Tea accessories: the essentials, and the ones that bring pleasure

Which tea accessories do you really need?

To prepare loose leaf tea well, four steps matter: heating the water to the right temperature, letting the leaves steep and then removing them, measuring, and timing. Each accessory in the table below addresses one of these steps, plus the tin that keeps the tea between cups. The rest, fine mugs, decorated measures, sets for one, is a matter of pleasure and can wait.

Water at the right temperature: the adjustable kettle

The temperature-controlled kettle is the accessory that changes the cup the most, because each type of tea has its own temperature. The Serena Pearl White Kettle 1.7 l offers eleven settings from 50 to 100 °C and a digital display: you choose the degree shown on the tea's product page, with no thermometer. It is also available as the Serena Platinium 1.7 l, with a metallic finish.

If you mostly drink black teas or herbal infusions, a standard kettle is enough to begin with. The temperatures for each type are gathered in our guide to steeping times and temperatures, and the other models in the kettles section. Choosing the teapot to go with it, according to its material and capacity, has its own guide: choosing your teapot.

What to steep with: filter teapot, ball, tube or paper filter?

A good infuser leaves room for the leaves and lifts out in one movement, because removing the leaves stops the infusion. Depending on whether you are making a cup, a mug or a teapot, four solutions are equally good, each with its own use.

• 'Anne' Glass Teapot with Filter, 800 ml: several cups at once, a removable filter that holds back the leaves, and glass that lets you see the colour of the infusion.
• Round Stainless Steel Tea Infuser: a stainless steel ball, in 50 or 65 mm, for the cup or the teapot; it suits leaves that do not swell too much and rinses in an instant.
• Pisa Tea Tube with 0.6 mm Micro-filter: an elongated stainless steel tube for tall mugs, whose fine mesh holds back even cut teas; practical at the office.
• Teeli Tea Filter: disposable double-fold paper filters, in boxes of 100 (60 in XL), from size S for a cup to XL for a large teapot; nothing to wash.

For whole leaves that open out a great deal, choose the filter teapot or a large paper filter: the ball is better suited to leaves that do not swell too much. All these models are gathered in the filters and infusers section.

The right measure and the right time: measure and tea timer

Measuring and timing are what make one cup the same as the last. The Mariage Frères Tea Measure · Round Silver is used to take the same measure of loose leaf tea for each preparation; the measure for each tea is given on its product page. The house offers it in several designs: Art Déco 1930, Ginkgo, Rectangle, Théière des Mandarins, Coquille Art Déco or Martelé.

The Stainless Steel Tea Timer 1-3-5 Min brings together three reference durations, 1, 3 and 5 minutes, on a steel stand. You turn it over as you pour the water, and it keeps time with no screen or alarm. These references are tasting settings, not a single rule: the ISO 3103 standard, used to compare teas with one another, sets for example 6 minutes for a black tea, whereas each tea's product page gives its own time. The other models are in the measures and tea timers sections.

Keeping tea: a tin that closes tightly

An opaque, tightly closed tin is the last essential accessory, because an opened bag of loose leaf tea lets in air and light. The Washi Paper Tin · 100 g · Traditional from the Esprit Céladon range is made of tinplate, with a double lid, hand-decorated in France; it is also available in 150 g.

Where to keep the tin and what spoils tea, we explain in our guide how to store tea. The other tins are gathered in the tea tins section.

Accessories for pleasure, to add later

Once the essentials are in place, some objects make the ritual more enjoyable without changing the taste of the cup. They are also good gift ideas for a tea lover who already has their equipment.

• Tea Tongs: they grip a hot filter or infuser and press it to draw out the last drops, without burning your fingers.
• Tea for One Set · Teapot 0.5 l & Cup 0.25 l: a teapot and its cup from Dunoon, in fine bone china enhanced with 22-carat gold, presented in a gift box.
• Henley Mug · 0.6 l: a large fine bone china mug from the Dunoon range, made in Stone, for long afternoon cups.

For matcha, the whisk, the scoop and the bowl form a separate set of equipment, detailed in our guide to the matcha set. And to choose a gift according to the person's tastes, see our ideas for a tea lover.

Which equipment for the way you drink tea?

The right equipment depends less on the tea than on the place and the number of cups. Three situations come up most often, each with its own small kit.

• A cup at the office: the Pisa Tea Tube in a mug, or Teeli Tea Filters so there is nothing to rinse, and a small 100 g washi tin in the drawer.
• For two, at home: the 'Anne' Glass Teapot, a Serena kettle and the 1-3-5 minute tea timer.
• A first loose leaf tea: the Round Stainless Steel Tea Infuser, a Mariage Frères measure and a tin that closes tightly; the teas can then be chosen in the loose leaf teas section.