Tea strainer. The spring loaded handle opens the two perforated bowls into which tea is placed for infusion in a cup. The pre-cursor to tea bags.Metal tea strainer. Spring loaded handle with perforated bowls to hold tea.tea strainers

A tea strainer is a type of strainer that is placed over or in a teacup to catch tea leaves. When tea is brewed in the traditional manner in a teapot, the tea leaves are not contained in teabags, but rather are freely suspended in the water. As the leaves themselves may be distasteful, it is usual to filter them out with a tea strainer. Strainers usually fit into the top of the cup to catch the leaves as the tea is poured. Some deeper tea strainers can also be used to brew single cups of tea, much as teabags or brewing baskets are used - the strainer full of leaves is set in a cup to brew the tea, and then removed, along with the spent tea leaves, when the tea is ready to drink. By using a tea strainer in this way, the same leaves can be used to brew multiple cups. Tea strainer use declined in the 20th century with mass production of the tea bag, but is still preferred among connoisseurs who claim that keeping the leaves packed in a bag, rather than freely circulating, inhibits diffusion. Many assert that inferior ingredients, namely dust quality tea, are often used in tea bags. Tea strainers are usually either sterling silver, stainless steel, or china. Strainers often come in a set, with the strainer part and a small saucer for it to sit in between cups. Tea strainers in themselves have often been turned into artistic masterpieces of the silver- and goldsmith's craft, as well as rarer specimens of fine porcelain. Brewing baskets (or infusing baskets) resemble tea strainers, but are more typically put in the top of a teapot to contain the tea leaves during brewing. There is no definitive boundary between a brewing basket and a tea strainer, and the same tool might be used for both purposes. Tea strainers are also used by patients trying to pass a kidney stone. The patient urinates through the strainer, thereby ensuring that, if a stone is passed, it will be caught for evaluation and diagnosis. Source: www.wikipedia.net This item has historical significance in the evolution of Tea drinking.The Strainer being needed if a cup of tea was to be poured without tea leaves being present in the tea liquid.As Tea bags have been introduced into everyday life tea strainers are an item of the past. This particular tea strainer was an item for everyday useage.White enamel tea strainer, round in shape with flange edges, 7 small circle areas of perforations in the concave area of the utensil, a small perforated handle (same material) at one outer area of the item.domestic, kitchen, food, preparation, white, enamel, tea, strainer, beverage, perforated, utensil, round, flanges, leaves

BHS CollectionTea strainer souvenir of Toowoomba crest on handle. Star shaped pattern in bowl of strainer, marked out with the holes of the strainer. Ridged pattern on each end- bowl of strainer in the centre. Probably EPNS, but no marking visible.PITCHER MELBephemera, mementoes, tea strainer

Take a stroll through the average beverage aisle in your supermarket, and you might get the impression that tea has always come in small boxes with disposable tea bags. But before those easy to come by boxes, there was the rich and intriguing history of the tea strainer, a beautiful little tool that has helped our ancestors enjoy loose leaf tea for hundreds of years. Enjoying loose-leaf tea, and becoming familiar with this tool, can help spark an appreciation for your tea strainer and infuser collection, or simply inspire you to grow one. Documentation of tea tools such as the tea strainer appear in ancient history, the earliest models were likely made of bamboo, and later evolved into stainless steel, sterling silver, china, porcelain, silicon, and linen. During the Tang Dynasty in China, a small book called “Classic of Tea” was written describing tea utensils, and they were made to help Buddhist monks keep living things (such as small bugs) out of the drinking water. However, using a tea tool to keep run away tea leaves out of a cup did not become a cited use of the strainer until the 17th century when Dutch merchants made tea more readily available to those outside of the Chinese dynasty. British royals then increased the popularity of tea as their preferred beverage, and it was not long before a newfound fanaticism for tea in Great Britain spread to the American colonies, as did a growing demand for products that could separate loose tea leaves from liquid with ease and flair. Why did people use a strainer to separate out tea leaves in Great Britain and not in China? While the method of serving tea from a teapot with the tea loose in the pot was a practice used in both countries, the reason China may not have required a tool to remove leaves from their cup likely had to do with the types of tea leaves they were producing. The British owned tea plantations, in countries such as India, produced finer black tea leaves that did not require as much space to expand inside of a tea pot, where as the leaves prepared on the Chinese plantations would expand far more in the pot, and were therefore less likely to land or be bothersome inside a tea cup. This common approach to serving tea with smaller tea leaves required a solution to avoid ending up with a cup, and mouth, full of tea leaves. The obvious solution was a strainer basket. In the Victorian era, tea strainer baskets, similar to those still used in tea parlors today, were made to sit on top of the cup to capture the leaves when pouring the tea from a tea pot into the individual cups. Another solution was a tea-removing device called a mote spoon. Mote spoons act as search and rescue spoons to remove tea leaves from individual teacups. The tea would be brewed loose in the teapot, so any tea that ended up in the cup could be removed with a long handled spoon with holes in the spoon to remove rogue tea leaves and keep the steeped water in the cup. The handle also helped keep the teapot spout free of leaves and could help unclog any leaves trapped when pouring. Stainless steel tea strainers and tea infusers gained popularity in the late 19th century. Big name tea strainer producers, such as Tiffany and Gorham, could use fine silver to create quality, heavy, and sturdy strainers, for those who could afford it. There were many varieties of strainers at that time, but it was more likely that smaller designers who could not afford to mass-produce these quality strainers out of silver made them into unique shapes to attract consumers with lighter wallets. And borne was the tea strainer we are accustomed to today. Things took an unexpected turn for the tea strainer in the early 1900s when Thomas Sullivan, a tea merchant, shipped out tea samples in small silk bags. Customers did not realize that they were supposed to remove the tea from the bags, and instead boiled the tea, bag and all! The convenience of tossing out the leaves is obvious, and the popularity of tea bags is still seen today. Most premium bags of tea we are accustomed to today are frequently packaged loose for consumption, and when they are available in bags, the leaves are often crowded and do not have enough space to expand. While pyramid tea bags have become a more recent solution to this problem, due to the additional space at the top of the bag, enjoying a variety of quality tea is easier with a tea strainer in your arsenal. Besides, with the wide variety of strainers for your cup or pot in versatile materials such as mesh, silver, or a novelty silicone cartoon shape, loose tea can still reign supreme. Tea strainers sometimes do require more cleanup and measuring, but the experience and quality is always worth the effort. Besides, strainers also allow for mixing favorite tea blends together for an extra dose of delicious creativity! https://www.teamuse.com/article_170413.html The strainer provided the convenience of separating the tea leaves for disposal later.Metal strainer, bowl shaped, with mesh and twisted wire handle.Noneflagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, strainer

Teaspoons of Loose Leaf Tea are placed in the china or earrthenware teapot then boiling water is added with the lid replaced an infusion occurs. Holding the handle the hot drink is poured from the spout through a strainer into a cup, mug or pannekin and milk, sugar or lemon may be added This drink was very popular with early settlers in Moorabbin Shire. The Temperance Society built a Tea Palace in Mentone - now Kilbreda College. The tea leaf was imported from Sri Lanka (Ceylon) and stored in tall silos in Melbourne where it was packaged and delivered to grocery stores.The early settlers in Moorabbin Shire enjoyed a well brewed pot of tea several times during the day.An opaque white china teapottea leaf, teapot, china crockery, earthenware, tea palaces, mentone, bentleigh, moorabbin shire, cheltenham, ceylon, temperance society, billy tea,

Belonged to the step-mother of Ray Standfield, husband of donor.The Robur Tea Company issued vouchers/coupons on packets of tea that could be collected and exchanged for the tea-pot when enough coupons had been saved.A round squat silverplated Robur teapot containing a fitted round cup shaped strainer with hinged pull for removal.S475 PERFECT TEA-POT, MANUFACTURED BY ROBUR TEA CO LTD. PATENTED AUS 10373. 14-11-27 NZ59615 U.S AF 816-28 EPNSdomestic items, food & drink consumption

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