How to remove smoky odor from Breville Tea Maker
Hi all,
I’m a relatively novice tea drinker. I order Lapsang Souchong Imperial from Upton Tea and while I love the smoky flavor very much, I made the mistake of brewing it on my Breville Tea Maker. Now the whole pot smells smoky. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I don’t want it all my other more delicate teas to smell like it.
Any suggestions of how to remove the smoky smell? Lesson learned. Next time, I’ll brew Lapsang Souchong Imperial on a separate teaware.
Thanks for your help.
I realized pretty quickly not to make smoky teas in any utensil that contains plastic, rubber, has cracks, is metal, or is really made of anything other than glass. It happened to my tea libre. I soaked it in vinegar, which DID get rid of the smell but caused some acid tarnish, so I’d be very careful.
According to the manual the follow steps are how to remove the build up of tannin, but I think it may help in removing the smokey odor, as well.
1) Fill the glass jug with water up to the 1500ml mark
2) Add the juice of one lemon as well as the lemon and boil. Allow to cool. For best results, leave to soak overnight. Discard the solution. Fill the glass jug with clean water, boil, then discard the water. Repeat if necessary.
3) Add 2 tablespoons of baking soda and boil. Allow to cool. For best results, leave to soak overnight. Discard the solution. Fill the glass jug with clean water, boil, then discard the water. Repeat if necessary.
4) Add 6 tablespoons of white vinegar and boil. Allow to cool. For best results, leave to soak overnight. Discard the solution. Fill the glass just with clean water, boil, then discard the water. Repeat if necessary.
5) Dry thoroughly with a soft, lint-free cloth before using.
Those steps are directly out of the manual… so I hope that helps. :)
As for the lid, basket, and basket lid… those can be washed/soaked in soapy water, which may help remove the smokey aroma as odors tend to latch on to plastic more than glass.
Hmm, thanks, I’ll have to give that a try this weekend. I tried soaking the base with just lemon juice and it didn’t do me any good.
I found using cream of tartar in mine got rid of stains and odour and funny taste better than anything else I tried.
Thanks everyone. I washed it last night and then did a boil cycle with lemon juice, but the smell was still there. However, this morning it was much diminished. I guess it was good that I only did one pot of the Lapsang Souchong Imperial. I think in a couple of days, it’ll be totally gone.
Jessie – that’s an interesting observation. What teaware did you have to use cream of tartar on?
I’ve used it on white porcelain to get rid of stains, but it worked amazingly well for me on my Breville. After a year of use it was looking pretty grungey despite all my attempts with vinegar, lemon, and baking soda. The flavour of my teas was really affected so after this discovery I went to the bulk store and got a big bag of cream of tartar to keep on hand.
I do have good luck with lemon juice and vinegar especially getting lingering tastes out of things like my travel mug! I’m glad you found a solution, but if it gets really bad give the COT a try.
Jessie – how much did you use on your Breville pot? I may have to give it a try today. How did you deal with the smell on the lid and basket?
I basically just took a pinch, sprinkled it over the damp jug interior, and rubbed with a cloth. For the lid, I only have an issue with the little metal strainer bit, and I do the same for it. I haven’t found a good solution for dealing with the basket apart from painstakingly scrubbing all the little nooks and crannies with a damp cloth and COT. It is really tedious but makes a noticeable difference in not leaving weird flavours behind. Dishwashing, lemon juice, etc. didn’t do much for my basket since it gets so much buildup.
Cream of tartar is supposed to work well with vinegar so something I’ve thought of doing is putting the unit through a long steep cycle or two with diluted vinegar and some COT (I don’t have any guesses how much).
Good luck! Report back.
I will certainly report back if I try the COT method. Right now, after a couple pot of black teas, it would appear the smell have dissipated to the point of non-existent. I guess I clean it out quick and good immediately after the first brew of the Lapsang Souchong! It helps to not let the ‘smoke’ stick around! ;)
Login or sign up to leave a comment.