Quick Tip: Use Tea Balls To Flavor Soup

Do you use a bouquet garni to flavor your soups? If so, try tucking them into a tea ball instead of cheesecloth.

We came across this idea at Williams Sonoma – it's so simple and obvious, but we'd never thought to try it. Cheesecloth and muslin bags are great, but this is a good alternative. Plus, it's reusable.

We found a few other tea infusers that could work well with spices too, including a couple of heart-shaped versions. A little cheesy, sure. But it could be a cute little Valentine's Day gift for a tea or spice lover.

Mesh Tea & Spice Balls, Set of 2, $10 at Williams Sonoma
Cuisipro Tea Infuser, $12.99 at Chef Tools
Heart Tea Infuser, $2.50 at Daisy Days (minimum 24)
Heart Shaped Tea Ball 2", $3.95 at Baxter Tea Company

Comments (8)

I love this idea -- I have no idea why I never thought to do this before

posted by mlleErica on February 11th 2009 at 12:14pm
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i have a dedicated mesh tea ball for this purpose. it works great! i first used it when natural unbleached cheesecloth was not fine enough. thought i was so clever...

posted by bebklyn on February 11th 2009 at 12:24pm
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This is a great idea! I never thought about this either but sometimes needed something to add herbs and spices to a dish. Thanks a lot for sharing!
Delikatissen

posted by delikatissen on February 11th 2009 at 1:30pm
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I've actually used this to not only flavor soups, but also rice!
You know how when you make indian rice you add a bunch of spices? I hate having to take them out at the end: using the tea ball saves you the trouble!

posted by orchidgirl1979 on February 11th 2009 at 3:23pm
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Yes, a very sensible idea! Those mesh tea balls always fall apart on me after a few pots of tea,though. I need to find a different sort.

posted by Charlotte on February 12th 2009 at 6:45am
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I also do this with the spices when I make hot cider.

posted by als1 on February 13th 2009 at 12:27pm
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I will definitely give it a try. I did not know what to do with my tea ball since I bought a tea infuser that fits on the top of the teapot.

posted by At Home with kim vallee on February 15th 2009 at 7:52pm
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Great tip, i just ordered some exotic tea from Teaflection and can't wait to add this to my recipes

posted by initd on February 26th 2010 at 4:42pm
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