For Renee et al...

Oooh! Good question! No, seriously. My inquiring mind wants to know before I buy one.

Well, I am not Renee, but I have all 3 that you mention, and they all seem to work equally well.

I had a sudden flash about my recommending one to my neighbor then her having rooibos and others slip through :(.

My Bee House and Jenaer teapots came with infusers, but I'm using the medium Teeli with the BH and the large Teeli with the Jenaer (small Mikado).

Great! Thanks.

Aha! I always wondered who et al was ;).

Thanks - that's *exactly* what I wanted to know.

I use the Aria/IngenuiTea all the time for rooibos. I've tried rooibos and chamomile in my chatsford and they make a bit of a mess. The chamomile is particularly annoying to cleanup. Some small slivers of rooibos or chamomile tend to stick into the nylon mesh of the Chatsford filter. The IngenuiTea has a smaller surface area and less play in the mesh so nothing gets stuck in the mesh...just in some crevices where the plastic rim meets the mesh. As with any non-paper filter, the finest particles may pass through the mesh.

The mesh and mechanism will stain with regular use but you can get all of the stains/odors out by soaking with oxy-clean or a mild solution of bleach and water. Every once in a while soak the whole unit in a large bowl filled with the solution of choice so that you can clean the mechanism too. I wish you could take it apart to clean. I don't put mine in the dishwasher...I think it would scratch the plastic.

This pot is probably the best method for rooibos that I can recommend.

Renee

That's good to know since I've never done loose chamomile.

Yes, but if it's about the same as a Chatsford or Teeli, it's acceptable. What the BeeHouse and Jenaer glass infusers allow to pass through is not, IMO.

Thanks - I appreciate your remarks.

Loose chamomile sticks to everything. And I mean "adheres with an almost unbreakable bond." It is the only thing I have to clean out of our infuser with a brush and lots of water. Everything else rinses right out, even rooibos.

Yes, I've never been annoyed at cleaning out rooibos. I will, however, avoid loose chamomile now that I know what it's like.

Ain't that the truth!