Tea Ball Infuser with Loose-leaf Genmaicha (Brown Rice Tea)
This photo shows a typical tea ball, one of the most common types of tea infusers, filled with loose-leaf genmaicha. Genmaicha is a Japanese green tea blended with puffed rice.
These tea balls are not my favorite type of tea infuser. In some cases, especially if the clasp is looser, they can become unfastened, spilling the loose-leaf tea out into the inside of the mug or teacup in which the tea is steeping. Also, the hook that sits at the top of the teapot or mug can sometimes become unfastened, causing the chain to fall off into the hot tea, which can require you to get a spoon or something else to fish it out.
I strongly prefer using a basket infuser. Not only do these avoid both these problems, they are easier to load, are simpler (they have no moving parts), and the deeper basket infusers often give the leaf much more room to expand.
This image is featured in our article on Brewing Tea.
