It doesn’t matter if you are fond of morning tea or morning coffee, the right preparation is essential to bring out the authentic flavor of coffee beans or tea leaves. For this reason, various machines, such as the French press vs. tea infuser, are used. These two have become the most popular beverage-making devices, so let’s see how both of them are different from each other!
The Differences Between French Press vs. Tea Infuser
French Press
As the name suggests, the first French press was made by French people, but the French press that’s available today was patented in Italy back in the 1920s. It is made with a combination of two parts, including a lid and beaker or jug. In most cases, the beaker is made of glass and is connected with a handle and base. The boiling water and coffee are added to the beaker for steeping purposes, and once the brewing is complete, the coffee is poured into a coffee mug with the help of a handle.
As far as the lid is concerned, it’s integrated with a filter and a plunger. The coffee made from the French press has a strong and rich body as compared to coffee that’s brewed and made with a paper filter. This is because the French presses are made from a metal filter that’s installed into the beaker tightly. As a result, the natural oils and fine particles of the coffee are passed to the cup rather than a paper filter absorbing it all.
Moreover, the metal filter and plunger are connected with a metal rod (for those who don’t know, the plunger is added to the lid’s top and is essential for pressing the metal filter to the beaker’s bottom). The majority of coffee lovers like using the French press to create a brew because it’s convenient to use and doesn’t require more equipment. To illustrate, all you’ve to do is to add some boiling water and coffee grounds to the beaker, allow steeping, and the coffee will be ready.
French press is available in various sizes, so you can make one cup of coffee or brew coffee for your entire family and friends. Usually, there are three-cup, eight-cup, and twelve-cup presses available in the market.
Tea Infuser
The tea infusers are a little younger than the French press because they gained popularity in the early 19th century. It is designed to hold the tea leaves, which allows the infusion of flavor into the boiling water for brewing. Once the tea completes the brewing process, you can simply remove the infuser, and you won’t have to filter or strain the tea. The best thing about a tea infuser is that there won’t have bits and pieces of loose tea in the cup.
With a tea infuser, you can steep one cup of tea by putting the infuser directly into your cup but make sure it has boiling water. On the other hand, you can also make a pot by adding dry tea leaves into the infuser and putting them in your teapot. In addition, it will be easier to control the brew strength – you can do it by controlling how long the infuser is left in the boiling water. Surprisingly, an array of tea infusers in the market are made from different materials.
Commonly, the tea infusers are made from stainless steel, bamboo, metal, and silicon. The most common type of tea infuser is the ball infuser, which is a perfect choice for single people who have to make one cup of tea only. To illustrate, it has a ball connected to the chain, and the tea leaves are added to the ball, which is then lowered into boiling water – you can easily pull up the ball by pulling the chain.
The tea pincer is the second type of infuser; it’s similar to a tea ball infuser but integrated with the spring-centered handle (no, there is no chain). Last but not least, a basket infuser is available for people who want to make a few cups of tea, and tea made from these infusers tastes better as it expands tea leaves.
The Bottom Line
Both these equipment are perfect for brewing hot beverages, be it tea or coffee. However, you need to remember that they cannot be used interchangeably, and it’s important to consider the size according to how many cups you want to make!