swissgold® TF 200 Tea Ball Reviews

• Still looking for the perfect tea infuser

  
  By AU2DAD4WD5Z0C on 2007-04-27
  This one is part of my daily use implements, even though it has a couple of flaws:
  
  It looks dirty. I have cleaned it after every use, and even popped it in the top rack of the dishwasher, but it is stained. The gold mesh looks dirty. Doesn't affect how it works, just bugs me.
  
  Unfortunately, my favorite loose teas, Twinings English and Irish Breakfast, are pretty fine. This strainer does the best job so far in keeping the leaves out of my cup, but some still end up there. This is a flaw in every strainer I have used so far. Pouring boiling water over the ball makes it worse. I find that filling the cup or pot with boiling water and then immersing the strainer helps. Now, understand, I never went to the British school of brewing real tea--just switched to loose teas this past year, so maybe I am doing something wrong.
  
  I wasn't paying attention a couple times and did not make sure the top was secured and ended up with leaves everywhere. It's not difficult to get it right, but darned easy to do it wrong.
  
  It's also super easy to drop the chain into the teapot. The hook is good for nothing--too small to grab anything. So hang on to the chain or you'll end up with a bitter brew by the time you get to your second cup.
  I also don't care for the plastic parts. I try to avoid plastic eating and drinking utensils.
  
  I am using this one every day for now. Still on the hunt for the perfect infuser.
  
  

• works well, a good purcchase

  
  By A12X76PIQ3KO8W on 2007-03-09
  I like tea. Real tea. Made in big pots. With good whole tea leaves. But when I use shredded tea, I use a tea infuser.
  
  The Swissgold® TF 200 Tea Ball is the best tea infuser I've found, and I own several others. It has become part of my tea making routine.
  
  It works as expected. Quality manufacturing.
  
  My only peeve is that part of it is plastic, and I try to avoid plastic in my life.
  
  Also, since it's not really a ball, more of a sloping cylinder shape, they should have called it a tea infuser rather than a tea ball. They probably hired a coffee drinker to name it :-).
  
  

• Good for other spices, too

  
  By A3A90CELVLOUP6 on 2007-08-28
  I just bought this (in addition to loose tea) for adding whole mulling spices to warmed cider, mulled wine, chutneys, and cranberry sauces. Most tea balls are not big enough for a pot of cider.
  
  Further, the main reason I picked this model was because most tea balls I have seen open in the middle which makes loading a couple tablespoons of tea/spices a real pain (fill each half and try to get the 2 together quickly without spilling too much). Also emptying the darned things...pull apart and watch the used tea/spices fly! This has a nice little lid. (P.S. Williams Sonoma has really nice whole mulling spices (so you don't have to buy all the ingredients separately yourself...try it!)
  
  

• Very good product

  
  By AS22HI0LZ2X0W on 2007-05-29
  I am very satisfied with the SwissGold Tea infuser. It is very easy to clean, and I like the fact that it does not let tiny particles into the brew.
  
  I have recommended this to various tea-loving friends, and the one who has tried it loves it also.
  
  

• Great for mulled cider

  
  By A3ODYIUARRGM28 on 2007-12-07
  I haven't actually used the swissgold for tea yet, but it works GREAT for mulled cider--a must this time of year! It's large enough to hold all the spices for an entire gallon of cider, and it's so nice to be able to clip it to the handle of my pot!
  
  

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