Dec 13th, '12, 09:16
Posts: 2
Joined: Dec 9th, '12, 18:42

Rooibos escaping infuser

by KrisasMan » Dec 13th, '12, 09:16

I recently picked up a tea cup with infuser and even though it is fine stainless steel I still get a good amount of broken rooibos leaves escaping. I am using a good supplier for my rooibos, the leaves are mostly whole, it is just that rooibos is so fine to begin with. I am wondering if there are any infusers or tea makers that have a fine enough mesh to capture rooibos?

User avatar
Dec 13th, '12, 10:20
Posts: 5896
Joined: Jan 10th, '10, 16:04
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Contact: debunix

Re: Rooibos escaping infuser

by debunix » Dec 13th, '12, 10:20

I've never seen any infuser with mesh as fine as some of the tea strainers I've seen, which are designed for putting over the top of the cup while pouring tea out of the teapot, to catch the fines that come through the holes. They work great for those situations where fines are really abundant and annoying. Even if the mesh of the strainer is very fine, there will still be leaks of fines at the line where the strainer closes around the tea.

The ones I've got from my local tea shop were much like this one from Dragon Tea House on ebay.

User avatar
Dec 13th, '12, 10:32
Posts: 20891
Joined: Apr 22nd, '06, 20:52
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Back in the TeaCave atop Mt. Fuji
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Rooibos escaping infuser

by Chip » Dec 13th, '12, 10:32

Since I never made rooibus I cannot say for certain if this will work. If you put the water in the vessel and then set the infuser with the tea into the water versus pouring the water over the leaves ... this works for finer leaves of fukamushi sencha.

Instead of forcing the tiniest dry leaves through the holes in the infuser with the pouring water, the leaves have an opportunity to expand ... plump up ... and are then less likely to find their way through the holes.

This also reduces the annoyance of having a billion tiny leaf particles stuck in your infuser.

User avatar
Dec 13th, '12, 11:43
Posts: 1247
Joined: Nov 7th, '07, 12:23
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Rooibos escaping infuser

by JRS22 » Dec 13th, '12, 11:43

I use this infuser set for rooibos and I have no problems with the rooibos getting through the holes in the infuser:

http://www.denstea.com/teapots-cups-cur ... 5_432.html

The brand is "For Life" and it's sold in other places. I need to add that my Rooibos is granular, not leafy and that's the only way I've ever seen it. I purchased the tea from Adagio.

User avatar
Dec 13th, '12, 17:41
Posts: 1784
Joined: Jul 8th, '09, 23:39
Location: Maui
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Rooibos escaping infuser

by tingjunkie » Dec 13th, '12, 17:41

This kind will also do the trick. http://www.harney.com/permanent-tea-filters.html

Dec 13th, '12, 21:56
Posts: 2
Joined: Dec 9th, '12, 18:42

Re: Rooibos escaping infuser

by KrisasMan » Dec 13th, '12, 21:56

From what I have found online, Rooibos has really small almost needle like leaves so it is always quite fine.

I have been using this infuser http://www.teavana.com/tea-products/tea ... el-infuser
I only make it one cup at a time so it is kind of hard to use a tea strainer. I have considered a 'tea maker' like the ingenuiTEA or Perfect TeaMaker, do they have fine enough mesh for this?

Dec 13th, '12, 22:11
Posts: 1622
Joined: Jun 24th, '08, 23:03

Re: Rooibos escaping infuser

by edkrueger » Dec 13th, '12, 22:11


+ Post Reply