Hello,

I have recently gotten back into tea after a several-year teabag hiatus
(due to laziness). I was really irritated at how tinny my tea tasted
from the tea ball, and I tried those do-it-yourself tea bags with loose
leaf tea, but the space was simply too cramped (esp. if brewing more
than one cup at a time).

Anyway, I recently bought the Teeli infuser basket (medium size) and
had been brewing cup-by-cup (6 oz teacup). Results: excellent. The
problems began when I wanted to make tea for my girlfriend as well,
i.e. 2 cups at a time.

So I went out and bought a 2-cup teapot (although in reality it holds
16 oz, which is like 2 and 2/3 cups). The infuser almost fits into it,
though to push it all the way in requires some flex of the plastic
frame. In a way, that is excellent in its own right because it produces
a fairly tight seal to keep the heat in while brewing -- and I use the
Teeli infusers little black lid during the brewing process.

Now, the problem is this: if I actually use 2 and 2/3 teacups' worth of
water (i.e. 16 oz, approx 500 mL), then the water level comes almost
all the way up the mesh of the infuser. That's great. However, I
usually want to brew EXACTLY 2 cups' worth, i.e. 12 oz. If I pour in
only 12 oz. of water, the water definitely rises above the height of
the *dry* leaves, but the level is a little over an inch (1 1/8") shy
of the full height of the infuser basket: about 3 cm to be exact.

So my question is this: assuming I use about 2 tsp worth of dry leaf,
and the water level not only covers the dry leaf, but rises a bit more
than halfway up the infuser, is that enough space and is that a proper
spatial configuration for a proper infusion? I'm sort of ignorant of
the technical and scientific aspects of it.

My observations are that when I brew in a single-cup with the infuser,
and fill the water almost all the way to the top, the leaves are
usually lurking around at the bottom anyway (for black teas). So it
shouldn't make too much difference in the 2-cup pot, when there isn't
a lot of water *on top* of the leaves. Presumably in the pot since
there is much more space *around* (i.e. outside the infuser basket to
the sides), that the flavours and chemical goodies of the tea infuse
outward that way.

But I am concerned about green teas. Greens usually seem to have a much
higher proportion of leaves that float to the top of the infuser
basket, whether I fill it up all the way, or halfway. Also, the
unfurled leaf sizes in greens tend to be enormous (I am using sencha
and gyokuro, mainly). So I am worried that with 2 tsps my teeli infuser
is over-matched in that specific pot.

Of course the easiest thing to do to ease my mind is just to fill the
pot nearly all the way, which means 16 oz. But I really don't want to
get 2 decent cups, and then 2/3's of a cup of "dregs" -- drank after,
and tending to be dusty and tannic. Also, I would have to use at least
2.5 teaspoons of tea, and I would rather not waste tea.

So... is it simply enough to "cover" the tea leaves with water
(ignoring the ones that float to the top)? Keep in mind that when I
re-steep and the leaves are already wet and engorged, the water level
still rises above the level of the leaves. So should I be concerned
about the gravity aspect? Is it simply enough for there to be lots of
water space around the sides, on the inside of the pot?

Would appreciate any advice on this subject. Thanking you all in
advance for your sinentic wisdom...