it.
If you want basket that fits all kinds of purposes, I would suggest rather tall one.
I have medium version of[ this one.] (https://www.amazon.com/Finum-Brewing-Basket-large-black/dp/B000J3JFJU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487151192&sr=8-1&keywords=Finum+Brewing+Basket) Medium is sometimes too small, and it does not reach bottom of the cup if I use it for gongfu style. But then again, you couldnt be able to cover the cup with plate or other lid if you use large one.
Also, this kind of basket can be later used as a strainer when you get teapot.
These ones are pretty widely recommended.
While some say any tea ball is a bad tea ball... they're not all horrible, and it depends on how much you are brewing. A single 8oz cup would have the leaves nicely fit in the ball and have room to expand.
As far as recommendations, I don't have any, sorry - but I can say that buying an infuser basket is just as convenient and tends to let the leaves open up a bit more, giving a better flavor typically. There are already posts on this, but here is my favorite.
Some of them are like that. I use ones like this because I find them easier to clean.
Having recently transitioned from bagged to loose tea, I enjoy it. Their Irish Breakfast is great, and their English Breakfast is also very good. The Earl Grey is pretty good, albeit a bit finicky. I've found the spiciness of the bergamot (both aroma and taste) is at its best if steeped for 3.5 minutes using about 1 and 1/3 tsp per 8 oz., which is not how Twinings suggests making it. Their Lady Grey is fantastic.
Also, you may want to invest in a very fine mesh infuser, if you haven't already. British distributors tend to have very small leaves, apparently to maximize the caffeine content of the steeped tea, which does result in some tea dust. I've gotten great use out of this one, which comes in a couple sizes and colors: http://www.amazon.com/Finum-Brewing-Large-Basket-Black/dp/B000J3JFJU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397428756&sr=8-1&keywords=finum+brewing+basket
I suggest starting with an infuser that can be used to brew right in your cup. This one is my favorite, the large one; not the floating basket. Alternately, or additionally, a small glass teapot is wonderful at first because you can see the color of the brew while you're discovering your preferences. Most loose leaf tea can be brewed for more than one infusion, sometimes many many infusions. An electric kettle is extremely handy, especially if it has variable temperature settings. One that's clear where you can see the size of the bubbles also works for gauging temperature. Ask questions in the forum if you're wondering about anything. Everyone here is keen to help. Enjoy your tea!
If you can only own one infuser strainer, it should be this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Finum-Brewing-Basket-large-black/dp/B000J3JFJU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1518638240&sr=8-1&keywords=finum+brewing+basket+large