Steeping loose leaf tea necessitates that one utilize some sort of filtration device. All current devices that seek to fulfill this requirement are either manual, such as empty tea bags and stainless steel mesh filters, or very expensive electronic automatic steepers. In addition to a filtration device one must use a timer to determine how long to steep the tea leaves. Ordinarily, when the timer goes off, one must remove the tea leaves and filter from the water otherwise, the tea will over-steep and become bitter or over-caffeinated. Current timers do not stop the tea from steeping, but only signal that it is done, leaving the removal of the tea leaves up to the individual.
