Where to Buy: Breville USA
Product Description:
The new Breville Tea Maker is a revolutionary tea experience. The fully automated tea basket moves down, then up, gently agitating the leaves to precisely infuse your tea. Push the basket button and watch the basket cycle in and out of immersion. Seeing is believing.
Learn more about this product here.
Product Review:
Yeah, I know I reviewed this before. I’m revisiting this product because if you’ve been reading my recent posts, you are aware that I recently had a tragedy involving my beloved One-Touch Tea Maker: I broke the carafe or “jug” as it’s called by the manufacturer, Breville.
I was devastated. I was so depressed about it that I failed to write reviews for a few days.
This appliance – seriously! – is my most used appliance in the household, second only to the refrigerator. The refrigerator counts as the most used only because it’s always running. But, I operate my Breville One-Touch more often than I use the stove or washing machine or toaster or any other appliance besides the one appliance that needs to be plugged in and running constantly.
So, when I broke the carafe, I was heart-broken. I’ve had this appliance for four years now and had become dependent upon it. It not only brews my black and green teas as well as tisanes perfectly, but, it also heats water to the perfect temperature so that I can brew Oolong, yellow and white teas properly. (I brew Oolong and Yellow teas in my gaiwan and my white teas are steeped in a separate teapot because I find that the bulk of the white tea leaves works better in a ceramic teapot.) How was I supposed to heat water now? Ack!
Yeah, I know. #FirstWorldProblems right? Or maybe it should be #SpoiledTeaBloggerProblems.
Anyway, I broke the carafe on a Sunday. I visited the Breville website where the parts and accessories are sold. And there, I could buy a replacement lid, the power base, basket, basket lid, even the cute little tea scoop that comes with the unit. But the jug was no where to be found on the website. What? How could that be? I sent off a customer inquiry email to inquire about how I could go about getting a replacement carafe.
By the next day, my devastation has turned into despair, so rather than waiting and hoping for a reply from the inquiry email, I called the customer service line the next day only to learn that the reason they don’t sell the jugs is that it’s not cost efficient. It’s a complex piece of equipment, and apparently it would be too expensive for them to manufacture them for sale. My option at that point was to buy another unit.
My husband assured me that we’d get another one, after all, he knew how important it was to me. (I have a pretty good hubby, even though he doesn’t always understand my obsession with tea.)
Later that Monday afternoon, I received a call from the customer service department of Breville, and it was as though a ray of glorious sunshine shone down on my doom and despair! They offered to send me a refurbished One-Touch Tea Maker at no charge to me if I sent them my still in working condition power base. So, I sent them my power base, and I was notified immediately by email that my “order” was being processed. My new (well, refurbished!) Tea Maker arrived a week later and now I’m brewing tea again! Yay! A happy ending to my depressing tale.
There are two reasons why I am revisiting this review:
- In its absence, I was reminded of just how awesome the Breville One-Touch really is. If you are a frequent tea drinker – if you drink more than one or two cups of tea a day, you really SHOULD get yourself one of these remarkable appliances. You will love it. Yeah, I know there’s a certain charm to brewing tea the old fashioned way, but, once you realize how much more tea you will enjoy with one of these devices … you will be happy you got one for yourself. It’s the best thing invented since Shennong had a few leaves from a tea tree fall into his cup of hot water. (Check out that story here.)
- I really felt I needed to comment on Breville’s spectacular customer service! Hey, they didn’t HAVE to send me a refurbished unit at no cost. I had my Breville for four years! And I used it every single day of those four years, save a day or two when we might have been on a day trip or something (we haven’t been on vacation in a while!) I am BIG on customer service. I refuse to buy another Samsung product because I received shoddy service from them many years ago. And by the same token, if I find a company that treats me well, I’m going to be sharing my story of love for that company to anyone who will listen. I love Breville, and when I buy other products (I need a blender soon as well as a food processor!) I’m going to be looking for Breville because I know they’re a brand I can trust.
Thank you Breville! Thank you for your exceptional customer service! You have a customer for life!
PRODUCT REVIEW: One-Touch Tea Maker from Breville
Where to Buy: Samovar
Product Description:
The new Breville One-Touch Tea Maker is a revolutionary tea experience. The fully automated tea basket moves down, then up, gently agitating the leaves to precisely infuse your tea. Push the basket button and watch the basket cycle in and out of immersion. Seeing is believing.
Different tea varietals such as Black, Green, White, and Oolong require exact water temperatures and controlled brew times to allow their unique flavors and aromas to develop during brewing. The One-Touch Tea Maker eliminates the guesswork so you can enjoy a perfect cup of tea, every time.
Fully programmable for all types of tea, water temperatures, and steep times. The moving tea basket allows water to circulate freely around the individual tea leaves for maximum infusion. Set the timer and wake up to the aroma of your favorite brew. The German-made Schott glass kettle is durable and stain resistant.
Relaxation – from start to finish.
Suggested Retail Price: $249.00
Review:
I want to preface this review by saying I have wanted one of these devices for well over a year, but, let’s face it, $249.00 is quite a lot of money to shell out, especially for what would appear to be a uni-tasker (borrowed that term from Alton Brown) But, since I drink tea all day, every day, it eventually became a price I was willing to pay. Perhaps the occasional tea drinker may see no need for such a lavish price for a tea maker, but, those of you who drink tea as often as I do, I think you probably know where I’m coming from.
My First Impression: THRILLED! I was practically stalking my front window watching for the FedEx truck! In fact, once while I was waiting, a FedEx truck did drive down my street but was delivering (or picking up) something from the house a few doors down. So when it finally arrived, I think I actually did a dance. I can’t tell you if I did or not, because the details are all a little blurry – yeah, I was that excited. Samovar’s shipping of this product was very prompt, and they have excellent customer service too!
It was simple to clean and prep for the first use, just a quick sudsy bath for the tea basket, tea basket lid and tea pot lid, and then fill the kettle to the max fill line with water and bring it to a boil, discarding the water once it’s boiled. Then it’s ready for use. It almost seemed too easy to me, so I decided to do a second boiling, just to make sure I was rid of any production dust.
It’s simple to use too. Just measure out the desired amount of water in the kettle, and then measure the appropriate amount of tea into the basket, snap on the basket lid, and slide the basket onto the magnetic thingamabob in the kettle. It’s a strong magnet! Then click the controls, I used the custom controls for my first steeping as I’m still getting familiar with the device.
The resulting tea? Fabulous! Just as good as if I would have poured the boiling water into the teapot, set the timer and allowed the tea to steep, and then strained the leaves from the brewed tea. Only… I didn’t have to do any of that. I just had to add water and tea to the device and it did the rest. It could also be argued that the tea from the Breville One-Touch is even better than the old-fashioned process, because the water retains its heat as it steeps, which in turn allows the leaves to steep properly.
Cons: Well, having only owned it for a couple of weeks now, I don’t have a lot of cons to discuss, but, there are a couple of things that I would change for future models. First, I would like a louder chime. I don’t know if this is something I can regulate myself, I guess I should consult the manual! The chime is very quiet and unless I’m in the kitchen, I can’t hear it.
Second, I would like better custom controls. I can only adjust steeping time at 30 second intervals, and I would like to adjust them by 10 or 15 second intervals. Thirty seconds is a large span of time when it comes to brewing tea.
There are those who might suggest that the short cord is a “con” but, in my opinion, it is a “pro” – I like the short cord, because my kitchen has many outlets throughout the kitchen, and I seem to have an abundance of excess “cord” from the various appliances that I have on my counters. This cord doesn’t get in the way. It is the perfect length, and I like that there is a spindle at the bottom of the base that allows me to wrap or unwrap the cord, which allows me to keep the cord at a manageable length.
Overall, I love my Breville One-Touch and I’d recommend it to anyone who drinks more than a pot of tea on a daily basis. I’ve had my tea maker for less than a month now, and I don’t know how I’ve lived this long without it! It has not only become an essential appliance in my home, but, it is also probably second only to the refrigerator the most used appliance in my house.