Benner Loose Leaf Tea + Crofton Tea Infuser

Last Updated on August 7, 2022

EDITOR’S NOTE: Aldi sold tea infusers again in August of 2022 for $4.99. Aldi brought back the Peach Lemon Flavored Herbal Tea and the Berry Flavored Green Tea in June of 2021 for the same price of $4.99 each. However, Aldi did not bring back the Breakfast Blend Black Tea and instead sold a new flavor, Watermelon Strawberry Mint Flavored Black Tea, which you can read about here. 

Loose leaf tea can take some effort to find in stores. Loose leaf tea is what its name sounds like: rather than dried tea packaged in small individual tea bags, loose leaf tea is sold in a container of dried tea leaves, and you scoop out what you need when you want to make tea. To make tea using loose leaves, you need a special infuser, or you need a fine mesh strainer you can pour your tea through. You might have to visit a specialty tea shop or go online to find loose leaf tea and the equipment needed to make it.

Or, for a short time, Aldi is selling loose leaf tea and tea infusers.

The Crofton Tea Infuser and Benner Loose Leaf Teas are Aldi Finds (Special Buys), which means they’re only in stores for a limited time, and once they’re gone, they’re gone. You can still purchase other bagged teas in different flavors that are part of Aldi’s year-round Regular Buy tea selection, though, and Aldi rotates other bagged teas into its stock for a short time throughout the year, including holiday tea, floral tea, and specialty green tea.

The tea infuser cost $2.99 at the time of publication, and it was available in several designs, including a black cat, white cat, blue owl, or white unicorn.

The loose leaf tea cost $4.99 for a 3.53-3.88-oz. container at the time of publication. It was available in three flavors: Peach Lemon Flavored Herbal Tea, Berry Flavored Green Tea, and Breakfast Blend Black Tea. One serving of tea requires only a small spoonful of dried tea leaves, and I am sure I’ll get more servings out of these canisters than I do from a traditional box of 20 tea bags, so while the price is a bit higher than what I pay for standard tea bags, I’m also getting more tea. This also costs less than a lot of other loose leaf teas on the market.

Here’s a closer look at the infuser and all of the tea flavors:

Crofton Tea Infuser

My black cat tea infuser perched atop a Harry Potter mug of black tea.

This cost $2.99 and features a stainless steel mesh infuser that is BPA free and top-rack dishwasher safe. To use it, fill the infuser with loose leaf tea, close the lever to lock it, and perch the cat, owl, or unicorn on your cup’s rim while immersing the strainer (which is attached by a small chain) in hot water. This was made in China.

What the tea infuser looks like when it is open, plus a look at the lever that keeps it closed.

This infuser works all right, closing securely to hold loose tea leaves, and it adds an element of style to my cup while my tea is steeping. This infuser has wider openings in the metal mesh compared to other infusers I’ve used, so it does let more fine tea leaf particles into your mug. This Aldi infuser gets big points for style, but it’s just okay in terms of keeping small bits of leaves out of the tea.

Regardless of what animal design you choose, their arms/legs/wings are bent and slotted in a way that allows them to hang on the side of your cup while your tea steeps. I bought the black cat infuser, and I have some tea mugs that its arms fit on better than others. Generally, it works best with mugs with thinner rims.

My Shakespearean insults mug has thicker sides, so the cats arms do not slide on and fit quite as well, but it still perches all right.

I own another tea infuser that opens with a spring handle so I don’t have to touch any hot metal parts or hot tea leaves to empty it. This Crofton one, in contrast, requires touching the latch on the mesh strainer in order to empty it, and it can be hot to the touch if I’ve just brewed a cup of tea and need to clean out the infuser. There is a simple fix, though: run the tea infuser under cool water from your kitchen faucet before opening it to empty it.

And remember, used tea leaves and tea bags are great additions to your countertop compost bin or compost tumbler.

Benner Loose Leaf Peach Lemon Flavored Herbal Tea

Peach lemon tea.

This is caffeine free and contains dried apple, white hibiscus, natural flavor, lemongrass, sweet blackberry leaf, roasted chicory, lemon peel, and dried peach. It’s sold in a 3.88-oz. metal container.

This tea has a lovely peach scent, with a lemon zing in every sip and undertones of peach flavor. I liked the flavor of this tea a lot. It has some smaller leaf/herb pieces that escaped through the mesh strainer in my infuser and got into my tea. Those all settled to the bottom of my cup, so I had to be careful not to drink too many scratchy leaf bits toward the end, but it wasn’t a big deal. Tea purists may not like the fact that this has natural flavor, but overall, this is a solid tea with a good taste.

A few small leafy bits escaped the infuser and got into my tea cup. After a few minutes, they settled to the bottom of the cup and weren’t a problem.

Benner Peach Lemon Loose Leaf Tea ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)

The container gives directions for preparing hot tea: bring fresh cold water to a rolling boil. Place 1 teaspoon of tea into a cup, pour water over the tea and brew for 3-5 minutes, and strain the tea after brewing.

Alternatively, rather than straining your tea, you can use the tea infuser.

Benner Loose Leaf Breakfast Blend Black Tea

Black tea.

Like all black tea, this contains caffeine. Its only ingredient is black tea, and it comes in a 3.53-oz. metal container.

This is a rich black tea that tastes a lot like other black teas we’ve had. The dried leaves are large enough that none got out through the infuser.

Benner Breakfast Blend Black Tea ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)

The container gives directions for preparing hot tea: bring fresh cold water to a rolling boil. Place 1 teaspoon of tea into a cup, pour water over the tea and brew for 3-5 minutes, and strain the tea after brewing.

Again, alternatively, rather than straining your tea, you can use the tea infuser.

Benner Loose Leaf Berry Flavored Green Tea

Berry tea.

Because this contains green tea, it has a small amount of caffeine, but not as much as black tea. Ingredients are green tea, hibiscus, natural flavor, dried cranberry, dried blueberry, safflower, and cornflower. It’s sold in a 3.88-oz. metal container.

This has a noticeable blueberry flavor. While I used to like berry teas a lot years ago, they aren’t always my favorite these days, and this was my least favorite flavor among the loose leaf teas. That’s not necessarily a judgment about this particular tea, though, and if you enjoy fruity teas you’ll probably like this one. It has some smaller dried bits that get out through the infuser and into the tea cup, but they settle on the bottom of the cup and aren’t much of a problem.

Benner Loose Leaf Berry Flavored Green Tea ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)

The container gives directions for preparing hot tea: bring fresh cold water to a rolling boil. Place 1 teaspoon of tea into a cup, pour water over the tea and brew for 1-2 minutes, and strain the tea after brewing.

Again, rather than straining your tea, you can use the tea infuser.

The Verdict:

Aldi offered loose leaf tea in three flavors: peach lemon, black tea, and berry. They’re all good, but in my house we are particularly fond of the peach lemon and black teas. The infuser to prepare the tea with is sold separately, and it’s cute and generally functional. If you like to drink tea, these are all worth a look.