Forum Thermomix
Welcoming Center, Management and General Chat => Chit Chat => Topic started by: Merlin on January 22, 2012, 07:48:32 am
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Sorry to include a non Thermomix topic but my stovetop kettle has finally given up the ghost and as I am a particularly avid tea drinker I have been looking at the Breville automatic tea maker and kettle. They look great but seem very expensive for what they do. It has a basket which gets automatically lowered into the water to brew the tea leaves and then rises again after the brewing time. Is this appliance really a gimmick or does anyone on the forum actually own one, and if so, would they recommend this one or another electric kettle? I have to admit that they all look very much alike to me, although I would prefer one made with stainless steel rather than plastic. ( I do however realise that they do all kark it eventually!)
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Merlin, you can ask anything about anything on this forum.
I found these reviews (http://www.productreview.com.au/p/breville-automatic-tea-maker-btm800.html) about the product in which you are interested, maybe they will make up your mind for you.
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Cheers Judy. I think it is probably what I'm after especially as my DH gets to have his coffee machine, which cost far more.
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It's amazing what you learn here on the forum,never seen this before :)
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I really like the Morphy Richards illuma kettle that lights up blue when it's boiling or a silver finish when cool. I was thinking of asking my DH for one for my Birthday ( don't think I have any hope though lol)
http://http://www.morphyrichards.com.au/ProductDetail.aspx?Product=43128 (http://www.morphyrichards.com.au/ProductDetail.aspx?Product=43128)
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Now look, it just isn't fair to bring something like this to my attention! 😉
I'm a sucker for a good cup of tea and like a constant supply, but am also trying to economise to speed up repayments. And posts like this don't help 😄
At least it's a fraction of the price on amazon.co.uk
I'm going to hold off and hope I talk myself out of it over the weekend ...
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I have the Zojirushi hot water pots. This one is 3 liter the other is a 4 liter and used when I have parties.
(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h129/Basenjibabe91/ZOhotwaterpot.jpg)
This one is always on.
I do have an instant hot water spigot at my kitchen sink but this pot lives in my office so I don't have to trek out to the kitchen whenever I want a cup of tea.
I don't know if the Zo is available in Oz but there is this one (http://www.oo.com.au/Prima-Electric-Air-Pot-with-Ca_P35639.cfm?AFID=10&cm_mmc=shoppingcom-_-KitchenAppliances-_-KitchenAppliances-_-HMKAPPA381) which seems reasonably priced.
And since you don't have to pick it up to pour, there is less chance of spilling boiling water - one of the reasons I got the first one as I had a bit of an accident with my old Russell Hobbs tea kettle. :-\
There are folks who decry the use of water that has not been freshly boiled for brewing tea but I consider myself a fairly astute tea fancier and I have tried brewing several types of tea, side-by-side with freshly boiled water and water held in my Zo and have noticed no difference in flavor.
The Zo holds the water near boiling, which is good enough for me. I do like "instant gratification" and standing around waiting for a pot to boil is not my idea of fun.
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Oh dear! I now know what others mean about the shopping thread :-))
After seeing the Breville auto tea maker in action (youTube) and spending the past hour reading all the reviews, I've now ordered one! Couldn't get one in my town after a ring around, one place said they were waiting for more stock as they had sold out, and being me, not wanting to wait I found a good price from Power Buys and have ordered one. Hopefully will be here by next weekend. :P
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Julie you must love online shopping and being able to buy everything us city dwellers can. You've probably got more electrical appliances and kitchen gadgets than anyone else in your township :D
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I do Judy, I do ;D Nothing better than researching something then finding the best price :D Can I say I'm thankful we don't use credit cards, keeps my spending in check. ;D
Years ago before internet, I can remember if I couldn't find what I wanted in our shops, then I'd have to wait until our next visit to Adelaide and get everything then. Used to love going to John Martins, that was a favourite. :D
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Ooohhhh nooooo
I want the morphy richards light up kettle, its sooo coool ;D
My kettle is a cheapy & on its way out, must work out how to sabotage it!!LOL
I think cutting the wire is out, DH might be a bit suspicious there, but..... Mmmm Will get thinking......
H :)
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Hally, put it on your birthday list - a special one coming up ;)
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No i will just sneakly buy it on dh's credit card once I have completed full sabotage of old kettle.
Mind you a colour changing kettle does excite me!!LOL
My present is our cruise ;D ;D soooo excited
H :)
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Being an avid tea drinker and a lover of all types of appliances and gadgets (I have two of the no-longer-sold-in-America TeaMates sold by Chef's Choice)
I bought one of the Breville at a local department store late last summer. I consider it rather expensive, especially with what happened.
I used it a few times and was very disappointed for several reasons.
The water had an odd chemical taste and my water goes through a very high-end filtration system and out of the faucet has excellent flavor. I tried a couple of recommended fixes and it only improved slightly. Only very strong black tea could disguise that odd flavor.
Then the device that lowers the basket into the water did not work as it should, did not lower far enough so only part of the tea leaves were infused.
Then after a week or so the water was not getting to the correct temp - checking with thermometer showed it only at 160 degrees F., whet it should have been boiling. There was also a little patch of rush under the handle where the glass and metal meet.
I took it back to the store within the 30 days that particular offers for "no-fault" refunds or exchanges. I figured on exchanging it.
The sales associate told me that they had taken the remaining ones off the shelf because so many had been returned because of problems similar to mine and the store is returning them all to the distributor and will not be restocking them.
So I got a full refund.
I like Breville products and have several with which I am fully satisfied. The big juicer is awesome.
Good luck with it Julie. I hope the ones shipped to Oz are better than the ones sold here in the US.
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Oh Andi, you don't have much luck with some appliances do you (Magimix toaster getting too hot and then the Breville not getting hot enough). I will just have to see how it goes, it does have a 12 month return policy so there's that.
I've only read/listened to glowing reviews but I guess not everyone bothers to post a review, I know I don't.
I'm not too fussed as like you say these problems may have been fixed on later made ones. It reminds me of when I was researching the Actifry, so many people loved it but were having problems, overheating being one. There were then newer reviews saying that that had been fixed on the newer ones. I bought one about 12 months ago and have had no issues with it at all.
I think it worth a risk, it's not a lot of money to me, though saying that I do expect to get what I'm paying for otherwise it will go back and I will return to the trusty kettle. :)
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Ooohhhh nooooo
I want the morphy richards light up kettle, its sooo coool ;D
My kettle is a cheapy & on its way out, must work out how to sabotage it!!LOL
I think cutting the wire is out, DH might be a bit suspicious there, but..... Mmmm Will get thinking......
H :)
Me too Hally, my birthday is in Feb so maybe! They look pretty cool and the reviews are pretty good too.
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Well I ended up buying the Breville tea maker. I truly baulked at the price but I had some Xmas gift cards to use towards buying one. I have to say I am totally in love with it. It brews a lovely tea and is quick and quiet-especially when the tea basket goes up and down the magnetic pole. The design is ingenious and looks very space age. I have pretty much used it every day at least 3-4 times since buying it and can't find fault with it at all. Maybe the product differs in different countries depending on where and how it is manufactured. Even my DH who is a gadget freak is totally impressed with it. Certainly I haven't had any problems with funny tasting tea or any chemical aftertaste etc. I have since discovered other people that own one and they rave about it as well. The best part is what is called Auto Start where I can set it the night beforehand and wake up to brewed tea the following morning- brilliant!!
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I'm glad to hear that you are happy with it Merlin. I like that auto start feature also. When my DH is on dayshift he has to be up at 5.30 so I will be able to set it to start then, and by the time he's dressed and walks into the kitchen it will be brewed. Well that's the plan anyway. I love the look of the stainless steel and glass and it's apparently very easy to clean, looking forward to it. :D
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We picked the tea maker up from the PO this morning, quickly gave it a clean etc and brewed our first cup. Weren't expecting much from the first one as we thought it would take a bit more trial and error, but it was really good and that was using a brand of tea we normally don't drink.
Of course we've had a couple more since then so am a bit teed out right now but later we are going to set it on auto to brew an hour later just as as a trial for those early mornings.
So far, so good, it seems a good buy (and it looks good). :D