Breville the Tea Maker Kettle, One Size, Brushed Stainless Steel

A tea maker that all future tea brewers will be compared against for years to come; I bought two
I would give up home Internet access before I’d give up this tea maker — it is an AMAZING appliance.I’m a budding tea connoisseur that loves loose leaf teas to be brewed correctly and at the right temperature. The Breville One-Touch Tea Maker is the only tea brewer I know of that does a phenomenal job of brewing tea that is to be enjoyed to the last drip.What I love:- Brewing tea is easy.- The instruction manual is extremely well written.- You can brew using their preset brewing cycle for several different types of teas or you can custom program it the way you like.- You can wake up to freshly brewed tea with its Auto Start Option.- There’s a keep warm feature that works up to 60 minutes after the tea is brewed. You do have to turn this feature on after the brewing cycle and each time after you pour yourself a cup and return the carafe to the base.- The way the brewing basket works is so space age.- There’s a Basket Cycle available that allows you to auto lift and lower the tea basket for maximum tea infusion–it aerates the leaves.- The carafe top has a strainer in front that prevents any wayward leaves from escaping into your cup.- You can boil water with this appliance for other uses.- There’s a space under the base for storing the electric cord, which I found of sufficient length but others might still think it’s too short.- It is simply a GORGEOUS machine that looks great on my counter top.- It’s a pleasure to watch the brewing cycle.- You can wash all the parts EXCEPT for the base (obviously) and the carafe itself (that needs special care of wiping down or rinsing gently inside only)What I hate:- The cost — it’s the most expensive small appliance I’ve ever personally purchased in my life; but I’m not sorry I own it.This is a superior tea brewer from a manufacturer well known for its quality products. However, despite how wonderful I think this machine is, it is certainly not for everyone. If you are a tea bag fanatic that covers up your tea with milk and sugar or only drinks black tea, then perhaps this isn’t for you because you probably won’t notice any flavor difference in the brewed cup. However, if you just love different loose leaf teas and want to experience the various subtleties in the liquor of these different brews, then this is “THE TEA MAKER” worth saving for.Update November 23, 2012 – After using this tea maker for almost two years, I bought another one for myself as a backup or for when I want to make two different flavors of tea at a time. I cannot picture the day of having to live without this tea maker and since the price came down $50 (from my original price of $250), I decided to splurge and buy it for myself for Christmas. I have the Nesco TM-1 Teamaker, 1-Liter which is very good for brewing black tea but this Breville is the only tea maker I can’t part with.Update December 26, 2013 – I alternate between the two one-touch tea makers I purchased and I have come across one design flaw. I’ve noticed that water gets stuck in the carafe cover. I rinse the cover by hand and since it is made by two pieces screwed together, apparently the seal is not air and water tight. As a result, I hear water sloshing around inside. Sometimes I’m able to get it to drain out and other times it just stays in there. So far this is the only flaw I found after using one unit for 2 years and the 2nd one I purchased for 1 year.

I’m English, and have been drinking tea every morning for pretty much my entire life. Over the years I’ve tried dozens of teas, some bagged, some loose. I’ve tried many of the different tea-brewing gimmicks and soaking containers on the market, looking to make a better cuppa, but gave up on most of them fairly quickly due to the hassle of set up, brewing, and cleanup. Especially the cleanup. When cleaning time takes significantly longer than drinking time, there’s something whacky in the process.This tea maker popped up on Amazon during a search for something else, and I was intrigued enough to buy one. The unit is solidly made, easy to set up and easy to use, as well as easy to clean. It’s also kinda fun! You set leaf tea (although I have used tea bags too) in the strainer, fill the pot with water, and turn on the system. The hot plate warms the water to a predefined temperature, then the tea basket lowers into the hot water and steeps there for a number of minutes, then raises again to prevent the tea being too strong. You then pour the tea as needed from the carafe, which stays warm on the hot plate.The whole process is customizable as far as brewing temperature and the amount of time the tea steeps. There’s some presets for common tea varieties, but you can set up custom settings any time you want. The beauty of the system is it is consistent: once you get the settings to exactly what you want, it’s repeatable every time. You can also brew different teas using different settings, as some teas steep faster than others. And, since I like my tea more on the weak than strong side, I can get it set up perfectly for my taste. And I can trigger the brewing process by timer, so I can wake up to fresh tea! And watching the basket go up and down is fascinating!The carafe holds 1.5 litres, which is a lot of tea; however, setting the water levels much lower than 500ml (a large mug full) mean the tea won’t steep properly. The hot plate keeps the tea warm for an hour. The carafe is a solid glass unit, not flimsy in the least. The front panel is clean and easy to use, as well as easy to wipe down.Since getting this Breville Tea Maker in place, I’ve been experimenting with more leaf tea from local speciality shops, and that has been an interesting process in and of itself. I have been extremely pleased with this unit, and, if you’re a tea drinker, think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how good it is at making a decent cuppa. I got so used to tea bags it took a while to get used to working with this Breville unit, but now it’s a part of my mornings. For tea drinkers, strongly recommended. Considering what many people pay for a cup of coffee some mornings, I can easily justify the cost of this unit over a year’s worth of wonderful cups of tea.The Breville BREBTM800XL makes great tea. And its fun to watch, too :)Follow-up: I’ve had this tea maker in heavy use, almost every morning, for a couple of months now, and I absolutely love this device. Probably my favorite purchase for the kitchen in the past decade. I’ve experimented with various loose teas, strengths, and settled on a considerably wide set of favorites. Comparing to tea I buy at the local coffee shop, I can’t believe I used to like that stuff! I’ve bought two of these for friends and family, I like it so much.

No hay mucho que decir al respecto. Funciona increíblemente bien. Fácil de programar y personalizar. Se puede usar para preparar té y para simplemente calentar agua para café o para cualquier otra infusión. También puedes usar té de bolsa en la canasta. Un producto caro pero que vale cada centavo.