Finum

The workhorse, the essential, if I had were to own only one piece of teaware, this would be that item. From short steeps of Chinese tea, to brewing up herbals and rooibos. If someone was new to tea and didn’t know what to buy this is what I would recommend.

I just love this. I fully agree with the other reviews, this is the best filter to brew rooibos or others that have tiny leafs. By far the best in this price-range.

Super fine mesh great for brewing rooibos and CTC black tea. It easily fits in almost all of my mugs.

This is a very convenient way to brew. When I am not using my Yixing or Gaiwan or Tetsubin there is nothing better. An absolute pleasure to use.

Simple, cost-effective, easy to use and clean. The large internal volume provides much more room for the leaves to unfurl while brewing compared to a typical tea infuser. The medium size model fits a variety of mug sizes. The lid helps retain the heat and aroma when brewing.

Anyanka, Your reviews of both the Finum and the ForLife brewing baskets were very helpful! Thanks!

My favorite filter in my house. Awesome to use because that darned Rooibos doesn’t get stuck in the holes and I can clean it out easily. An easy cleanup is always a winner for me.

using this lovely little basket for my Vermont Liberty Tea Company Jade Oolong :) best for resteeps

Bought one of these on my last US visit so I’d have something for brewing loose tea. I already had a Chatsford basket, but this one is much better. The stainless steel mesh is much finer and more durable than the Chatsford’s nylon (or whatever petroleum derivative), and a bit easier to clean, too. Haven’t gotten any fannings in my cup yet. It’s a very handy thing at a very reasonable price, so I suspect I may get a few more in the future.

I bought this for rooibos and herbals. It does an excellent job of keeping fine particles out of my cup. This is the medium sized Finum. It fits perfectly in my 12oz mug. Clean up is easy.

When I discovered it also fits well in my 6oz cup, I started using it when doing small quick steeps of 3-4oz in a quasi-gong fu style. I don’t own a gaiwan so this does a good job as a substitute.

This works so well we bought another. One or both are full of leaf all the time. I can think of nothing that needs changed unless it would be to make the plastic parts out of stainless, but then it would probably be a lot more expensive.

I’m still learning how to use steepster and I FOUND OUT THAT THERE’S TEAWARE HERE AND NOT JUST TEA!?
Well. This is a thing that I have.
Being a lazy college student, it’s soooo hard drinking loose leaf tea. Having all these different equipment to make the perfect cuppa. I would boil water in my kettle, put leaves into a big mug and let it brew (since my daddy broke my teapot.. oops), then pour all that through a strainer into another mug. I’m lazy and that’s just too much work, too many things to wash so I kinda just gave up on loose leaf for a while and went with sachets.
THEN a while ago, I asked my mom to buy me some tea and she surprised me with this little beauty! Granted, it’s a bit too small for my liking, but it really does a great job. The tea hat keeps my tea warm as I study, the double-walls doesn’t burn my hands when I grab it, the infuser is big enough to let my leaves expand, and the best part? IT IS SO EASY TO USE AND CLEAN UP IS NOTHING.

Simply awesome.

I had a Chatsford infuser for my teapot and a ForLife infuser for brewing in a mug. The ForLife has been difficult to clean and a little hard to balance in a bigger mug, but nice otherwise. The teapot infuser is much easier to clean but not designed to rest in a mug at all. As the Finum looks a lot like my Chatsford, only mug-friendly, I thought I’d give it a shot.

It is great. Easy to use, easy to rest on the rim of bigger mugs, doesn’t leave behind a lot of flotsam and jetsam, and easy to clean.

100,000/100,000 stars!

I love this infuser basket with a rooibos-dust-free, caffeinated passion.

Everything Finum makes is awesome. I like how rooibos can’t even get through this filter.

I am absolutely in love with my HOT GLASS SYSTEM 130 ML / 5 OZ Double Wall Tea Glass with Permanent Filter and Hat. Purchased at Wing Hop Fung in Los Angeles’s China Town at nice discount, this is by far the best single serving method I have come across to prepare my fine Chinese teas. All the beauty and convenience of a double wall glass with the performance of a gaiwan. It’s simply genius in design and I can’t say more positive things about it. I was happy to see David at Verdant is carrying their filter system as part of his 2012 X-mas gift set. Good choice I say!

Picked up this at Distinctly Tea in Waterloo, Ontario, for about $19 USD. It is a single small double-walled glass with a finum infuser basket and cover/lid. It is perfect for a small glass (5 oz. or so) of tea. Seems to be most appropriate for a green tea or oolong tea (certainly not for a tea with milk). The glass remains relatively cool to the touch even after pouring hot water in it. My only complaint is that it’s pretty small, and basically only good for a single cup at a time. The finum brewing basket fits nicely and has a removable ring with handle at the top, and a plastic lid that doubles as a rest for the filter basket after the tea is done steeping. It’s a classy little item… but I have also seen the Bodum version of something like this in single and multiple-glass sets, and might consider that one instead.