HIC Kitchen Tip Tea Strainer, 18/8 Stainless Steel, Loose Leaf Tea Filter With Drip Tray, Mess-Free Tea Serving

Saw one of these used on "Brokenwood," a show about NZ detectives we watched on Acorn through Amazon Prime Video. It strains out tea leaves when pouring from our Brown Betty but has its own drip catcher. Went to AmazonUK looking for tea strainers since we Americans just don't do tea right (artsy Vedic infusions and small tea balls that don't hold enough leaves or let them unfold) and searching for tea strainers here brings up dismal results. Found it there, copied and pasted the tipping strainer type in our US Amazon search box, and voila! Two came up, and this was the least expensive. Being careful you can take it apart to clean it better, and if the sieve falls out you can slightly bend the sides back together to keep it in place just enough so it swings freely when using. Definitely worth five stars, and I'll use that AmazonUK search trick in the future, I'm sure--it'll probably work for searching Canada, Australia, and elsewhere.

Works well although the mesh around the holes to attach to the base is not completely attached so I feel some pointy parts when washing but not really a problem. I just take it apart and throw in the dishwasher for cleaning.

I really like the idea of this strainer, but the strainer mechanism on the one I got doesn't swing in its own. You have to push it with your finger to get it to swing out and back over the metal base. Its would be totally perfect if it did that on its own. I normally don't mind but after pouring boiling water over the strainer it gets hot and it you don't push it back down, the item will tip over and spill all the tea leaves it caught all over the table....frustrating. UPDATE 01/01/13 I have had this item just a few months and the metal arm that holds the not self swinging strainer completely broke off. Short of soldering, it is completely broken and unusable. Bad purchase. Waste of money.

The unit I got did not swivel very well. It keeps getting caught in one possition or another. A little jiggle will work it free but the reduced functionallity means I am not really going to use this over a standard basket strainer. I like the idea and have used one at a tea house in London and thought the concept is great but this one falls short.

I am giving four stars because I think it would work better if the little strainer could be lifted off of the setup. I think that would make use much better. However, it works well and I'm happy with it, so four stars! The best way to describe this contraption is that it is a min-strainer, that is on a hinge (there are connections along the rim at the two places it touches the rest of the contraption). This means the strainer can be leaned or "rocked". There is a tall handle (highest point of the item) and a pan at the bottom to collect excess liquid (lowest part of the item). I use this to dry small membranes (from a breast pump) after washing. For that purpose, I would like for the strainer to be able to be lifted away, but otherwise I am quite happy with this product!

Simple and unassuming, this tea strainer does the job and the mesh is tight enough to prevent tea leaves from getting through. Saw a similar gadget at a high end restaurant and that sealed the deal! A simple rinse cleans the strainer easel and while it is a splurge, its price is very reasonable. Better than the competition.

For decades I had a WMF silver plated swivel tea sieve from Germany ( got it as a wedding gift in 1961) and due to almost everyday use the silver plate started looking shabby and the swivel sieve was worn out. After a long search on the internet I tried Amazon, and there it was: stainless steel, not as expensive as those on Etsy ("antiques") and very functional (the swivel part is still a little hard to swivel, but I have now again a combination of tea sieve with an attached drip catcher. Fancy silver plate? Oh well, I couldn't care less: I am almost 90 years old and am happy enough with stainless steel!

I purchased this thinking the base detaches from the strainer so that I could hang it inside a cup with loose tea leaves on top (sort of like an open diffuser). Unfortunately, the strainer only swivels on the base and does not detach. The box comes with absolutely no instructions so I had no idea how this was supposed to be used. However, after searching around on the web, I found that this was really designed for when you brew loose tea in a teapot. You are supposed to swing the mesh strainer away from its base and position it over your teacup then pour your tea. The strainer will catch any loose leaves exiting the spout of the teapot. When you are done pouring your cup of tea, just swing the strainer over the drip bowl to catch any dripping liquid. Unfortunately, this is too cumbersome to use. Also, you can only use it to pour one cup of tea because once the drip tray catches any liquid, the next time you swing out the basket the drip tray is perpendicular to the cup causing the liquid to spill out. In my search for the instructions on this gadget, I also found that everyone (not only on Amazon) rated this item five stars. I'm very surprised by this especially since the liquid spills out if you use it more than once before draining or washing the drip tray after each pour. On the positive side it can be used to temporarily store a used teabag. In summary, it is a nice novelty item / conversation piece. I purchased two and will definitely not purchase more. If you are looking for a great tea strainer, try The Empress Tea Strainer instead (I purchased six of these and couldn't be happier).

Just what I wanted, pleased

Got my tea strainer today, and used it right away. It is just what I wanted, very happy with my purchase.

This strainer does not hold straight when one pours the tea so the leaves would fall in the teapot. Plus, it dismantled after two days of use.

too small for some of the whole leaf teas so they swell and drop overboard.