Each of these porcelain teapots by Memphis group designer George Sowden has a steel basket filter with over 160,000 tiny holes to improve the taste of tea (+ slideshow).

British designer George Sowden, best-known for his work as part of the Memphis group – founded in Milan by Ettore Sottsass in 1981 – has designed three simple ceramic teapots.

"I started with this idea that the tea bag and the coffee pod are the probably the two worst inventions of the twentieth century, not just for ecological reasons but also for the fact that tea bags make lousy tea and coffee pods make lousy coffee," Sowden told Dezeen. "So I thought, I've got to do something about that."

Inside each of his Softbrew teapots sits a stainless steel basket-like filter.

The sides and bottom of the cylindrical filter are covered with very fine micro-engineered holes, allowing loose tea leaves to expand and unfurl in the boiling water.

The Joe teapot has an exaggerated rounded body and over-sized handle, reminiscent of toy tea sets, while the Jakob teapot has a more angular form.

The filter of the Oskar teapot protrudes slightly out of the top of its geometric profile.

Oskar is available exclusively in white, while Joe and Jakob also come in bold colours.

The teapots are being manufactured in China for Sowden's eponymous brand, which produces a range of tableware, crockery, cookware and other kitchen implements such as juice squeezers.

Sowden has previously designed kitchenware products for clients such as Alessi and Bodrum.

We've also featured a tea service based on the components of an engine, and a tea set made of spun brass designed by Tom Dixon.