teapot vs bag

I have the Adagio teabags too and fill them with loose tea for steeping on the go. But the majority of the time I use a gaiwan or small teapot. A proper brewing vessel gives the tea leaves room to expand and makes resteeping easier.

Try gaiwan, it’s easier to clean than teapot. Gives room for leaves to expand.

I’ve started using the bags when I travel to an office where I can’t store personal items. It allows me to have decent tea. Still much prefer to use pot or gaiwan at home.

I only use tea bags for those loose leaf teas I dislike but have to finish.
There are certain notes in some loose leaf teas that would not open up in a tea bag, but would unfold freely in a teapot.

I looked up gaiwan. I can’t imagine trying to pour tea into a cup with on of these. From the description:

The lid allows you to push aside floating tea leaves on the surface of the cup for easy tea enjoyment.

I can’t imagine this is going to a comfortable way to enjoy tea. And as you are, your tea is getting brewed longer. I’m not a huge fan of drinking tea while the leaves are still in the cup I am drinking from.

Thank you for all the updates, and ideas!

I use a gravity steeper several times a day and don’t really consider the cleanup to be an issue. When I am done with the leaves I pop the lid off, bang the steeper over the trash can and whatever few leaves are left I wash down into the garbage disposal. Rinsing it out works for most of the days, but when it’s time to get rid of the tea staining, pop the infuser from inside the cup (and just leave it in there), then drop some Denture tabs or Smart Soak in there. Works great.