Customer Reviews

Finum Brewing Basket, Medium

5 star:		(145)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Length:: 0:46 Mins

Should you go with a medium or a large filter? I'd go with the large to be safe, but many may disagree. In my video review, I compare the two to help you make a more informed decision. Hope it helps :-)

This little lightweight infuser is one of the best (and coincidentally the simplest) out there. It does exactly what it is designed to do and does it well.

Pros:
1) The medium size (also the regular size), fits most mugs perfectly and the size of the basket enables the tea leaves to unfurl fully giving an even steep and allowing full release of all the subtle flavors.

2) The mesh itself does not retain or affect flavors when rinsed/washed well between uses.

3) The fine mesh (also on the underside of the infuser) catches all tea leaves except for the finest dust while allowing liquid to flow freely.

4) The lid is a very thoughtful addition as it can also be used as a drip tray for the infuser.

5) This infuser may also be used for steeping coffee and makes a decent cup (2 tablespoons per cup).

6) The Large size can be used in large mugs and of course teapots.

7) The Infuser (Med size) is available in burgundy, green, blue and standard black so one can easily differentiate between Infusers used for flavoured and non-flavoured teas or coffees.

Cons:
1) The minimal plastic ribs may attact and retain oils in coffees and in artificially scented teas.

2) Allowing a patina to develop on the mesh, will partially clog the mesh over time while also transfering flavors if using different teas with the same filter.

One you use this strainer, you'll never go back to the tea infuser balls. The basket doesn't limit the amount of loose leaf you can use like the balls do, and you won't find small bits of leaf in the bottom of your cup either. The lid helps to hold in heat, and acts as a coaster for the basket when you lift it from your cup. The basket is easy to clean under running water.

I bought this infuser after misplacing my swissgold infuser. Not wanting to purchase the same one, which I found over the weekend, I purchased this one.

Now, let me start with the Pro's and the Con's that a few other people have mentioned.

Pro's:

1. Made in Germany (yes, it's made in Germany and not in China) this is a big pro!!!!
2. Small and convenient with two thumb tabs which allow for easy lifting from your cup after steeping is complete.
3. The fine mesh basically prevents even the smallest of tea from passing through.
4. This medium filter holds a lot of tea so you can easily use it for your tea cup/coffee cup or travel mug.
5. The lid, as mentioned in another review, can be used as a drip tray for the infuser. That's a nice plus.

Cons:
1. The plastic, like all plastics, can retain the essence of other teas if it isn't regularly washed.
2. Because of the gold plating a patina can develop that can alter the flavor of your tea. Don't allow this to happen. See tips.


Tips:
1. Do clean your filters properly. I usually clean my filter within one half hour of brewing. Often a simple rinse will do but a few times a week I use an old toothbrush and Ecover Creme Rinse. The toothbrush and cream rinse provide a nice, gentle abrasive cleaning and will keep your infuser in tip, top, shape.

2. Always, dry and store your infuser. I've seen many people allow tea to stay in their infusers and dry up. This is wrong. The tea can stain the infuser and impart flavors that can alter the taste of other teas.

3. Buy this filter, or any of the other Finum Infusers! I know it's not Swiss Gold, but it is Made Germany. The cost is very reasonable and you can buy one and have it delivered for $10.00 or less.

4. Avoid bamboo infusers. They were great two hundred years ago but they don't hold up well to multiple infuses, allow too much tea to enter the cup and get stained very easily.

5. Once a month heat a cup of boiling water. Immerse your infuser into this cup. Add to this one half teaspoon of 3% hydrogen peroxide. Allow it to soak for one hour with the infuser lid on. You can get this at any CVS store. The peroxide sterilizes the infuser and will keep it sparkly shiny.

6. Avoid most of the "stainless steel" filters until you have verified that they are "not Made in China". In order for us to stimulate the American Economy we must use our buying power wisely. Choosing Made in America, Made in the U.K. Made in Germany, Made in Switzerland, or Made in Canada is good as well as any of the other EU countries. Let's send a message to China that says "our lives" are not completely dependent on Sweatshop Labor and cheap products.

I'm not a fancy-tea gal; Salada tea bags with the occasional herbal flavor for a change-up. As I get older (sigh), I'm finding I prefer 2 tea bags for each cup (well, it is more like a huge mug for Paul Bunyan but I digress).

I have purchased countless tea balls over the years so I could cut open the tea bags, pour the leaves into the ball and get a nicer/better cup of tea without having to yo-yo the tea bags for 10 minutes to brew it. I've always been disappointed to the point of trashing each and every one of them and often the tea along with it because of the floating amoeba that seep through the tea balls.

I purchased this product just last week and immediately was impressed with the durability, design, functionality and ease of use. Cleaning? Well, a simple rinse under the faucet and every tea leaf disappears without a greasy film or residue coating the strainer. The strainer portion is sturdy-cannot bend it by pushing on it and it comes with a lid for brewing or the lid can be used to set the basket in it like a small coaster when not in use. (Mine sits on the kitchen sink windowsill because it is pretty much always in use).

In less than a week, I'm back for a second one of this size as well as one in the larger size for brewing a larger pot of tea. Where has this been all my life? Now that I have something that actually works, is simple to use and clean, and won't break if I look at it crooked, I do believe I'm about to start trying teas that aren't always 'in the bag' (giggle/snort). As for having to use 2 tea bags - those days are gone. By using this product, snipping off the top of my favorite tea bags and sprinkling the leaves into the basket, the tea is as strong in less time than with me boiling water, helping 2 bags perform the Riverdance in the mug while trying to brew a good cup of tea. Less time, fewer tea bags, better/faster tea. Win/win for me.

You can't go wrong with this. I do think it could be a bit less expensive, but for the money I've wasted over the years on similar products that just didn't work, this is one product where I didn't mind the overspending. I also would prefer the side tabs were a teensy bit longer to span the expanse of my huge coffee mug that I use for large cups of tea. While it does fit ok on this favorite mug, I must be careful to nestle it just right: not in the center but close to the outer edge of the mug, otherwise it falls a bit to the inside the mug: not enough to convince the tea leaves to dive into the pool, but enough to make me grab it real fast and straighten it. However, if you are more of a lady than I and use a real tea cup or a smaller mug, you'll be just fine. :)

Edit: Nov 23,'09-lovin' it more every day. Still going 'strong' :)

Edit: 2/7/10 - I loved these so much, in addition to the large one I had for making pots of tea, I also had 2 medium: one for regular tea and one for herbal tea in a cup. Somehow I mixed them up a few days ago and now find that they both make 'regular' tea that tastes just awful: tinny, metallic aftertaste as well as 'sour' flavor. I realized what I had done and to rectify it, I tried soaking in warm, soapy water all day. No better. The next day I soaked them in warm water and bleach all day. Still no better. I then tried soaking them in warm water and white vinegar all day. Nope. So, I'm back to buy a new one to keep just for my regular tea. The 2 I have now can only be used for herbal teas as they seemed to hold onto the fruity flavors for some reason. Just need to figure out how to mark them so I can tell them apart as they are all the same color.

This little lightweight infuser is one of the best (and coincidentally the simplest) out there. It does exactly what it is designed to do and does it well.

Pros:
1) The medium size (also the regular size), fits most mugs perfectly and the size of the basket enables the tea leaves to unfurl fully giving an even steep and allowing full release of all the subtle flavors.

2) The mesh itself does not retain or affect flavors when rinsed/washed well between uses.

3) The fine mesh (also on the underside of the infuser) catches all tea leaves except for the finest dust while allowing liquid to flow freely.

4) The lid is a very thoughtful addition as it can also be used as a drip tray for the infuser.

5) This infuser may also be used for steeping coffee and makes a decent cup (2 tablespoons per cup).

6) The Large size can be used in large mugs and of course teapots.

7) The Infuser (Med size) is available in burgundy, green, blue and standard black so one can easily differentiate between Infusers used for flavoured and non-flavoured teas or coffees.

Cons:
1) The minimal plastic ribs may attact and retain oils in coffees and in artificially scented teas.

2) Allowing a patina to develop on the mesh, will partially clog the mesh over time while also transfering flavors if using different teas with the same filter.

Hey everybody. It's the dude here with another dudely review.

I've had this item for years. I took it from my brother or a friend who never used it. In fact, I might have bought it for my parents who never used it. Anyways. The fact is, I've had it for years and it runs like a champ.

Tea-ball infusers don't give the tea enough room for the leaves to unfurl, and often get a little messy. They require that you have a small plate nearby to place the ball on after removing from the tea. (and thus, one more piece of dishware to wash)

This thing solves both problems, and more closely imitates the environment the tea deserves, which is in a proper teapot.

I've brewed multiple teas from Mariage Freres, Tea Ginza in Tokyo, and with the finest Assam you can find in Istanbul.

For the hard-core, single-cup, tea-punk drinker, this is it.

The large basket with lid/drip tray is great for brewing loose tea in a mug and for brewing in a teapot when brewing leaves loose in the pot isn't convenient such as when all the tea won't be served immediately like when I use my 4-cup Brown Betty to brew tea only for myself. It's also great for travel when you can't afford to have space and weight taken up by a teapot or you don't want to risk breakage. Just put a zip bag of tea and a measuring teaspoon inside the basket and put the basket into a travel mug or tumbler. Add an immersion coil heater and you're set to enjoy your favorite tea away from home. A few packets of sugar can be added or picked up along the way, if you have to have it. Milk might be an issue if you need it, however, buying a half pint or pint at your destination and keeping it in the room's ice bucket should work.

It works really good for loose tea. It looks strange to see yellow liquid(green tea) with no small leaves at the bottom like I was so used to see but all I see is just a hint of powder in the cup.
I also tried coffee. I wasn't so impressed by this. There's a lot of coffee bean silt at the bottom and foamy residue at the top. I'll stick with paper filter for now even though I'm not thrilled by the idea of throwing away disposable paper each time. I thought about deducting one star from this but since I didn't buy it for the coffee, I left it.
Over all, it's an excellent product, design, material and built-wise. I brewed tea and coffee then tea again one after another but smell of coffee didn't seem to stay on it. Between each time, all I had to do was rinse it with water, no soap.

Now the detailed dimension I wanted to know before I bought it but I couldn't find.
Height: 75mm

Height to the underside of the top rim(this decides if the basket sits on the bottom of the cup or the top of the cup): 73mm

Foot print: 47mm in diameter, quickly tapered(about 45 degree angle) to 52mm(bottom of the mesh cylinder).

Top of the mesh cylinder: 57mm in diameter

Above the mesh cylinder but underside of the rim(this decides the minimum diameter of the cup when the basket sits on top of the cup): 62mm in diameter.
This means, if you have a cup little smaller than 62mm inside diameter at the top, the basket may not go down all the way but maybe partly goes in the cup. Under 57mm, you probably won't get a good result.

Far end of the handle to the opposite: 98mm
Length of each handle: 18mm
This means, if you have a cup between 62mm and 80mm in diameter at the top, the basket sits on the top without positioning. Between 80mm and 98mm, you'll need careful positioning of the basket or the basket will fall in the cup. Above 98mm, it'll always fall, unless the basket sits on the bottom of the cup.

*update* (2-20-11)
Sample photos have been posted for visual comparison. I hope it'll help your decision making better.

Let me tell you what I like about the Finum Brewing Basket:

It's convenient. It allows the tea leaves to unfurl. It's easy to clean. It allows no sediment in the bottom of my cup. It has a handy little lid that doubles as a bottom so the tea doesn't leak through after I've taken the basket out of my cup.

Because I read some earlier reviews, I decided on the large basket. Glad I did. It fits my travel mug or my coffee mug (large or small). It also fits in my glass tea pot.

I've been using this daily for about a month and I highly recommend it to anyone who drinks looseleaf tea. I'm thinking of ordering another, as I would like to make my own chai tea infusion and don't want to flavor the Finum brewing basket for my regular tea.

If you're tired of floaties, sediment, or messy little tea balls, this is the filter you need.

Consequentially, I didn't find a thing I didn't like about the basket!

(I do not work for Finum or Amazon. I did not get this product free for review purposes. I am just a regular tea drinker.)