The best tea infusers

The OXO Good Grips Twisting Tea Ball takes the fuss out of tea making with a simple stainless steel ball infuser design.

Tea purists say you need more space to brew your tea properly, but sometimes a ball infuser is easier for a single cup of tea. The OXO Good Grips Twisting Tea Ball is the best tea infuser for people on a budget who are just making tea for themselves.

It's a brilliant design that turns your tea infuser into a tea scoop as well. With a twist of the rubbery end of the long handle, the stainless steel ball splits in two and one half of the ball rolls back to make a tea scoop. You scoop up your tea, close the ball, and drop it in your teacup with the hot water. It's very simple and requires no fuss.

The ball infuser has perfectly sized holes that don't let big tea leaves through. You may find a few stray leaves in your cup now and then, though. Although the Twisting Tea Ball is small, if you don't pack too much tea in there, the leaves will still have space to move and expand with the water. If you have very fine tea with many small particles, you may have some left in your cup. OXO says it's best used with whole leaf teas and tea pearls.

When you're done brewing your tea, you take it out, open it with a twist, and toss out the leaves. A simple rinse later, and you're done. I own two of these Twisting Tea Balls, and they're great. When I don't want a full pot of tea, I pop one in my mug. Sometimes a leaf or some tea particles get into the cup, but it's negligible.

User reviews on Amazon call the Twisting Tea Ball the best infuser they've ever used and praise how easy it is to clean. Negative reviews mention tea leaves and dust escaping the infuser and landing in the cup, but that's inevitable with most infusers — you'll always end up with some tea dust or small leaf fragments unless you're using a very fine mesh infuser.

Overall, for less than $10 (current Amazon price), the OXO Twisting Tea Ball is an excellent deal.

Pros: Easy to use, long handle for easy extraction, almost no tea escapes, sturdy tool, affordable price

Cons: Small area for tea to brew

Buy the OXO Good Grips Twisting Tea Ball on Amazon for $9.95

Fred & Friends designs the most eccentric and adorable tea infusers you can find anywhere from Mr. Tea to the Manatea.

Tea infusers don't have to be boring utilitarian objects. Fred & Friends makes some of the cutest and craziest tea infusers we've ever seen. If you're into funny kitchen gadgets, you'll love these tea infusers.

Serious tea snobs may turn up their noses at these small silicone tea infusers, but others will simply add them to their wonky collection of weird tea infusers. Fred & Friends makes all kinds of funny designs, including Mr. Tea, Manatea, a sloth, a whale, and more. Whatever humorous one you choose, they're mostly the same design.

The silicone infusers have little holes in them that shouldn't let tea escape once it's in there. Unlike metal infusers that can get hot from the tea and burn you when you try to remove them, silicone tea infusers stay relatively cool. The infusers are also really easy to clean.

Buyers on Amazon bought the Fred & Friends infusers mainly for the funny designs and novelty appeal, but most agree that the infusers get the job done well, too. The infusers are small, though, so they can be finicky to use and they won't circulate the tea leaves around in the water

They're probably best for the casual tea drinker, kids who love tea, and people who just want a funny infuser in their collection. Regardless, for less than $10, Fred & Friends' tea infusers are a fun, cute purchase for your tea making habit.

Pros: Lots of cute designs to choose from, easy to clean, silicone stays cool in hot water,

Cons: Small space for tea to brew, some complain about silicone changing the taste

Buy the Fred & Friends Manatea on Amazon for $5 Buy the Fred & Friends Mr. Tea on Amazon for $12.14 Buy the Fred & Friends Sloth on Amazon for $9.79

The Contigo 16oz Stainless Steel West Loop Travel Mug and Tea Infuser keeps your tea warm and brews great tea with its own infuser.

Travel mugs are very popular for tea and coffee drinkers because they can keep your drinks warm for hours. There are lots of travel mugs with tea infusers built in, but most of them are made of either fragile glass or plastic, which may leave a strange taste in your tea. Our favorite travel mug and a tea infuser combination is the 16oz Contigo West Loop Travel Mug and Tea Infuser (sold separately).

Contigo's West Loop Travel Mug is a great option all on its own, but the addition of a special tea infusing basket to its classic design makes it even better for tea drinkers. The infuser is made out of stainless steel with etched holes for steeping, and it measures 4.4 high and 2.3 inches wide, which is pretty decent for a travel mug infuser.

The company's autoseal lid prevents leaks and spills, while the vacuum insulated mug design keeps heat in longer. The addition of the tea infuser makes it an even better deal in our view, though you do have to buy the infuser separately from the mug. Contigo does sell a set, but it sells out often, and the price is the same regardless.

Buyer reviews on Amazon are positive, and tea drinkers love that the infuser is easy to clean and remove from the travel mug. Some reviewers mention that it's more durable than the other glass tea infusing travel mugs they've owned. The stainless steel design also ensures that you don't get a weird plastic taste in your tea.

In my personal experience, glass travel mugs don't keep tea warm enough and they break easily while you're on the go, which is not a good thing at all. Plastic travel mugs also seem incapable of keeping tea above a tepid temperature, and often, the infusers break. The Contigo West Loop Travel Mug and Tea Infuser avoids all those pitfalls, and at less than $30, it's a good deal.

Pros: Stainless steel design, built-in mesh infuser basket, keeps tea warm, durable build

Cons: Pricey and the infuser section isn't huge

Buy the Contigo 16oz Stainless Steel West Loop Travel Mug on Amazon for $7.50 and up Buy the tea infuser on Amazon for $12.60

The Hario Chacha Kyusu Maru Tea Pot lets your tea leaves mingle with the hot water in a giant brewing basket to make a delicious pot of tea.

Sometimes a cup of tea just isn't enough — you need a full pot. The 700ml Hario Chacha Kyusu Maru Tea Pot is a beautiful Japanese teapot made of strong glass, which has a giant mesh brewing basket, so your tea leaves can be fully immersed in the hot water.

Hario's teapot comes in three different sizes to suit your brewing needs. The 700ml one holds about three 8-ounce cups of tea, while the 300ml teapot is really only for one big cup. We recommend the bigger one for anyone who likes to have friends over for tea or just drinks multiple cups in one sitting. It's lovely to watch tea steep in a glass teapot, and it'll look gorgeous in any home.

The mesh is very fine, so your tea leaves shouldn't escape its confines while you brew the tea. The teapot itself is short and squat with a cute short spout, a big lid, and a slim handle. The Wirecutter calls it the best teapot with an infuser that you can buy, primarily because of the big open mesh brewing basket inside.

Reviewers on Amazon love how beautiful and simple the Hario teapot is. The only complaint is that it is very fragile, but that's common for teapots of all kinds, whether they're ceramic or glass. It's relatively easy to clean, too, because the tea spout isn't long and narrow and the brewing basket is nice and big.

The low price tag, big brewing basket, and pretty design make the 700ml Hario Chacha Kyusu Maru Tea Pot the best one you can buy. If you want an even cheaper option and you have access to an Ikea, the Riklig teapot is very similar, and it's the one I personally use.

Pros: Big brewing basket makes great tea, fine metal mesh material doesn't let tea leaves escape, short spout is easy to pour, glass design is pretty, inexpensive

Cons: Glass is fragile

Buy the 700ml Hario Chacha Kyusu Maru Tea Pot on Amazon for $17.33

To make the most of the expensive tea leaves you've bought, you need to make sure the water you use to brew them is correct.

Most experts agree that white and green teas should be brewed at temperatures between 160 and 185 degrees Fahrenheit, with white teas on the lower end of that range. Oolong teas should be brewed between 180 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit, while black and herbal teas need 212 degrees Fahrenheit to reach their peak.

Brewing times will vary, and many tea shops will give you advice on how long to brew your tea. A lot of it is personal taste, too, so do what makes you happy.

You can also read the thoughts of tea enthusiasts on Reddit, Lifehacker, Serious Eats, Tea Geek, and World of Tea.

For more tea-related buying guides, check out our full guides to the best old-fashioned kettles and the best electric kettles.