Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
219 of 220 people found the following review helpful.
This is the One You Have Been Waiting For
By Jon S. Akhtar
I have had 2 other machines. The Zarfina and the TriniTea, neither was truly impressive. This machine blew my socks off.First - the construction. Stainless steel, glass, black rubber, and plexiglass for the kettle handle.Second - totally customizable brew temperature (160 degrees - 212 degrees, 5 degree increments), customizable brew time (1:00 to 10:00 in 0:30 increments).Third - amazing magnetically suspended tea basket moves in and out of the tea during brewing.Fourth - keep warm feature, timed start feature, it also keeps track of the time since you brewed the tea so you can track its freshness.Fifth - can operate as an electric kettle, and just heat water if you leave out the basket.One thing to consider is that the kettle cannot be placed in the dishwasher. To clean you boil water or vinegar for 3:00.The one thing I feel is that I have gotten every bit of my money's worth from this item. Nothing about it feels cheaply made. I'd recommend this to anyone who loves tea.
122 of 125 people found the following review helpful.
Best Cup of Tea You'll Ever Make
By B. Lucey
After hearing about this tea maker during a recent visit to a tea shop, I logged in to Amazon to read the reviews, and scoured the web for videos of this tea maker in action. The reviews are correct - this is an incredible appliance.PROS:- effortless to make perfect tea- tea comes out exactly right- tea prepared at the proper temperature- water temperature is held while tea is steeped- can be set to brew tea at a programmed time- can also function to just make hot water- keeps tea hot for 1 hour after brewing- includes a tea scoopCONS:- pricy, but worth the money- carafe cannot be washed under running water- electric cord is a little shorter than I would like (would've preferred 4-6 inches longer)After unpacking the tea maker, all that's needed is a quick rinse of the basket, and running the tea maker on the hot water cycle with a full pitcher of water, and then you're good to go.I'm primarily an herbal tea fan, so I grabbed one of my favorite loose teas and gave it a shot. The recommended setting for a strong brew was 5 minutes at 212 degrees. After putting the tea in the basket and hitting the button, the water quickly reached its steeping temperature, and then like magic, the tea basket was gracefully lowered into the water. After the set amount of time, the basket was raised back up, and the tea was ready to drink. A few bits of the loose tea escaped the basket, but a well-designed pour spout features a mesh screen to prevent these bits from making it to your cup.The device comes preprogrammed for herbal, black, white, green, and oolong teas, but also has a custom mode where you can set your brewing temperature and steeping time. For each of the preprogrammed teas, you can select a brew strength of strong, medium, or mild. I prefer my tea strong, and with the strong setting, the tea came out perfect. If you wanted to make iced tea, you would probably need to set it to custom.The steel look of the base is sleek and modern, and the illuminated buttons (when pressed) make it easy to determine which cycle the tea maker is using for preparing the tea. The backlit LED display also indicates the selected temperature and steeping time. Once the tea cycle begins, it indicates the current water temperate, then counts down the steeping time once steeping has begun. After steeping completes. the LED displays the amount of time since the tea was brewed, up to 1 hour.Tea making really could not be any easier than using this product. I was a little unsure of spending this much money on a tea maker, but the tea comes out amazing - better than when I've brewed/steeped it manually. I'm seriously considering purchasing a second for my office.
84 of 87 people found the following review helpful.
Not Made in Germany, But Still Pretty Awesome
By T. Adlam
It's easy to mistake this brewer as fine German engineering, but it's "designed in Australia" and "manufactured in China"--frankly, I have no idea where Germany comes into play or why it's written in the logo on the carafe.With that said, I've waited a couple of months to write my review because I wanted the "ooh, shiny!" effect to wear off; that way there would be more objectivity based on experience and the gremlins hiding in the gears could be flushed out.When I first opened the package the instruction manual intimidated me because it was the size of a small novel, but after a few minutes it became clear that operation would be much simpler than I anticipated (and it was), and I marveled at the brewer's sleek brushed metal style (it's one kitchen appliance that can be displayed on the counter without embarrassment).While setting it up I took note of the carafe's weight--it's on the hefty side. Since I generally only make 2-4 cups at a time, it's not a big problem, but when making a full pot or cleaning it, two hands are usually necessary for stability.On my first few go 'rounds, I used the preset options until my comfort level improved and with a string of great results under my belt I decided to try some of the custom settings. My favorite so far is the automatic brewing--it's like a personal tea butler. You put in the water and tea, set the timer, go to bed and wake up to hot freshly brewed tea. Now if only it could figure out a way to pour itself, add milk and sugar to my liking, and shuttle itself to my bed.... The only quirk is that if you suffer a power surge or outage lasting more than a few seconds, you'll need to reset the clock.The variable settings, such as changing the brew times in 30 second increments and water temp. in 5 degree increments, allow you to brew tea to suit just about any palate. And once you've found your perfect balance for varietals it remembers your last-used setting so all you need to do is hit the brew tea button.Another bonus is that, in a pinch, it works with tea bags. Typically you'd boil the water (this thing boils 2 cups of water in under a minute, by the way) and then soak the tea bags in the cup. Instead, pluck the strings, pop the bags into the tea basket, press the tea type button, brew time, and brew. While it doesn't match the taste of loose leaf tea, it's still delicious. (Personal tip: Brew the tea bags for a minute longer than you normally would for loose leaf. Your mileage may vary.)Cleaning is easy enough--you fill it up with water or a vinegar dilution, click the hot water button, pour it out and wipe it down--but for someone with large hands, getting into the crannies (i.e. behind the rod which lowers the basket) of the carafe when wiping it down can be difficult.One gremlin I ran into, though, happened when the carafe's lid slipped off the counter and the plastic edge which secures the rubber seal cracked in two places. I was able to jerryrig the plastic back into its holding (still cracked) without harm to the rubber seal, but one would expect a sturdier lid, a lid which could manage a short tumble--less than four feet to the tile floor--unscathed. For me, this was annoying, but minor since it didn't affect the brewer's ability to function.Overall, I'm happy. This brewer has spoiled me more than I expected--a lesson learned while traveling--and if it were a man, I'd seriously consider marriage.
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![Cuisinart DCC-RWF1 Replacement Coffeemaker Water Filters, 10 filters [Item #84471]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tN0aP0Inra5Ni_jWteKAEgKwZ6puvK-4I3NWmngAVeocUWO_eHmHL7U0qZM4NmpJsigMrLBwT3vNwCoSDR2SSBoFy_EoHJhGCpWnNMeI2ZH-B1Ol9WdbyZb4xRKKJqRZw=s0-d "Cuisinart DCC-RWF1 Replacement Coffeemaker Water Filters, 10 filters [Item #84471]")
Worked great for 3 cups
