By Arina Khotimsky

Breaking news! The Loch Ness Monster has been discovered once and for all…and she’s  swimming straight into your home with your next cup of tea. Designed by OTOTO, Baby Nessie is the newest addition to your teatime ritual. At 5 x 5.5 x 15 cm, this tea infuser is made of food and dishwasher safe silicone and comes in turquoise, green and magenta-looking purple.

To utilize Nessie, you take her bottom half off her back to fill her with loose tea leaves. With her soft and flexible body, it is easy to pinch in her sides and take her apart.

Then, she settles down for a brief dip in your brewing tea, reemerging as you carefully pull her out. A great aspect of Nessie is that your tea leaves are completely submerged. With other, open-top tea infusers that clip onto the rim of your cup, tea leaves are not prevented from floating to the top of the infuser, and perhaps even into your tea. With Nessie, tea leaves are safe in the depths of Loch Earl Grey.

However, slight problems arise with the holes on Nessie’s back and stomach that allow the tea to diffuse. Although they are quite small, comparably small-leaf tea leaves, such as Republic of Tea Apricot Honey, slightly escape Nessie’s stomach. A way to decrease this problem is by lowering Nessie into the cup of boiling water, not pouring the water over her. Another downside of the holes is that compared to more traditional steel mesh infusers, it may take longer for the flavor of the tea to diffuse. But this is not a problem if you are in a rush. It is easy to take Nessie by the neck and swirl her around, allowing tea (and any added ingredients) to diffuse much faster.

Nessie’s adorable face and long neck serve a double purpose. Not only do they brighten your morning when she peeps out of your cup, they allow you to pull her out easily when happy with the intensity of your tea. This feature is much simpler than other tea infusers that sit on the rim of the cup, which have to be pried off with the possibility of accidentally scalding yourself on the hot liquid.

After pulling her out, make sure you have a place to set her down. Baby Nessie does not come with a drip tray, and otherwise may have an ‘accident’ on your grandmother’s favorite tablecloth. She has four little legs that allow her to stand independently on a plate, however, it is easy to knock her over with a slight tap to the back of her head.

Baby Nessie retails on Sohodesignshop.com for $13.90 and amazon.com from $12.32 to $15.59. Although this is quite expensive compared to other tea infusers (the average price of one on Amazon is roughly $7), Nessie’s cuteness factor makes up for her price. She serves her purpose well, along with cheering up everyone around.  

If you can’t get enough of Nessie, OTOTO has also created a Nessie Ladle and a Mamma Nessie Colander Spoon. Otherwise, sit back, transport yourself to Scotland, and enjoy your tea.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=tea+infuser

http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Nessie-Infuser-Legendary-Monster/dp/B01BPPSBTK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1462198026&sr=8-2&keywords=baby+nessie

http://www.sohodesignshop.com/collections/all-products/products/baby-nessie?variant=14034817540