what exactly is a tea infuser?
when you make tea that way does it taste better?

I think a Tea Infuser is just what you use for straight tea leaves as opposed to a tea bag.

It tastes pretty much the same, but you can use fresher tea leaves and mix different types of tea leaves and stuff.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_infuser

As for "taste better", taste better than what? Kettle made? Teabag? Tea in a can? Iced tea? Specify what you're talking about.

Presumably better than all the alternatives.

generally anything is better then tea in a can
but teabag is what im specifically talking about

I guess the idea is more that you can use bulk tea, e.g. of unusual varieties or cheaper. I don't think the taste is better.

I don't care what it is...if it isn't black and orange pekoe...it's crap.

We have a random selection of tea infusers. Just means that loose tea can be brewed in the cup instead of having to use a pot and a tea-strainer. It's more convenient for one cup (or mug, in our case) but probably less convenient for more.

And if it's not Assam, it svcks.

Unless it's Super Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe.

Me, I like green gunpowder, straight into the cup; no infuser, bag, strainer or pot, leave it to settle and just drink the top two thirds.

Couldn't you whip it up?

In the end the quality of the tea flavor depends on if you brew it the right way or not. Water temperature, seeping time, etc.

Tea infuses can be used for coffee, too.

No, it wouldn't be Zen enough.

Only with a fairly coarse grind, I suspect. I may give it a try one day, but until our espresso machine is fixed, I prefer using a cafetiere. I could adjust the setting on the grinder but I don't feel like it.

Yes, that's true. Mine is just a knob that I turn... are you really too lazy to turn a knob?
lol jk

It's actually quite awkward on ours. Anyone who owns a Mazzer Mini will know what I mean.

herpa derpa you said espresso machine, but completely missed that... sorry
I was referring to one of these http://bradaptation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Coffee-Grinder.jpg

A tea infuser is mandatory for me to use as I only have tea on rare occasions and it's always what I pick from my woods and land. Labrador tea and wild camomile tea and an occasional rose hip tea are all I ever drink so since I don't know how to make tea bags, I use an infuser.

Oh, I see. No, the Mini has a sort of ring type of thingy that's directly connected to one of the grinding heads. It's quite hard to move, but the machine is also very sensitive to just a slight movement so I prefer to leave it alone.

I think it had less to do with the method of brewing as it does with the quality of tea used and the time of brewing. Water temperature also plays a little bit into it. As long as the tea you are using is good it doesn't matter if it's loose and infused or in a bag. Don't go over a minute with green tea, five minutes with black, non-tea herbal things I usually let sit for 10 minutes.Tea can be very personal though, and if you like it one way than anything else just won't hit the spot, you know?

As for myself: I swill tea with milk all day long. PG Tips when I can find it, and Twinings when I can't. Just had a horrible experience in which I was given some very cheap black tea with a very pretty picture on the box. It was so awful I threw the cup out and made a new batch with something else. Because of this I generally stay away from strange off-brands or the likes of Lipton. The exception is Yogi Tea, but that's because their herbal mixtures shotgun every "remedy" in the book and somehow manage to work despite tasting like an Indian's armpits.

As an aside I reccommend that you test out a theory I've had the next time you drink black tea with milk and sugar. Take it outside. The outside air changes the aroma and flavor so much I'm still surprised each time I do it.

I drink flowering tea so I don't use strainers...eating the leaves do not make me worried though. Should I be?

http://www.booksatoz.com/witsend/tea/orwell.htm

Yeah, Gunpowder can get pretty bitter if it steeps too long. I tend to wait until the leaves are fully open then spoon them out.

As mentioned in my link above:

"In some countries teapots are fitted with little dangling baskets under the spout to catch the stray leaves, which are supposed to be harmful. Actually one can swallow tea-leaves in considerable quantities without ill effect, and if the tea is not loose in the pot it never infuses properly."

More weird Welshness: me Gransher (Granshire? Gransha? God knows how it is spelled) would only ever drink tea by slurping it from a bone china saucer, and he would take his false teeth out beforehand to boot. Got to give it air.

Oh I see...thank you.

Oops, I didn't actually know what http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder_tea was. From the name I assumed it was like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matcha.