Tea strainers are used to catch the loose leaves when you pour out the tea.

A tea strainer is a type of strainer that is placed

over or in a teacupto 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.