No, you don't need a tea infuser. You can drop loose leaves straight into a mug, pour water over them, and drink around them — people have done exactly that for centuries. An infuser just makes it tidier.
That said, a basket infuser costs a few dollars and genuinely improves things. Here's what each option does, from free upward.
Option 1: no equipment at all
Put the leaves in the mug. Add hot water. Wait. Drink.
Most of the leaves sink, and you stop before the last mouthful. This is how tea is drunk across much of China, and it works best with leaves that sink well — most greens, and anything large and heavy.
Downside: you can't remove the leaves, so the tea keeps getting stronger and eventually bitter. Fine if you drink it reasonably promptly.
Cost: nothing.
Option 2: a small strainer
Brew loose in one mug, then pour through a small mesh strainer into a second mug. Any kitchen strainer works if the mesh is fine enough.
This solves the real problem — it gets the leaves out — without buying anything specialized. You probably already own one.
Downside: two mugs to wash.
Cost: likely nothing.
Option 3: a basket infuser
A wide mesh basket that sits inside your mug. Put leaves in, pour water over, lift it out when the time's up.
This is the one worth buying. The key word is wide — leaves need room to unfurl and water needs to move through them. A cramped infuser is the most common reason good tea produces a weak, flat cup, because water simply channels around a packed lump of leaf instead of through it.
Cost: roughly $8–15. Get one that fits your actual mug, with a lid that doubles as a drip tray.
What to skip
- Tea balls and "tea eggs." The little hinged metal spheres. They're too small — leaves can't expand, and the tea comes out thin. This is the most common bad purchase in tea.
- Novelty silicone infusers. Same problem, plus they're harder to clean.
- Disposable paper filter bags. They work fine and you'll spend more over a year than a basket costs once.
So what should you buy?
If you're brewing your first cup tonight, use a mug and a kitchen strainer. It costs nothing and tells you whether you like loose leaf before you spend anything.
If you've decided you're sticking with it, buy one wide basket infuser. That's the entire purchase, and it'll last for years.
The thing that actually matters isn't which one you own — it's taking the leaves out when the steeping time is up. Leaves left sitting in the water keep extracting and turn the cup bitter, and every option above is just a different way of accomplishing that one thing.
A timer helps here more than any piece of equipment does, which is why we built one into the app. Set it when you pour, lift the leaves out when it goes off.