Kickstarter - Qi Aerista - What do you all think?

I got in at the first 24 hour price. I had talked to at least one person about it – someone who had seen it in action at one of the tea ‘fests’ or shows and she told me good things about it. Based on what she has said to me, it performs well.

I will also say that during that 24 hour period, they had a live demonstration going on where they answered questions live – and I asked a question there regarding the app as I have a friend who is vision impaired and I thought the app would enable her to utilize a tea maker. They answered my question right then and there and so I think that any questions you have, they would get back to you in a reasonable time frame with the answers.

I already have a Breville and have had it for about 5 or 6 years now but I found myself very interested by this and since I was able to get in at the nice price – I decided to treat myself.

I just realized my post didn’t show up for some reason.

Thanks for the information. It’s great you got in so early and got the better price!

I sent my husband the link about it and he told me to buy it. I was a bit surprised and then he said, “I’ve been wanting a coffee press.” I told him it’s not a coffee press but a tea maker and he was like.. “I know.” I don’t understand him sometimes. He didn’t even realize it was a link to Kickstarter when he looked at it.

Is the visually impaired person you were speaking of “keychange”? I talked to her on here a few years ago when I was more active on the forums. I could imagine if it interfaces well with the app it would probably be a good thing. Not being able to see the app in action makes it hard to know. I’m glad they were receptive to questions. Customer service is such an important part of a business… I hope they do well.

I’m still deciding if I want to invest in the “experiement”. I’ve considered a Breville before but couldn’t justify the cost for the amount of tea we drink. This being a promotional price and a little cheaper makes it intriguing, although I hope the first model out works well enough. I’m going to do a little more research to see what else is out there and decide if it’s worth the cost for us. Sure looks cool!

We don’t drink tea everyday so part of my uncertainty, you’re right. I am intrigued by it’s cold brewing as well since we make alot of iced tea in the summer months that I use an electric ice tea maker for. I’ve never made cold brewed iced tea for lack of time/space & I don’t think about cold tea until I’m ready to have some. I might wear the thing out making cold brewed if I got it. Lol

I had a variable temperature kettle and it died in less than a year hence my hesitancy to spend $ for another one and have it do the same. I figure the Qi Aerista is about $170 now which would take roughly 4 years to recover if I was spending $40 a year on an electric kettle- that’s what I paid for mine I’m not sure what they cost now. I’m assuming I would spend a little more than that but haven’t looked to see what’s out there but would certainly get a different brand. But that’s all assuming the Qi lasts that long. Hopefully it would. I will have to do some research before I decide. Unfortunately all of this right at Christmas time when I’m spending enough time trying to get the right gifts for friends/family.

I hear you on the tea discrimination :) When I first got really interested in tea the only place in town that had loose leaf was the health food store and I had no way of knowing how long it had been sitting on their shelf. Now one of the grocery stores has a little. They keep changing brands. They started out with a couple of Tiesta varieties, then switched to about 4 Harney & Sons, now they have about 4 Tiesta and a few Twinnings, Harney is gone. They do have a few more tea pots than they used to, but very few. All of that over the course of about 3 years. If I want loose leaf I have to order it or find it when we are out of town.

I knew 52Teas changed hands but didn’t know who was doing it now. Congratulations on your adventure! I hope it’s going well for you! I think it would be fun to dream up new flavors, but the business side of it would maybe make it less fun. My husband and I have a side business doing property management for ourselves and a few other people. He works full time at the factory and we have always expected the plant to close at some point. We started the business to be prepared for something else when that happens. I find I love the work/jobs we do, but the paperwork is less my joy. It’s ok, and needs done, but I’d rather be out helping my husband fix things- which I do :) I would have trouble letting someone else do the paperwork though.