Green tea is chock full of health benefits. It has loads of antioxidants that can help improve fat loss, mental clarity, lower your risks of cancer and so much more.  One exciting benefit is its anti-bacterial properties which can help improve dental health. Plus, it has less caffeine than other types of tea or hot beverages. It’s not only a great treat, but a healthy one too.

How many times can you say that something good for you is also enjoyable and tasty? You can enjoy green tea in a variety of ways, plain, with various sweeteners such as honey, agave, and cane sugar and even double infused with extra fruit like organs, lemons and berries. Each day you can have it in a new way.

If you’re a green tea enthusiast, and why wouldn’t you be, then you’ll want to brew your tea up properly with a tea infuser. There are different types of green tea infusers that you can use but essentially, they all do the same thing but in slightly different ways, some work better than others. Some are meant for single servings and some are meant for larger servings.

Green tea infusers allow you to place loose, dried, tea leaves in a type of strainer, that some call a tea egg, strainer or tea ball. Then the ball/strainer is placed in the pot and hot water is then added. Tea is allowed to steep for the amount of time based on the type of tea and then you remove the ball or egg; perfect tea.

WHY LOOSE GREEN TEA IS BEST

Studies have shown that loose green tea leaves have less additives and components, like lead, that can eliminate the good effects of the green tea on your health. Loose green tea leaves are purer, fresher, and make a better tasting pot of tea.  What’s more, the Chinese have enjoyed the medicinal and social benefits of green tea since ancient times. That alone should show you how effective it is.

They know that green tea from loose tea leaves is the best source of antioxidants and other healthy ingredients than the kind brewed in tea bags. Plus, the fresher it is the better for you all the way around. Something to consider is that studies have shown that many forms of bagged green tea also have a lot of lead in it, whereas the loose tea leaves don’t. So, that is something to think about when buying loose green tea leaves. Lead is very dangerous and can affect your mental health and cause irreversible neurological damage.

Types of Green Tea Leaves

There are many types of green tea leaves that you can buy such as straight up green tea, flavored green teas and more. There are also many different brands.

Here are a few you might want to try. You can get them from Amazon or you can probably even find them locally to you.

• Numi Organic Tea Gunpowder Green, Full Leave, Loose Leaf Temple of Heaven Green Tea
• Organic Ceylon Green (Sri Lanka) Tea 2 oz. Tin from Full Leaf Tea Company
• Mighty Leaf Tea Green Tropical, 15 Count Whole Leaf Pouches
• Harney & Sons Fine Teas Green Hot Cinnamon Spice – 50 Sachets from Harney & Sons
• Teas Etc. Moroccan Mint Organic Loose Leaf Green Tea 3 ox From Teas Etc.
• Loose Organic Tea – Sencha Kyoto Cherry Rose Festival Green Tea – 16 Oz. from English Tea Store

This is just the beginning of the variety and types of green tea you can buy. There are numerous different companies that you can get tea from. You can likely buy it locally to you as well although if you’re a member of Amazon Prime you may as well order it since you’ll save on gas and get free shipping. Many specialty tea shops have popped up that offer a variety of green tea as well as the paraphernalia that goes with it.

CHOOSING AN INFUSER

When you buy a tea infuser try to find one that works for your lifestyle. If it’s complicated and takes a lot of time you’re less likely to use it. Does it work well? Is it easy to keep clean? Does it brew awesome tea? Will you use it for just yourself, a cup at a time, or will you use it for a party? You have many types to choose from, and you may want to try them all like most green tea enthusiast it’s fun to try different ways to brew.

As you read about the various types of green tea infusers think about how you’ll drink it. Will you be drinking it alone or will you want to have enough for a party? Don’t laugh at the idea of having a tea party. They are very fun and popular. Just a few finger foods, some sandwiches and dessert plus tea and you’re done. Having tea parties can be a lot of fun, as well as interesting, so don’t discount the novelty of offering your guests beautifully infused teas.

Let’s go over the various types of green tea infusers.

Tea Ball

This is exactly what it sounds like, a ball, made of mesh with a chain or stick attached for easy removal. Using this type of system, you’ll eliminate the problem of teal leaves getting into your water.

You can get them in several sizes depending on how large of a pot of tea you want to make. Buy ones that fit your tea pot and the type of tea pot you have. These are sort of hard to clean, and hard to open and close sometimes but they work well to brew a good pot of tea when used properly. You’ll need to be careful not to burn yourself or dump the tea out all over the place when you open it as there is nothing to grasp.

To use a tea ball you put 1 teaspoon of tea per cup of water you want to brew for the tea you’re making. Don’t overfill the tea ball as tea leaves do expand once they get wet. Put the ball in your cup of water or in the tea pot, our hot boiling water on it. Allow to steep (or infuse) for 3 to 5 minutes depending on the type of tea you’re using to get the best flavor.

Tea Tong

This type of infuser is super handy compared to the ball because it has a “tong” on it which is used to grasp the infuser as well as open and close it. It’s less likely to slip and make a mess, plus it’s easy to clean and use. The one problem with the tea tong is their size and shape makes them inconvenient sometimes for smaller amounts of tea such as brewing one cup at a time and work well with a pot of tea.

The tong can get in the way and while sometimes that part is removable it’s hard to reattach to get it out of the brewing liquid.

Tea Strainer

This is an infuser that is shaped like a basket of fine mesh. You’ve probably seen these at the store and perhaps didn’t realize they were tea strainers as they just look like miniature stainless steel strainers.

These have a few advantages because you can make a lot more tea with them and they’re simple to use and clean.  The strainer works differently from the other type of infusers mentioned because you simply put the loose tea into the pot to brew instead of only in the infuser.

Allow the tea to brew for the allotted time then use a tea strainer. Just balance the strainer across the serving vessel, such as a cup and pour the infused tea in the strainer to remove the loose tea from the water for a perfect cup of tea.

Cleaning is easy as you can usually just rinse it with water in the sink after dumping the tea leaves in the trash. This method works great for large quantities of tea servings.

Tea Stick

This is an interesting infuser. The tea stick is shaped like a tube or stick with holes and has a hook to balance on the cup or tea pot depending on how large it is. You put the tea leaves inside the tube; hang the stick in the cup or on the side of the pot and then pour boiling water into the vessel.

This is really best for single servings. It’s kind of hard to clean and easy to over fill thus getting loose leaves in your cup of tea. You have to turn it upside down and spray water on it with your spray nozzle. This can cause a mess to clean up with tea leaves getting everyplace. But, it’s really a cool infuser to use and it works well if you don’t over fil it.

Tea Egg

This is exactly like a tea ball except it’s made of stainless steel, with holes, and isn’t as round. It does leak a lot and you end up with bits of tea leaves in your cup. The tea egg is harder to clean than other types of infusers because you have to break it open awkwardly and dump the tea out then spray it with the spray nozzle in your sink if you have one, thus getting tea leaves everyplace.

But it works well for single servings of tea as well as small pots of tea for two. You can buy these at large grocery stores too in the appliance section so you don’t even need to go to a specialty store.

Tea Spoon

These come in bamboo as well as silicone and plastic. It’s shaped like spoon, hence the name, but with a mesh ball at the end for the tea. This works great for single servings of tea.  The problem with this is that for the most part, you can’t put enough tea in the ball part so your tea will often end up weak. These kinds really aren’t recommended by most tea enthusiasts but we wanted to mention them in case you see them at the store.

Although these silicone tea spoons look like they have a large enough space for the tea. Just remember, don’t over fill, as the tea will expand.

FLAVOR IT TEA INFUSER

This is a type of tea infuser that purports to allow you to brew your tea overnight in cold water. You’ll need to buy the pitcher and infuser together to make this work. Like the other infusers, you use loose tea to make it which allows you to use the freshest tea possible.

Which kinds of tea infusers you want to use depends on the type of tea you want to use, whether you want to serve one or more people, and if the strainer has enough room for the tea to expand properly.

One thing that is often not considered when looking at infusers is the various. This is important too for the best green tea that you can possibly enjoy. Not only does green tea have a lot of health benefits it can be a fun way to spend time with your friends and family or just slow down for a moment each day to enjoy. So having green tea daily will be something you aspire to and you’ll be more likely to if you have fun and easy ways of making it and interesting dispensers to use.

Finally, remember to try out various types of infusers so that you can figure out which ones work best for you. Consider how you’ll enjoy the tea. Will you be enjoying it alone often? What about at a party? How about with your spouse and family? The way you will enjoy it will inform the type of equipment you need to buy to best enjoy the benefits of green tea for years to come.