Tempered glass tea pot with a BIG infuser?

October 24, 2018 10:27 PM

I'm looking for a tempered glass tea pot with a mesh infuser insert. The infuser should take up almost all the volume of the tea pot. For some reason, everything I've seen has a tiny infuser, maybe half the pot's depth and a fifth of the pot's volume. So I can't make a half pot because the infuser isn't even in the water, and if I make a full pot my tea will be cramped. Additional criteria inside.

Other criteria:

• ~1L
• the infuser should be a fine mesh, for leaves that have been crumbled up small
• glass, because my wife can taste steel
• sturdy tempered glass, because I'm clumsy
• a handle that's flat on top so I can put my thumb on it to keep the pot from tipping forward
• big openings so I can clean it
• <2>

The closest I've found is this but it's a bit small and I don't like how people describe it as "delicate".

This would be great if it weren't 55 USD, and small, and stainless steel. I love the way the strainer is a fine mesh in front of the spout.

Is there any way to retrofit a fine mesh filter onto a vacuum flask?

posted by meaty shoe puppet to Shopping (9 answers total)

I'm on a similar quest, and this 1.1L teapot from T2 seems to tick all your boxes.
posted by hellopanda at 12:03 AM on October 25, 2018

Sorry if this doesn't answer the question, but I was in a similar situation and my solution is to put my loose tea directly into the teapot and pour it through a separate strainer after it has finished brewing. It gives the leaves the maximum amount of room to infuse.
posted by drunkonthemoon at 1:59 AM on October 25, 2018 [4 favorites]

You're almost describing a French Press. We use them all the time for tea. The mesh is ALL the way at the top and allows everything to unfold then you slowly press down when it's done. Easy to take apart and wash. Literally everything you need but without the annoying mesh inner cylinder.
posted by Crystalinne at 2:04 AM on October 25, 2018 [6 favorites]

Take a look at these Bodum teapots - they have lots of different models, many of which come with large mesh filters. They also have models that work like a French press.
posted by amf at 5:37 AM on October 25, 2018 [1 favorite]

I was going to suggest the Bodum ones too. I don't like a glass teapot since it cools down too quickly, but a tea cosy would help with that.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 7:48 AM on October 25, 2018

I would see if you can get a mesh strainer that would go in any teapot, then choose a sturdy glass teapot. My amazon search was "teapot tea pot replacement mesh strainer infuser".
posted by theora55 at 8:13 AM on October 25, 2018 [1 favorite]

then choose a sturdy glass teapot.

I've been using a sturdy mesh strainer that fits in a half-gallon mason jar.
posted by MonkeyToes at 9:02 AM on October 25, 2018 [1 favorite]

I think your best bet might be a double walled glass French press, such as this one, which looks very well made and is an amazingly low $21.

It's only 600 ml though, and there is a 30 oz. double walled IKEA for $20 which doesn't look nearly as well made to me, among a number of other examples.
posted by jamjam at 9:21 AM on October 25, 2018

This is the one I have. The inside insert is large and drops down. Bonus, the spout has a mesh strainer if you want to just throw tea leaves in it.
posted by AlexiaSky at 9:33 AM on October 25, 2018