I bought one of these for myself after seeing a friend use hers, and it's my favorite tea type thing ever. I've used a lot of different types of tea balls, tea bags for loose tea, screens that go in the mug, and this just out performs all of them. When my brother-in-law came to visit, he was fascinated with it, so I bought him one for Christmas, and he loves it too! This works wonderfully with loose tea, I've never had a problem with anything getting through the screen, and it's very easy to clean. It holds a lot of water so be careful when you set it on your mug. It can be easy to overflow your mug. We have pretty big mugs (16 oz) and filling it all the way to the top of the handle is just right.

Obviously be careful when you snap the screen back in the bottom (and it will feel like you're going to break something because it's a nice tight fit), but in the 4 or 5 years I've had mine it's still intact and no damage at all.

Much as I like tea (and grew up on it), I really can't stand teapots. The lid slides around, clinks, falls off; they're not so easy to wash; and I invariably end up with either too weak a brew, or too strong a brew.

Teabags? Not my thing - not even the ones you stuff yourself (because I usually forget to hold the top whilst adding the water, and lose the whole into the cup. And then a few leaves make a brave escape attempt).

This thing, however, is perfect. It's 16oz, so two cups, or a normal mug. I can see whether the infusion has got to the right point because of the clear walls, and it sits perfectly on top of my mug while releasing. (I did take the advice of one of the previous reviews and buy glass mugs. But a quick test with cold water would tell you how far you can fill this thing to handle your cups/mugs.)

A two-cup capacity means two teaspoons (or one dessert spoon - not tablespoon) of tea leaves. And no need to add "one for the pot".

Before this device came along I was indifferent to rooibos "tea". Now it's become a staple (plus a bit of honey for decadence).

Time will tell if it can stand up to a year or more of constant use. But at this price it's almost worth buying one a year.

Update (Feb 2013)
The lid keeps coming off, so I docked a star. Turn it upside down after cleaning - lid falls off. Press the little tab to open the lid - lid flies off. It's being seated firmly each time, too, so it seems the little tabs may have worn down just enough to reduce the distance they protrude into the divots for them. Otherwise the tea maker still performs admirably.

Much as I like tea (and grew up on it), I really can't stand teapots. The lid slides around, clinks, falls off; they're not so easy to wash; and I invariably end up with either too weak a brew, or too strong a brew.

Teabags? Not my thing - not even the ones you stuff yourself (because I usually forget to hold the top whilst adding the water, and lose the whole into the cup. And then a few leaves make a brave escape attempt).

This thing, however, is perfect. It's 16oz, so two cups, or a normal mug. I can see whether the infusion has got to the right point because of the clear walls, and it sits perfectly on top of my mug while releasing. (I did take the advice of one of the previous reviews and buy glass mugs. But a quick test with cold water would tell you how far you can fill this thing to handle your cups/mugs.)

A two-cup capacity means two teaspoons (or one dessert spoon - not tablespoon) of tea leaves. And no need to add "one for the pot".

Before this device came along I was indifferent to rooibos "tea". Now it's become a staple (plus a bit of honey for decadence).

Time will tell if it can stand up to a year or more of constant use. But at this price it's almost worth buying one a year.

Update (Feb 2013)
The lid keeps coming off, so I docked a star. Turn it upside down after cleaning - lid falls off. Press the little tab to open the lid - lid flies off. It's being seated firmly each time, too, so it seems the little tabs may have worn down just enough to reduce the distance they protrude into the divots for them. Otherwise the tea maker still performs admirably.

Aahhh.... simply delightful!! Go ahead, treat yourself. It's SO worth the money in the end!

Let me start my saying I am southern gal who loves her traditional sweet tea: not the uppidy, snotty gal you find perusing the tea shops with my nose in the air. My 20 year old daughter who is health conscious was using I got this along with the TEAVANA Perfect Mug (16 oz) and Teavana Perfect Tea Maker (16 oz). I also ordered and have a few flavors of there teas. Together... the PERFECT Teaspoon, PERFECT Mug and this PERFECTTEA Maker from TEAVANA, produce a quality cup of tea that induces a tranquil and happy feeling in my soul and tastebuds. I look forward to tea time every day.

$$$ Let's talk money! I cringe at paying so much for the Teavana tea. I am a sensible person who likes to save, so I was hesitant to spend the money. but this isn't just spending, this was an investment on a little bit of peace and happiness for myself. The spoon, mug and tea maker will pay off in a short time ( I forgo Starbucks 9 out of 10 times now to go home and enjoy my teaset). The TEAVANA tea is very pricey; however, I actually purchased a 35 ounce canister of Jasmine tea, and Mango tea at TJ MAXX for $19.99!! I mix my favorite Teavana JADE CITRUS MINT half and half with one of the others, and it not only saves a lot of $, but tastes more amazing (cuts the bitter).

Let's do a little Quantitative Reasoning here. We know that: 6 teaspoons = 1 Ounce.

BREAKDOWN: Package Price: Per OZ: TOTAL TEASPOONS FINAL COST PER Teaspoon
Teavana Tea: $ 8.00 for 2.00 Oz = $4.00 per Oz 12 $.68
TJ Maxx Tea: $20.00 for 35.27 Oz = $ .57 per Oz 211 $.01

NO! You do not need to adjust your eyes or get new glasses!! The math speaks the truth!! lol

Hope that is helpful and not confusing in your decision making process of purchasing this product, finding an affordable alternative, enjoying your tea and an effective argument in persuading/justifying it to your spouse or significant other should you have one. =D

I enjoyed using this for six months or so....a few times a week with many kinds of tea. It did a fine job filtering out all the particles.

If you have troubles with putting too much liquid in and overflowing your cups, try putting the hot water into your cup to start with then pouring into the infuser.

I had some troubles with the little plate that comes with it, upon which you rest the infuser while waiting for it to brew, if you did not hit it right, the liquid will come out the bottom of the infuser. I replaced with tea saucer and had no more troubles that way.

As for cleaning, a left twist on the filter will loosen it to clean the top of the infuser...this was not difficult to find. You can yank at it a bit and take out the dispenser part at the bottom for cleaning, which i successfully did twice, but it is a wee bit hard to figure out how to put back together. I put all the parts into the dishwasher, had no troubles. The third time I yanked out the bottom part to wash it, I lost one part so I am unable to put it back together. It does come completely apart for cleaning and fairly simply....I suggest that if you do this, you try not to lose parts of it :).