One Touch Tea Maker from Breville

One Touch Tea Maker

Not only does this brewer automatically brew tea and coffee at five different temperature settings, but the brew strength of each pot can be adjusted between mild, medium and strong.
Brew green tea, white tea, Oolong tea, black tea, herbal, or custom using the preset menu, which automatically adjusts water temperature for optimal steeping.
Customizable brew temperature and time, and backlit LCD shows the actual temperature and “time since brew.”
The 10-oz. removable tea basket automatically lowers into the water then lifts out to prevent oversteeping.
A magnetic brew mechanism results in a nearly silent brew cycle.
Monitor brew time and temperature with the backlit LCD display.
Features include Delay Start, Keep Warm and “Agitate” for loosening tea leaves and improving infusion.
Doubles as a hot-water kettle.
Includes dishwasher-safe tea basket and scoop.

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82 Reviews View all

  • “Got it! YAY! Happy dance! So I bought mine on ebay from a seller who seems to have the inside link on how to get these and resell them cheap! Mine was 180ish I don’t remember exactly how much but...” Read full review
    100
  • “I am back at home from my NYC trip, and… My brand new BREVILLE made it all the way back to Ecuador and through customs with my in one intact piece!!! Oooohhhh I am soooo happy! Yes, I did receive...” Read full review
  • “First use to make Long Life Oolong (oolong with peaches, apricots and almonds) from DavidsTea at medium strength. I received the Breville for a birthday gift, and I am freakin delighted with it....” Read full review
    100
  • “I am so excited – hubby finally gave me the green light to order my Breville this Friday! Can’t wait! happy dance” Read full review
    100

82 Reviews

100
807 tasting notes

Got it! YAY! Happy dance!
So I bought mine on ebay from a seller who seems to have the inside link on how to get these and resell them cheap!
Mine was 180ish I don’t remember exactly how much but it was under 190 including shipping!
It got here in TWO days! I know this is not an ebay seller review LOL but I was FLOORED to have it here on my counter SO FAST!
WOO HOOO

So now – thus far here are my thoughts:

PRO: SUPER easy to work. I figured I would have to have my husband show me at least a few times how to run it but I understood it right away and even setting the custom brew is idiot proof!

CON: You have to brew at least 2 cups of tea at a time. Thats okay when I only want one small cup I can use my regular kettle.

PRO: HUGE brew basket! Allows the leaves to really unfold but then again I have only brewed two cups at a time. I suppose if you made a whole pot and added the right amount of leaves they could get a little smushed in there – I will let you know when I do this.

PRO: Its not as big as I thought it would be over all – far smaller than my obnoxious Keurig coffee maker! So it does not take too much space on my counter! Yay! I don’t have enough space as it is!

PRO: IT looks PRETTY! I like shiny things – its shiny! LOL

PRO: Sturdy!

PRO: Keeps tea warm!

PRO: DOES in fact have a sound when tea is ready! I could not live without that feature!

MOre to come but those are my initial thoughts!

CHAroma

Ooooohh!!!!! Sounds like so much fun! I’m excited for you! Congrats!

tigress_al

This sounnds like a really cool device, making tea as easy as coffee!

Azzrian

:) thank you! Christy!
Tigress – yeah it is SO easy and helps if you tend to space off your steep or get busy with work while waiting on a steep! :)

SimpliciTEA

It does sound wonderful. You and LiberTEAS will have to compare notes (I think she has one, or one like it).

I am interested in hearing more (I occasionally tell me friends about these, and they always seem intrigued).

I love the phrase, Happy dance!

Hesper June

Yah!
I am so excited for you and I am so glad to hear that it is as wonderful as I had hoped…Someday I shall get one:)
I smiled when you said you like shiny things…I like shiny things too;)
Congrats, Azzrian!

KeenTeaThyme

Very cool – although I’m a bit jealous… ;) Could you send me the seller’s info? I’d like to acquire one of these this summer myself!

LiberTEAS

One thing that I learned pretty quickly with using my breville is that because it does keep the tea warm while it steeps (warmer than with other steeping methods, at least for me, unless I were to warm the pot AND use a cozy while it steeps, which is something I wouldn’t normally do. Warm the pot, yes, cozy while steeping, no), I lower the steep time by 30 seconds. If I would normally steep a tea for 3 minutes, it is now steeped in my breville for 2 1/2 minutes. The longer steep time results in more bitterness with this because of the warmer temperature in the brewing vessel.

You’re going to love this, I think. Now that I’ve had mine for a year or so, I don’t know how I lived without it.

Azzrian

Thanks for the tip Liber!
Keen I will PM you the info! :)
Thank you Hesper!! LOL yes shiny things distract me which is fine :)
Simplici – LOL thanks! I will make more notes as I experience more. Seems like Libra would be the guru on this! I am just really happy it is so easy to use :)

Missy

Yay! Glad you got it and it works awesomely. :D

Azzrian

Thank you Missy!!

ashmanra

Neat! I am glad it made you dance!

Azzrian

LOL well okay more of a wobble but hey I got up and MOVED some haha

Will Work For Tea

Soooo jealous of you!!!!! :) That’s awesome that you got one! The cost and the one con you listed are keeping me at an arm’s length from getting it. Look forward to your future tasting notes using your new toy! :)

Azzrian

If you have the funds – even if it means holding off on some tea for a little bit (providing you really have enough tea already) GO FOR IT! I mean if you would have to cut back on tea to the point of not having anything to brew it in then it would not make sense but if you can get this DO IT! I just did another little happy dance just now preparing my next tea for the day! I even said to hubby and daughter smiling so big “Its soooo neat I just push the buttons and it does what I say” ROFL silly I know but hey where else can one get that kind of service haha!
And yea its pretty and shiny and has lights on it! :)

Azzrian

OKay here is a CON: The beeper could be louder! Especially so I could use it as an alarm in the morning when my brew was done steeping! Yeah it could be louder but its good as long as you are not too far away.

Will Work For Tea

You enabler! LOL! Don’t this I can justify it until I’ve been at a job for a couple months. :) Hopefully it’ll happen soon though. I’ll just live vicariously through you until then! :D

RachanaC (Rachel)-iHeartTeas

Yay! Welcome to the family :)

Azzrian

LOL okay Will but when your ready let me know and I’ll PM you the link to this person’s ebay!
Thanks Rachel!!! :)

TeaBrat

I have been tempted by this as well, but it’s rare that I want so much of one tea at once. :)

Azzrian

Yes that is one of my cons as well. Usually I do one cup and resteep so in the cases where that is all I want its kind of a bummer that you have to do TWO cups because then it is two MORE cups in the resteep at least!
Or you waste the leaves OR like me you take the leaves out for a next day or later in the day brew. OR go ahead and steep it and put it in the fridge.
Regardless a one cup ability WOULD be nice!

Missy

Chill one cup for trying a tea iced?

Missy

Just think at the end of the day you could have a whole pitcher of iced tea ;)

Azzrian

Indeed! :)

Missy

Miss Sandy has one if I remember right and she loves it as well. I’ll have to start collecting cans! :D

Azzrian

We should have a breville fund where we donate change here and there – a sign up list for those “in need” and go in order as funds collected :)

Lucy

Lucky woman! YAY! :)

Azzrian

Thank you Lynne!

Missy

That’s a pretty awesome idea.

Azzrian

CON: Basket is a LITTLE hard to clean out but only because I don’t dump and rinse – I compost so its hard to get ALL of it out so I end up actually rinsing a fair amount out whereas with a regular steep basket I can get it all out to compost. Anyway small detail but Im posting everything I think of.

Azzrian

Pro: Warmer button – keeps tea warm for 30 minutes.
CON: No alarm, beep, or noise to indicate that the warm time is up! I would love if it alerted me so I could push the button again!

Azzrian

PRO: Forgot to mention – there is a secondary straining device (is that the right way to say it? Anyway….) at the pour spout. I like this as the basket:
CON: The basket is nice, no problem with stray tea particles for MOST teas a little dicey with SOME herbals, rooibos, etc but only minimal.
So the extra straining thing helps. And one can always use a strainer over the cup like a finnum.

Scott B

That hold feature sounds nice. My Zojirushi only has 3 presets and when a tea calls for brewing at a different temp like 185 or 160 you kind of need to drink as many cups as fast as you can before it drops too much.

Azzrian

Yeah exactly it is such a great feature! I just need to get used to remembering to go push the button again when I need more time.

LiberTEAS

@Azzrian: You know the strainer that we received with our first Steepster Select box? I use that daily to strain the tea as I pour it from the Breville teapot to my cup. One might think that it’s overdoing it a bit, but with the very small bits (especially in teas like chai) it does catch potential additional floaters. I’m not fond of floaters in my tea, so it’s really an easy thing to do to eliminate any potential floating bits.

Azzrian

I wish we had a LIKE button here lol good post LiberTEAS!

Erika M.

I have been eyeing this machine for a while…I would love to buy one in the near future. Could you please email me the name of this ebay seller? Thanks in advance…

Azzrian

Will do!

BoxerMama

How did you get it sooo cheap?! I want one but I don’t really want to spend $250+

Azzrian

PM me and I will send you the link to the person I got mine from – she lists them now and then. :)

Maitri

Okay, I’m coming to this thread months after it was posted. How do you like the Breville now? I’ve been looking at it and looking on eBay since you said you got a good price there. What did you consider a good price since they range widely? I’d really like to know and if you don’t mind sharing the seller?

Blessings,

Maitri

Azzrian

This is the seller http://myworld.ebay.com/foryou247 – they don’t have any items listed right now but you can see in their feedback they sell the Breville One Touch fairly often. I would message them and ask if they have any sitting around. I love mine! Now since I got my Zojiroushi I don’t use the Breville AS often but I still use it and love it when I do.
I use my breville when I want to make several cups of the same tea – like when wanting a pot to sit down with a book or movie. Otherwise I use my Zojurushi for sampling for reviews and one cuppers through out the day.
I paid 182.50 plus 13.44 Shipping on mine back then. Maybe they are priced even lower now – not sure.

CHAroma

What’s this Zojiroushi? I haven’t heard of it before…

Azzrian

Here are reviews on it http://steepster.com/teas/teaware/28510-zojirushi-champagne-gold-3-liter-water-boiler-and-warmer
I will PM this to you as well in case you are bad at looking at the updates like I am :)

bollie

Say there have you compared teas the old fashion way vs the breville tea maker xB TM800 xl ?
We would to see you compare a light green ..say a Japanese green using the tea maker vs the old fashion way hot water & pot .

I Have one of these tea makers and we always notice a “chemical taste” to our tea ,, particularly the more delicate varieties ie green , white and most good oolongs.

We also tried chlorinated water from the tap as well as filtered water ,,, filtered water appeared to make some difference , but we could still easily taste the " chemical"

In further observation there is a large silicon gasket separating the glass carafe section to the metallic base of this tea maker. As a result of the silicon contact with the hot water & tea we suspect that’s where the funny taste originates from ??

has anyone else found this to be true ?

Azzrian

I find that preparing greens the old fashioned was is far better than in the breville. Everything else – with exception of puerh of course is fine.
I prefer my greens gong fu style as opposed to the breville unless they are just some standard flavored green – then the breville is okay. Honestly though I would not prepare ANY of my PRIZED teas in the breville as I reserve those for sitting down and throughly enjoying and gong fu, for me, is part of that enjoyment. That is not to say you can’t make a quality tea in the breville but for the most part I agree with your statement.
Then again if you are stumbling around in the morning just needing that stand by black, or whatever tea like I often am then the breville is much better.
:)

emueller08

Azzrian- I have been looking for one of these at a decent price for so long. Is there anyway you could pm me the info? :) Great review btw!

Azzrian

Here it is but I will PM it to you as well http://myworld.ebay.com/foryou247

Nicholas G.

I can sometimes spend an HOUR making my tea before I go to work. I usually make a big ol’ thermos full (48+oz), so with that said, do you think this tea maker would really cut down on my tea making time? I mean I have to admit, I am not standing by the microwave waiting for my water to boil the entire time ( I multitask), but it still is a pain in the butt waiting for water to cool down to the proper temperature, etcetera. As for finding it on eBay, thank you for the great idea. I was pretty much decided upon getting it at Teavana.

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bookscats-and-tea

I bought my Breville last October, and I. LOVE. IT. I love it. If mine ever breaks, I will have to fork over for a new one, because I can never go back. Have you found a de-scaling agent you like? I’m finally getting around to de-scaling mine (almost a year later), but any guidance any of you have on de-scalers would be very welcome!

えりえるさん

Bought mine at a BB&B with those 20% off coupons. The reason being I don’t believe eBay is included in the authorized retailers required for warranty service noted in the manual.

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160 tasting notes

I am back at home from my NYC trip, and… My brand new BREVILLE made it all the way back to Ecuador and through customs with my in one intact piece!!! Oooohhhh I am soooo happy! Yes, I did receive an odd look from my boyfriend and mom when they saw me arrive carrying the box, and yes they are shocked at how much it costs, but it is completely and totally worth it!

I bought it in William Sonoma, my heart was set on it. I walked in and zoned in on it. Sadly they told me they had run out of them. I almost cried! I had saved up for it and even psychologically prepared to carry it home on the long trip… But I hadn’t even considered the idea that they might be out of it! Thankfully, I decided to ask if I could buy the one on display, and I could in fact, and even got a discount!!!! So, I was happy once again!

I have used it every day since I got home. I set the timer and in the morning my kitchen smells like tea and it makes getting ready for work 100 times more enjoyable. Also, when I get home late at night, it heats the water and my tea in a jiffy!

I was a tiny bit worried that the altitude of Quito and the change in air pressure that it causes would make the temperature fiction not work right… Surprisingly, I have had no problems. My tea tastes better than ever with the right temperate water! Usually water boils at a lower temperature here, so when it attempts to get the water to boiling temp it goes a bit crazy and bubbles extremely, but it manages!

So far I have not had any terrible issues with leaves sneaking through the basket, though I will not even try to make rooibos because I am sure that will be a mess! Also, I have to make sure to wipe it between flavored steeps because the flavor does tend to hang around for a while afterword and you can’t submerge it in water to wash thoroughly… Really, those are the only cons…

As for pros… There are sooo many! Waking up to freshly brewed tea, having your tea stay warm, having tea make it self and not worry about over brewing… I can go on and on! I have gotten in the habit of making enough of my morning tea to have a cup with breakfast and take a thermos of it to work with me. Delicious tea habit! Yay!

I have given myself the best early Christmas present ever!!!

ashmanra

Hooray! Isn’t it wonderful when something works out as well you hope? :)

Sil

YAY!!! that’s fantastic!

CHAroma

Awesome! I’m so happy for you! I’ve been contemplating buying one of these myself, and you may have just swayed me! You mention you can’t submerge it in water to clean it between steeps. Is it hard to clean?

LiberTEAS

I use my Breville one-touch to make rooibos, and I don’t have a problem at all. It’s a little more work to clean the basket after brewing because the rooibos try to get lodged through the holes, but, it’s not that much more work… it’s relatively easy. However, I have made a point to keep a strainer by my tea maker and run each cup through a strainer as I pour it. It’s a small step, and now that it’s habit I hardly realize I do it. It picks up any small, tiny floaters that might have made their way past the filter on the lid of the tea maker, and I really don’t catch much of anything … but very small, miniscule bits. But, I like the miniscule bits to be in my strainer vs. in my cup.

Ruby Woo Scarlett

I’ve been wanting this one for ages. So jealous. My problem isn’t so much the price (I could definitely save up for that) as it is the space :/

Stoo

I’ve been using a Breville One Touch Tea Maker for over a year. I love it! It truly does make a perfect cup of tea every time!

Ninavampi

I am sooo happy! It is my best spent money, space and effort ever! :)

Nik

I have the variable-temperature kettle Breville made before this one came out. I’ve been happy with it for a long time, but recently I’ve been thinking that I’d like to heat only as much water as I need, and for that I don’t need this massive kettle. The most I’ve ever made at once is probably about three cups. There are other shortcomings: there is a “minimum” mark on the kettle of 500mL, which is quite a lot of water to heat (and waste) if all you need is about 175mL; and while it’s a variable-temperature kettle, unlike the one-touch, it’s limited to the built-in presets and doesn’t allow for any customisation. Both models have a “keep warm” function, which is great; the one-touch’s is much longer at 1 hour than my kettle’s at 20 minutes.

There are two things that concern me: I am wondering if the one-touch also has a minimum, or if it is happy simply heating 1 tsp of tea and 6ish oz of water at a time. Also, the video I watched says that during the “keep warm” cycle, the tea continues to brew. If that’s true, that kind of sucks. Nobody wants the basket of loose tea sitting in the water for an hour! I wonder if it’s possible to manually raise the basket so that the brewed tea can be kept warm without continuing to brew.

I have to read more about it, but I think I’ve just talked myself into this upgrade. =)

Ninavampi

Hi Nik! Yes, this one still has a minimum at 500 ml, but I find that is is enough to make a big cup of tea, and have a tiny bit more to top it off.

As for the keep warm feature, it automatically takes the basket out for you! So you don’t terrible oversteep. I love it!

Nik

Ah ha, that’s good to know. They should correct their video, then, as it’s spreading incorrect information. Thank you! :D

eh.mio

Wowza! Only by reading your experience {which I relate every time I travel to the U.S. & smuggle back my goodies} I want it now! I’m currently using a Zojirushi water boiler with 3 different temperatures {so handy for white-green-black teas} & so far so good, but I was thinking of giving myself a nice upgrade since I would looove to keep my tea warm & leave the over brewing back in the past.

Lawrn

I am so happy to read good things about the Breville, it will be here in a day or so. Was not so sure I wanted to spend that much on (the practical me) boiling water, then I learned about tea, and suddenly it seemed like a very good idea!

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100
652 tasting notes

First use to make Long Life Oolong (oolong with peaches, apricots and almonds) from DavidsTea at medium strength.

I received the Breville for a birthday gift, and I am freakin delighted with it. One extremely important note: when you’re taking everything out of the box, DO NOT PUT THE CARAFE UNDER RUNNING WATER for a rinse and clean. The base has electronics in it.
The Breville demands a light wipe to clean it.

But I’ll happily put up with some diva behaviour. I have never tasted such exquisute oolong before. The constant temperature during steeping is an enormously good touch. And, of course, the water was at the best temp for oolong; with my kettle, I have to guess by how much steam is rising … not terribly accurate.

My one suggestion is to try oolong on the “weak” setting first. I did find the medium setting brought out a slight soapiness in the first few sips of the Long Life; I blame the dried fruit for that, though, not the Breville. I can’t wait to try a milk oolong in this today.

Everything worked beautifully — and silently.

And it’s shiny.

Michelle Butler Hallett

Been playing with the Breville all week. I am making tea in larger quanitites now — and drinking it — so I guess that means healthier me, or at least a good workout for my kidneys. I never much cared for tea made in a pot before, as it always seemed weaker to me than tea made by the cup or mug, even with an extra spoon of leaves “for the pot.” Got my beloved Britannia English Breakfast in there now, brewed at 5 minutes (a custom setting — apparently “strong” black tea steeps for 3 minutes in Breville-land), and it is FAHN. I do wonder at Farenheit temp readins and metric volume measures, but I can cope. If you drink a fair bit of tea, a Breville is a good investment. I’m really pleased with mine,

Michelle Butler Hallett

I see in another review a note about the tea scoop provided … it’s a tiny thing, a very scant teaspoon, and needly teas like Yunnan fall out. I suggest using your usual tea measure.

Michelle Butler Hallett

Tonight, I’m setting the timer so I can have some kick-arse Assam first thing in themorning. WIll report.

Batrachoid

Ooh, shiny! Happy birthday!

Michelle Butler Hallett

@ Baratchoid: tenk yew.

A note on brewing strength: using the basket cycle makes for stronger, much richer tea. Now I stick to 3 minutes when using the basket cycle. YUM.

Michelle Butler Hallett

Here I am, sipping some of my favourite English Breakfast, brewed by the cup in a filter … and ya know what? The Breville’s got me spoilt. Ruint! The basket function makes such rich tea and develops the flavour that much more that regularly steeped good tea is now starting to taste flat.

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100
4843 tasting notes

I am so excited – hubby finally gave me the green light to order my Breville this Friday! Can’t wait! happy dance

Jenn

Is there some sort of bug going around? My hubby just said last night that he thinks we should go ahead and pick up the Breville One Touch happiness maker this week too. “You drink so much tea and it really should be brewed properly.” EXACTLY :)

LiberTEAS

My gift certificate for Samovar expires on the 4th, and I told hubby that if I am to use it to purchase the breville, I need to do it soon. He said “you’ve waited long enough for it, go ahead and order it.” YAY!

Cofftea

One Touch happiness maker?! LOL That’s funny… it also sounds a bit wrong lol. Yay for hubby’s coming to the tea dark side LOL.

IllBeMother221B

Congrats. My dear husband said maybe somewhere down the line. I will take that as a future yes. I also think it’s funny that the note says you drank it. ;)

Cofftea

I agree LMB (I hope you don’t mind the abbreviation), but I’m glad that people have taken the initiative to start logging non-tea items here inspite of having no proper way to do that… although I was hoping such initiative would have inspired the steepster overlords to launch something more formal.

IllBeMother221B

I don’t mind at all. I agree it’s nice to see things being added. But it would be nice to have a more formal setting for said items.

TeaEqualsBliss

I’m jealous! :) But also happy for you!!!!

Jenn

I orderd my Brevile today! Squeeeeel!!! Let them have perfectly brewed tea :)

LiberTEAS

Yay! I will be ordering mine tomorrow morning! I think I may get up early just so that I can order it (hoping that they will ship it same day in order to get the process going before the holiday, but they probably won’t and I don’t expect them to. But it would be really nice if they did!)

Cofftea

What led you to order it online LiberTEAS? If I was going to bite the bullet and get one (still waiting for a few model changes), I’d be too anxious and want to pick it up in person… especially since, as of tomorrow, I only have to drive 20 min to get it.

LiberTEAS

Well, I guess I could go buy it in less than 20 minutes, but, I would have to pay $250 for it, as opposed to just $200. The $50 savings makes it worth the wait.

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97
431 tasting notes

Please be gentle this is my first ever video that I have made with the intent of sharing with all my tea friends. It is a little long and a little boring but still I hope it captures my excitement I was feeling when I finally got my first chance to use this lovely Christmas gift I received from my dear husband Ralph.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D08-Gu4CDAw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Enjoy!

As for the tea – The Milk Oolong I used turned out amazing. I absolutely enjoyed this just as I would have if I had made it the traditional way.

Indigobloom

Lucky girl!!! I want one of these… so very badly… *sighs
did the tea taste any different than when you’ve made it otherwise?

RachanaC (Rachel)-iHeartTeas

No difference in taste what so ever. I am very sensitive to taste and this was also my concern and was so thrilled when I experienced no trace of usual after taste or anything. The only reason I gave it a 97 instead of 100 is because you have to make a minimum of 500ml of tea (Just over two cups) and it is a bit challenging to clean because you can immerse or use running water on the external part of the carafe.

Indigobloom

nice! sucks about the 500ml. Makes multiple steepings a little awkward.

RachanaC (Rachel)-iHeartTeas

Oops…can’t immerse the carafe

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99
150 tasting notes

Why can’t I stop thinking about buying this beautiful machine? Why must it haunt my dreams? I think I may need it … N E E D it!!!!

Update: I now own this this glorious machine and I love it! I don’t have a single complaint.

QuiltGuppy

You need it. ;)
I love mine and use it every single day.

Jenn

Not helping :)

Indigobloom

when I get my own place, this will be one of my first investments! haven’t got the space now… *sighs
It’s one of my biggest motivators! lol

Jenn

I tried to convince my husband to agree to my ripping out our microwave in order to make room for a dehydrator. That didn’t work so I have just decided to embrace appliance mayhem. I have my eye on an ice-cream maker and a whipped filling injector as well. Embrace the mayhem :)

Indigobloom

ah I intend to! eventually… but the ’rents are not so tolerant of my tea ocd as Steepster folks :)

LiberTEAS

fingers crossed I hope to order my breville (finally) in a week or two.

Jenn

Indigobloom, ahhh roomates. I tolerate action figures and an entire room dedicated to video games, so certain husbands have to suck it up when it comes to my tea OCD ;)

Jenn

LiberTEAS, you’re a lucky gal! May I ask where you’d be buying it from ? The best price I found was through Williams Sonoma at $245.

LiberTEAS

If I order it by 7/4/11 I’ll be ordering it from Samovar, because I have the $50 gift certificate for them (otherwise, I’ll have to spend that on tea!) If not, then we will probably go to Sur La Table in Portland and pick one up (or possibly Williams Sonoma).

Indigobloom

Jenn: that’s not such a bad deal! Then again, I don’t mind action figures lol
—Mum actually thinks that all this loose leaf is killing my immune system cuz it’s not regulated and who knows what they put in there! Oi….

Jenn

Indigobloom, mothers find the strangest things to worry about! My mother-in-law gave me a bit of fertility advice the other day. Apparently, all of my moving around (working out) isn’t helping me get pregnant and I need to eat a steak. sigh

Indigobloom

oh dear… well, if you like steak, it IS tasty! not sure how it goes with tea though. Maybe a nice Lapsang? :P
They say Mothers know best… but in this case, I’m too much in love (w/ tea) to care!!

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612 tasting notes

Wordy birdy!

I will probably update/edit this as time goes on given I’ve only had my Breville less than a week (eeee!), but I’ve made a lot of tea for a lot of different situations now so I feel comfortable piecing together some thoughts. Keep in mind, this is hyper personalized in terms of my quirky tea making preferences and needs.

First off, I am as impressed as everyone else about how nice the quality of the parts are. The kettle does not feel flimsy or especially breakable despite being glass. I was a little nervous the magnet mechanism would seem overly delicate, fragile and fiddly, but it’s sturdy and straightforward. I also like that the countertop real estate this takes up feels pretty small but the kettle houses a surprising volume of water (1.5L, I think). The brew basket is even roomier than I expected, so I don’t think I’ll ever have to worry about fluffy teas feeling cramped even when I’m putting in enough for 5 cups of tea.

As for all the programming stuff: it works as described, intuitive and easy with a straightforward interface (the “program the night before for fresh tea in the morning” has a few more steps, but if you don’t plan on unplugging your kettle much that shouldn’t be a big deal).

This is also the first glass kettle I’ve ever had, so I can watch the stages up to boiling (which hopefully will help me get better at eyeballing without tech/thermometers some day).

Now for some kinda-cons. The issue I’ve seen hinted at here and there but rarely explicitly described about the tea tasting differently—it seems pretty clear to me this is because of the design of the brew basket (it’s not a million little holes all around like mesh but solid metal with relatively few holes on the bottom, so the degree of direct contact between leaf and water isn’t what I’m used to) combined with the fact when the basket lowers into the tea and it’s steeping the temperature remains constant, at the prescribed brewing temp, as opposed to pouring leaves in an infuser basket or tea pot, pouring the water over them, and letting the tea steep in cooling water. (By the way, I know there’s a difference because I made a point to brew staple favorites the first few days I had it.) My quick fix for this is to adjust all the steeping parameters down from what I’d use if I was making tea traditionally—if I’d normally make a tea at 212F for 4 minutes, in the Breville I set it for 200F at 2 minutes. I’m going to do a side by side soon with all different types of teas to get my adjustment scale down for good; I’ve kind of been winging it so far with good if not always stellar results.

More problematic, the tea continues to intensify even after the basket lifts out of the water, and even if the keep warm setting is not used. I know this because you can see the tea get darker and darker in the kettle as it sits, and when you pour a second cup it’s noticeably darker (I can compare my cup when I go for seconds to my husband’s still-half-full first cup of tea) and tastes different, usually more bitter. There is an obvious solution to this—remove the basket from the tea maker completely once it’s done steeping—but that’s a little tricky given the hot steam, and also, the whole point of having it brew the tea for you is not having to do something like that, something akin to just using a finum or forlife in your cup in the first place. Ah well. My theory about it is that somehow just being amidst the hot steam in the kettle leads to condensation and dripping more tannin out of the tea. I will note that Breville admits this happens, too—I can’t remember if it’s in the manual or maybe the Amazon description or Breville website, but I know I’ve seen a one sentence mention from the horse’s mouth somewhere. So there’s that. I was prepared for it.

The other thing is, and this is understandable, the Keep Warm function is really only for tea; what I mean is, it works well if you’ve brewed tea and just want a pot of it to stay drinkably warm for a while (it will keep it warm for 1 hour; by the way, the count up as soon as it’s done making tea, so you know how long it’s been sitting, is a nice little touch). If you use the Breville as a variable temp kettle (something that was essential to me given the price tag since I knew the aforementioned cons would mean I’d still be doing things the usual way a lot of the time), the Keep Warm function won’t keep the water at the programmed temp for an hour or at all after the right temp is reached and it beeps (granted, this is a lot, probably too much, to ask of a kettle as opposed to a sealed water heater—I have a cheap variable temp kettle that does this hypothetically, but at higher temps it doesn’t take long at all for the water to completely steam away). I have had a desire for a while now to have a set up (probably in my living room) so I could sit on the couch reading or watching TV with a pot or gaiwan of green or oolong tea and just keep resteeping from a generous source of constantly maintained appropriate temp water without having to go to the kitchen; the more experience I get with tea gadgets the more I realize the two best options for that sort of thing are a variable temp kettle whose contents are then poured into a preheated vacuum sealed thermos (my current method) or one of those fancy Zojirushi variable temp water heaters (maybe someday—was really hoping the Breville and that, both biiiig ticket items, would overlap more in their uses but alas).

As for maintenance/cleaning/upkeep, I—knock on wood—foresee this being pretty great in that regard. Like any electric kettle you can’t immerse the base in water, but the mouth of it is much more open than most kettles I’ve had, and the glass means you can see what you’re doing inside it as you clean it. It definitely retains odors—I made Queen Catherine in it one morning and everything smelled like QC for the next couple days until I did a thorough baking soda clean—so you might want to watch out for that. The basket and lid can apparently go right into the dishwasher, though so far I’ve simply been rinsing them clean. The interface on the dock seems like it’d just need the occasional wipe down to stay clean (I hope).

So. I’m quite pleased with the design and quality of this thing, how much thought and care went into it. That said, I don’t feel this takes the place of other ways of making tea at all—I still find you get a better experience with appropriately hot water and a set-up that lets you smell the brewing process and all that. And it definitely doesn’t take the place of something like the Zojirushi heaters, which seem better suited if the majority of your tea drinking is gongfu style or generally Eastern (like using a kyusu and resteeping greens a zillion times) as opposed to “set it and forget it” big pots of tea Western style. But the “wake up to freshly brewed tea of any kind, nice and warm and ready” feature, and the freedom of knowing when I want to make tea for my husband and myself I no longer HAVE to do the whole “5 minutes to boil, then 5 more minutes steeping, and don’t walk away lest you forget it and it gets cold” hover-dance—I can set it up, walk away as long as I like (within an hour), and it’ll be ready for me—is super duper welcome. I think the Breville’s going to be go-to for teas I don’t think of as precious or finicky—first-thing-in-the-morning brisk blends, the flavored treats we share for afternoon tea, no-caf tisanes right before bed. And for everything else, it makes a good variable temp kettle. I’m definitely happy I’m lucky enough to have it now (best Christmas evar), I just don’t think it is the last word in tea making set ups, especially if you like resteeping/gongfu/Eastern style prep.

keychange

Thanks for such an incredibly detailed review. I toyed with the idea of getting this for myself, but hesitated because I wondered if there were too many buttons and settings and stages and menus and what have you for a blind person to operate it. And then I realized that I like my keurig for dispensing water and my brewing basket for steeping, and if it ‘aint broke don’t fix it and all that sort of thing. I’m still excited about your upcoming review for the super special insanely amazing travel mug!

TheTeaFairy

Wow, that was one hell of a review, very insightful :-)

boychik

Its always fun to read your reviews. My hubby got me Breville variable and I’m pretty happy with it. Those tea thermometers were not accurate and I was always guessing( boiling and then cooling for few min depending if its green or oolong ). Now I don’t have to guess. And greens do taste better this way.

caile

That is a great review!

Tuscanteal

I’m glad you like your new tea maker! I adore mine. It’s interesting seeing your perspective on it. I don’t steep some of the more sensitive teas that you were describing, so I haven’t had the same feelings. I also don’t feel that it gets stronger as it sits in the pot, but now I’m going to pay more attention. I rarely make more than 500ml though, so that could be why. As for getting rid of the taste of the previous tea, I’ve started a habit of rinsing right after I’m done with the pot with a little GreenWorks soap and hot water. I find this takes care of that until I do a full clean up ever 2 – 3 weeks. I boil the water with the basket in it with baking soda and let stand for the hour. Then take an old (clean lol) sock and wipe up all the tannin that accumulates. It seems to be working great for me. I don’t dishwash the basket either.

ifjuly

aw, thanks guys! and boychik, no prob; i know the site hiccups sometimes. (:

keychange, i don’t think i’d recommend the breville because while the interface buttons are raised and tactile, there’s a digital display and no sound-based way of confirming which settings you’ve picked—they toggle through by pushing a single button for the tea type and time, and the arrow buttons to customize temp and time are confirmed through the digital display as well. the only sound-based thing at all is when the basket rises up to its original position after steeping when it beeps three times. the digital display is not large either. i’ve been considering a keurig-like hot water set up, where it just dispenses from a pump thing, for the living room…also to pack for travel. agreed about “if it ain’t broke”!

Tuscanteal, a sock sounds like a really good idea for wiping out tannin stains! will have to try that…i already use one to clean my window blinds. thanks for that tip!

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100
158 tasting notes

This is so great. I’ve had mine for a little over a month now and I use it multiple times a day. I now drink MUCH more tea thanks to the convenience of this appliance. Definitely worth the money.

At first I was a bit irked by the short cord but then I read that it’s a safety precaution so children don’t pull it by the cord off of the counter while water is boiling and harm themselves. So that’s actually a great idea.

The holes do let very small leaves through but you can easily solve this problem by placing this in your cup while you pour your tea – http://www.amazon.com/FORLIFE-Extra-fine-Infuser-Porcelain-Dish/dp/B001JP1KPO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312356616&sr=8-1 – I searched high and low to find the infuser with the smallest holes out there – and THIS is it folks, I’ve ordered several of these for myself, friends and family.

Best tea maker out there!

Geoffrey Norman

Damn! I still need to get me one of those. If only to just stare at it it.

Cofftea

You know I’m OCD with my steeping parameters when even the customization ability of this isn’t good enough for me lol.

Ashley Bain

haha. yeah, I’m pretty OCD myself but it’s quite the great little machine.

Cofftea

Yeah I’d definitely want a lower min temp, lower min water volume, the ability to completely customize the time (not just in 30 sec increments) and the ability to completely customize the temp (not just in 5 degree increments).

Cash & Chris

Oh you’re totally just bragging by linking to THIS review ;P I’ve been intrigued by this since I first heard about it, glad to hear good things. My friend’s got a Zarafina one that worked really well for him, but apparently they don’t make that anymore.

Ashley Bain

The customization features and and water capacity on the Breville beats the Zarafina. It’s nice to look at, too. It’s totally worth it. It’s not perfect, but it’s the closest thing yet.

Cristen

Thanks for posting the finest strainer you found. I ordered one with anticipation to use with my Breville that I just got today!! Can’t wait to get home and try it!!

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100
55 tasting notes

I wrote a very long review of this earlier. It got truncated, so I tried again and again. It posted the first and the last line, and chopped out the middle. And, so I start again.

I love, Love, LOVE this product. It was well worth the purchase price.

The best part is the ease with which it is programmed. Most teas, press a button or two, and off it goes. Perfect every time.

The downside is the mesh in the steeping basket is pretty fine, so most of my rooibos end up all over the place. However, the mesh when you actually pour the tea is fine enough to catch most of it.

Not going to write out all the pros and cons again. Maybe later.

In the event I haven’t mentioned this already, I love this thing.

LiberTEAS

I absolutely love my Breville, and I don’t know how I managed without it. I’ve said this many times before, but it is easily the most used appliance in the house, second only to the fridge and that’s only because that’s always running.

As far as the fine mesh of the basket not being fine enough, I actually strain as I pour too, not just with the mesh on the pour spout, but I strain it through a fine mesh strainer as I pour, and this catches anything that the basket or pour spout misses. I’m a no floaters kind of girl.

Sandy Stith

Thanks for the tip!

TeaBrat

ahhh – you all and your Brevilles, so very tempting!!! I have no room for this in my tiny little kitchen though!

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100
193 tasting notes

You know how sometimes you hear the question if you could take one thing with you on a deserted island what would it be? Well the Breville one touch would be my answer.
Although I was a little apprehensive about the price I am so glad we made the purchase! I use it multiple times during the day and absolutely love setting the autostart feature to have tea ready for me in the morning!!!

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