Loose Leaf Made Easy: The Best Electric Kettle Tea Infuser

In a lot of Mexican homes the kettle goes on for tea as often as for coffee: té de canela on a cold morning, manzanilla after dinner, hierbabuena or té de limón from the garden, or a deep red pot of jamaica. Most of those are loose leaves, flowers or sticks rather than tea bags, and steeping them in a pot and then straining it is one more thing to wash. An electric kettle with an infuser basket does the steeping in the kettle itself: heat the water, drop the basket in, lift it out when the tea is ready.

This guide is narrower than our main electric kettle guide. It covers only kettles and tea makers that come with an infuser, and nearly all of them let you pick a temperature below boiling for green and white teas. None of the kettles from the main guide is repeated here, and we say where each figure comes from.

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Quick verdict: which electric kettle with a tea infuser to buy

The table compares those five. All seven kettles are reviewed in full below it.

Five tea infuser kettles side by side

Capacity, temperature range and how the infuser works, for our five standout picks.

Product images from Amazon. Capacities and temperatures are each maker’s or listing’s own figures.

Our picks for the best electric kettle tea infuser

Seven kettles from Breville, Cosori, GoveeLife, Ovente, Buydeem and Aigostar. Two are dedicated tea makers that manage the steep for you; the rest are temperature-control kettles with a removable infuser basket that you lift out yourself. We stopped at seven rather than pad the list with near-identical glass kettles from brands we could not identify.

How to choose an electric kettle with a tea infuser

A kettle with a basket is simple in principle. The differences that matter are in how the basket is used, how low the temperatures go, and how much tea you make.

1. Automatic steeping or a basket you lift

Only the Breville Tea Maker lifts the basket out for you. Every other kettle here relies on you to remove it, though the Breville Compact beeps when the steep time is up. If you tend to walk away from the kitchen, the automatic basket is the feature worth paying for; for herbal teas and canela, which do not turn bitter quickly, a plain basket is fine.

2. The temperature range

Black and herbal teas take water at or near boiling; green and white teas are steeped cooler, and the makers’ own presets reflect that (Aigostar puts green tea at 176°F and white tea at 158°F, for example). Check the lowest setting: it runs from 140°F on the Aigostar to 180°F on the GoveeLife without the app. The two Breville tea makers name their presets by tea type and do not publish the degrees.

3. What touches the water

If you want to avoid plastic in contact with hot water, read the listing closely. The Cosori says no plastic touches the water; the others list glass or stainless bodies but do not make that claim for every part, such as the lid or the seal.

4. Capacity and keep-warm

A kettle that holds 1.7 or 1.8 liters makes a full pot for the table; the Breville Compact’s 34 ounces is for one or two. Keep-warm matters if the pot sits through a meal: the GoveeLife, Ovente and Aigostar hold for up to two hours, the Breville Tea Maker and Cosori for an hour.

5. Cleaning

Tea leaves stain baskets and glass, and hard water leaves scale. Cosori notes that white, yellow or brown deposits are mineral buildup, not rust, and recommends vinegar, lemon juice or baking soda. A wide mouth or removable lid makes all of this easier, and a dishwasher-safe basket, like the Breville Compact’s, saves scrubbing.

How we chose these seven tea kettles

We looked for electric kettles and tea makers that come with an infuser basket and, with one deliberate exception, let you pick a steeping temperature. We then compared what a kitchen cares about: how the infuser is used, the temperature range, capacity, keep-warm, materials in contact with water, and warranty. Specifications come from each Amazon listing and, for the Breville Tea Maker, Breville’s own product page. Every pick was in stock on Amazon when we checked. We searched the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s recall database for every brand: the recalls we found for Breville (pressure cookers), Cosori (air fryers) and GoveeLife (space heaters) do not involve kettles, and we found none for Ovente, Buydeem or Aigostar.

We left out the Chefman glass kettle with infuser because it is already a pick in our main electric kettle guide, and Japanese water boilers, which are a different kind of appliance. We skipped Hamilton Beach’s infuser kettles because stock was scarce, and a long list of lookalike glass kettles from brands we could not identify. We have not brewed with these kettles for this guide; where we describe how one performs, the description comes from its maker.

Mexican teas for an infuser kettle

The infuser basket makes the teas of a Mexican kitchen easy. For té de canela, break a stick of Ceylon cinnamon into the basket, set the kettle to boil, and let it steep for longer than you would a black tea; a little piloncillo stirred in at the end is traditional. Our guide to the best piloncillo covers which cones to buy.

Manzanilla, hierbabuena and té de limón go into the basket loose, straight from the market or the garden. Dried jamaica flowers steep to a deep red in hot water and can be sweetened and chilled as a tea, though for agua de jamaica by the pitcher a larger pot is easier. Rinse the basket soon after using hibiscus, since it stains. For a single mug at the desk, our tea infuser mug guide is the smaller option.

Tea infuser kettle questions, answered

What is the best electric kettle with a tea infuser?

For most tea drinkers, the Breville Tea Maker BTM800XL, because its basket lowers and lifts itself so the tea is never over-steeped. For a glass kettle with no plastic in contact with the water, the Cosori 1.7L.

Is an electric tea infuser kettle better than a separate infuser?

It saves a step and a teapot, and the temperature presets take the guesswork out of green and white teas. A separate infuser is more flexible and cheaper if you already own a good kettle; our tea infuser guide covers baskets and balls.

Can I boil plain water in a tea infuser kettle?

Yes. Every kettle here works as an ordinary kettle with the infuser removed, and the Breville listings specifically describe it as a hot water boiler for drinks like hot chocolate.

Which tea infuser kettle has the most temperature settings?

On the kettles themselves, the Cosori and Ovente have six presets each. The GoveeLife has four on the base but lets you set other temperatures in its app.

How do I clean the infuser and the kettle?

Empty and rinse the basket after each use. Descale the kettle regularly with vinegar or lemon and water, as Aigostar and Cosori recommend, and more often with hard water. The Breville Compact’s basket is dishwasher safe; check the manual for the others.

Our final pick for loose-leaf tea at home

Buy the Breville Tea Maker if you want the steep handled for you, or the Cosori if no plastic in the water is the priority. Choose the GoveeLife for exact temperatures and scheduling, the Breville Compact for one or two cups, and the Ovente for a big pot and a two-year warranty. For kettles without an infuser, see our main electric kettle guide; for serving, our teapot guide.

Related guide: Best hot water dispenser.

Related guide: Best electric kettle for matcha.

Related guide: Best loose leaf tea maker.

More for the tea table: mugs, stovetop tea kettles and, when someone would rather have chocolate, Mexican hot chocolate. If you would rather someone else did the cooking, see the menu and drinks, or call to order.