If you don’t have any other way to brew
loose tea, usa a coffee filter.
Tea filter bags from Finum.

Those who love fine tea have a variety of ways to brew loose tea. Our favorite is the luxurious Breville One-Touch Teamaker, which brews about a quart.

Our second favorite is the one (large) serving Aladdin Tea Infuser Mug, which has a nifty basket for tea (or tea bags). The basket flips down from the lid to infuse the tea. After the infusion is complete, it flips back up so the tea doesn’t continue to brew.

We also make frequent use of our Ingenuitea Teapot (we got ours from Adagio Tea, but other tea companies have their own versions), which brews 12 ounces of tea.

Both the Aladdin and the Adagio can go right into the microwave. No tea kettle or boiling water spout is needed: Just add the tea and tap water, and microwave for three minutes or so.

And there’s always a mesh tea ball or other metal infuser.

You can purchase tea filters—also called tea sachets or tea sacs. These are empty tea bags, waiting to be filled.

But you have to plan ahead and buy them. A solution is probably in your kitchen already: a coffee filter.

Although much thicker than tea bags, coffee filters do the job. Put loose tea in a coffee filter—one rounded teaspoon per eight-ounce cup—and tie it off with kitchen string or drape the filter over the top rim of the mug.

Another tip: “eight-ounce cup” refers to the total volume that a cup can hold. But you can’t fill a cup to the top of the rim without spilling when you try to drink it. So consider that an eight-ounce cup gives you six ounces of tea; more if you don’t add milk.