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