What tea strainer do you use?

Konrud
Posts: 68
Joined: Tue Aug 30, 2022 3:20 am

Fri Dec 16, 2022 3:20 am

I'd used my glass tea strainer with a cloth mesh until today when it fell and broke.

Now I'm in search of the same one but it seems they don't produce those anymore.
At least I can't find the one I like.



So I was wondering what tea strainer do you use, if at all, and why?


Would love to get your reply.


That's the one I was using.

strainer76.jpg
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wave_code
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Fri Dec 16, 2022 4:34 am

I had and used a cheap metal mesh strainer for a long time. These days though I use nothing, and depending on what you drink you might not either. Some of my pots are multi-hole, some have mesh filters over a single hole, some are open single hole... I find if I am drinking decent enough tea it usually doesn't have a lot of dust and some practice with pouring means you don't get too much debris. What you do get though is fine to me - I think it tells you about what you are drinking, and it is easy enough to just let it sit in the bottom of the cup and occasionally dump it out. A strainer can mean less tea dust, but for some things like white and green teas I can imagine it might also mean eliminating things like fine bud hairs that you might actually want in the tea and would even be kind of an important part of how the final taste is affected.
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prcr
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Fri Dec 16, 2022 5:38 am

I use a couple of simple metal strainers similar to these, one has a very fine mesh and the one in the other is a bit coarser:
metal-tea-strainer.png
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I find them very convenient for gong fu brewing, but I do agree with what @wave_code mentioned about not even needing a filter. I also much prefer not using one because the set up is simpler and more elegant, not to mention that with white and green tea (at least) the texture can be negatively impacted. I mostly use them for more broken down tea like ripe Pu'er.
Konrud
Posts: 68
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Fri Dec 16, 2022 6:30 am

prcr wrote:
Fri Dec 16, 2022 5:38 am
I use a couple of simple metal strainers similar to these, one has a very fine mesh and the one in the other is a bit coarser:

Image

I find them very convenient for gong fu brewing, but I do agree with what wave_code mentioned about not even needing a filter. I also much prefer not using one because the set up is simpler and more elegant, not to mention that with white and green tea (at least) the texture can be negatively impacted. I mostly use them for more broken down tea like ripe Pu'er.
Doesn't stainless steel affect tea taste?

I was thinking of buying those but was afraid that it might impact the tea taste.
Konrud
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Fri Dec 16, 2022 6:35 am

wave_code wrote:
Fri Dec 16, 2022 4:34 am
I had and used a cheap metal mesh strainer for a long time. These days though I use nothing, and depending on what you drink you might not either. Some of my pots are multi-hole, some have mesh filters over a single hole, some are open single hole... I find if I am drinking decent enough tea it usually doesn't have a lot of dust and some practice with pouring means you don't get too much debris. What you do get though is fine to me - I think it tells you about what you are drinking, and it is easy enough to just let it sit in the bottom of the cup and occasionally dump it out. A strainer can mean less tea dust, but for some things like white and green teas I can imagine it might also mean eliminating things like fine bud hairs that you might actually want in the tea and would even be kind of an important part of how the final taste is affected.
I see what you mean.

I mostly drink black or red tea.
As for the quality I order high-quality tea (e.g. Lao Chuan Cha Qun Ti Zhong, Da Ye Zhong, or Jin Jun Mei [which has quite a lot of golden dust]). Hence in my case, it's almost a must.
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wave_code
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Fri Dec 16, 2022 7:21 am

Well the variety of the tea could mean a lot of things... I'm sure there is lots of awful 'jin jun mei' out there as well as fantastic examples... if a tea has a lot of dust, especially if its not compressed that might not be a great sign. How you fill your pot makes a difference too - for things like pu I try to get more broken bits and dusty parts on the bottom, putting larger pieces and whole leaves on the top to keep the dust down/in the pot. Are you just dumping packs of tea in to your pot? Maybe its worth separating your better leaves from the tea dust before putting it in there.

In the case of steel I imagine it affects the taste, especially for greener teas, but I think also filtering out all those little fine hairs has just as much if not more impact on the flavor and mouthfeel of the tea than just being in contact with steel for 1 second while passing through.

But this is my belief that the dust is part of the tea itself- its telling you how clean the tea is or not, how much fine matter or bud hairs there is in the tea or not, what the REAL mouthfeel of that tea is, and that if the tea is putting lots of unwanted dust into the liquor then either its not that good or needs a different brewing approach. However, if you do like using a strainer you could consider a porcelain one like this- https://www.tealifehk.com/products/dehu ... a-strainer
Konrud
Posts: 68
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Fri Dec 16, 2022 7:57 am

wave_code wrote:
Fri Dec 16, 2022 7:21 am
Well the variety of the tea could mean a lot of things... I'm sure there is lots of awful 'jin jun mei' out there as well as fantastic examples... if a tea has a lot of dust, especially if its not compressed that might not be a great sign. How you fill your pot makes a difference too - for things like pu I try to get more broken bits and dusty parts on the bottom, putting larger pieces and whole leaves on the top to keep the dust down/in the pot. Are you just dumping packs of tea in to your pot? Maybe its worth separating your better leaves from the tea dust before putting it in there.

In the case of steel I imagine it affects the taste, especially for greener teas, but I think also filtering out all those little fine hairs has just as much if not more impact on the flavor and mouthfeel of the tea than just being in contact with steel for 1 second while passing through.

But this is my belief that the dust is part of the tea itself- its telling you how clean the tea is or not, how much fine matter or bud hairs there is in the tea or not, what the REAL mouthfeel of that tea is, and that if the tea is putting lots of unwanted dust into the liquor then either its not that good or needs a different brewing approach. However, if you do like using a strainer you could consider a porcelain one like this- https://www.tealifehk.com/products/dehu ... a-strainer
Great, thank you, for your suggestion.

I also use the same technique when it comes to pressed tea.

But when it's not, well, there is a place for dust whether one might like it or not.
JJM I was talking about I've purchased from meileaf which is considered a good place for purchasing tea.

I do agree with you that one might not want to use a strainer when it comes to young white or green tea.
But then again as I mentioned earlier I prefer black and red teas.

I wonder if I can find a glass strainer with cloth mesh anywhere.
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debunix
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Fri Dec 16, 2022 8:21 am

I have some similar stainless steel filters to those shown above, as well as a couple of very fine mesh strainers that work better for sitting over larger vessels, for those rare occasions when I want to strain some tea. Mostly, I do not strain the tea because I’m using brewing vessels that do a pretty good job of trapping the leaves, and I’m pretty tolerant of some fines coming through in the tea liquor. But I will strain it on occasion, and I never have noticed any impact of the strainer on the taste of my tea, except in so far as removing excessive fines, can sometimes keep an infusion from becoming bitter in the cup if I am drinking it slowly. I also find it hard to imagine why stainless steel should be perceived as having a negative impact on tea when handcrafted iron tetsubin are highly prized for their ability to “sweeten” the water heated in them.

It should be noted that I also regularly brew tea in large stainless steel thermoses to take on the road with me, and find nothing wrong with that.
Landi
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Sun Dec 18, 2022 1:36 am

I only use a tea strainer for the last portion at the bottom of my tin can, where dust can collect. then I use a cheap silicon strainer, which does not affect the taste of the tea. I also have metal strainers but avoid them because I feel that the taste of the tea is affected a little.
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LeoFox
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Sun Dec 18, 2022 7:22 pm

I have a porcelain strainer that gathers dust. Never used it. Don't see a point
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Baisao
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Sun Dec 18, 2022 11:48 pm

I only use a filter with aged pu or liu bao where the tea is brittle and crumbles to dusty bits easily. I have some Taiwanese porcelain filter with a metal screen for that.

It’s been my experience that other teas, including reds and whites, do not need filters as you can use technique to form a gall and adjust your pouring technique so that the leaf stays in the teapot. Yet another reason I prefer teapots to gaiwans.
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Baiyun
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Mon Feb 06, 2023 5:23 am

I like using a gong dao bei, even for solo brewing, because I can line up or stack infusions, and the double walled glass one I am using most often narrows at the bottom, where all debris tends to settle. What decants into the cup(s) is usually completely free of visible debris. Then I just toss out the last bit with the debris prior to the next infusion. So my stainless mesh strainers rarely make an appearance because I think they can really mess with the texture and take out more than undesired particles.
teasnow
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Mon Apr 03, 2023 1:46 am

Right now, I'm loving my fine metal strainer. It's long-lasting and easy to clean. This strainer comes with a stand and is super fine for a metal strainer. You can check them out here: https://teaandwhisk.com/products/gongfu ... 20strainer -Leo
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Victoria
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Mon Apr 03, 2023 1:55 am

@teasnow Welcome to TeaForum. The stand doesn’t seem very useful, a catch basin for drips from the strainer would be useful though.
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Baisao
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Mon Apr 03, 2023 2:37 am

teasnow wrote:
Mon Apr 03, 2023 1:46 am
Right now, I'm loving my fine metal strainer. It's long-lasting and easy to clean. This strainer comes with a stand and is super fine for a metal strainer. You can check them out here: https://teaandwhisk.com/products/gongfu ... 20strainer -Leo
Image
@teasnow, are you also the vendor of this strainer?
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