I picked up a sore throat earlier this month, and Paul was so helpful. He said it was time we used some of our own herbs to make tea. Before our herbs had matured, we purchased a variety of teas at Publix. It being Florida and generally hot around here, we don't regularly drink tea. So, we do tend to have an excess of herbal teas lying around. This Sunday morning, Paul made our tea from scratch. He started with enough water for two mugs full (about 2 to 2 1/2 cups) and boiled it in the microwave. Meanwhile, he filled a tea egg with dehydrated herbs I had taken fresh from our garden and put on our dehydrator. When the water came out of the microwave, he placed the infuser in the measuring cup and left it until the rest of the meal was ready. Our tea was wonderful. I added fresh lemon and local honey by the teaspoon full to help give me all the healing nutrients I could get.

The type of infuser egg is quite important. Many eggs sold at stores from IKEA to Crate and Barrel have different methods of use, but all seem to function about the same because their quality and long-lasting ability to work is poor. When looking for a tea infuser, pick one up at a store and move it back and forth a number of times as you would do for filling and emptying it. We found that most of the tea eggs we picked up left gaps and would have leaked green leaves into our yellowing water during the infusion. The Bodum Tastea product has a plunger, and as much as my husband has played with the "toy," pressing and retracting the plunger, opening and closing the ball, it has consistently retracted back to its original position.

We purchased the Tastea product at Sur la Table for $13, not counting tax. That is about the standard price I have found. There is a cheaper price at $12 on line, but I would have had to pay shipping, and I didn't know the company well enough to trust them. I suppose the price is expensive, but when we have our own ability to make the tea, it is a good deal cheaper for us and greener for the environment to use this handy stainless steel tea infuser than to buy the little bags by Celestial Seasonings.