We need better sieves. Tea-balls are awful, and the vast majority of tea sieves are these tiny little mesh buckets that affix to the top of the kettle, meaning they only even touch the water if the kettle is completely filled. Then, to boot, they are so woefully undersized (probably for the sake of making them easy to fit into the pot) that the tea leaves barely have any place to bloom. The result is a very weak tasting cup of tea despite the effort of having acquired good quality loose-leaf tea.

I eventually grew so annoyed with my teapot that I've let the leaves bloom directly in the pot, and then put the sieve/filter into my cup, so that it will catch any leaves before I lift it out.