Top positive review
64 people found this helpful
My favorite appliance!
By EJ52 on Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2015
I LOVE this machine! My absolute favorite appliance in the kitchen. It works so well, it is quite, easy to use, makes fantastic tea, and really is a tea lovers dream. I'm primarily a black tea drinker and for that, the variable temp control is less useful as one can boil water in many other ways, but the constant temperature during steeping and the convenience of setting it and walking away til it is done is great. I have especially felt this convenience when making tea for guests. In the past tea making was a multi-step process that required me to step away from the party to set water boiling, again to pour over leaves, and again to get the tea after having timed it. Now I can simply set it up and walk away knowing that it will alert me when it is all ready! [A word about guests: I prefer to offer my friends a variety of teas. The one draw back to the Breville vs my old method is one can only make one kind of tea at a time. So either I use the tea maker simply as a hot water kettle and make tea by the mug or smallish pot or I make one kind at a time. So I decided to hold on to my old hot water kettle so that if several guests want one kind I can make it in the Breville while the one or two that desire a different kind can have theirs made individually with water from the kettle. It is a rare logistical issue, but it does happen from time to time]. The Tea Maker has also given me a great appreciation for green and oolong teas. Green in particular was never "my cup of tea" ;) but after using the Breville Tea Maker I can really say that it makes a world of difference having it steeped at the proper temperature and not scalded by boiling water! The same goes for Oolong and White teas. Now, obviously, it is pricey and was a total splurge/birthday money kind of purchase. But it is totally worth it. I use it several times a day and I've owned it for a little over six months and it still works great. For care and maintenance I've used the "Revive tea cleaner" product to clean it and I've used more homemade solutions and both work fine to get rid of the residue that develops after continued use. However the Revive stuff really is super easy and makes it gleam like new. Several reviewers have warned that this is a fragile item and, as it is made of glass, I can only imagine that is true! I've not dropped it or smashed it against anything and I warn everyone who might be tempted to wash it (like my wife or in-laws) that the base of the carafe is not to get wet and that has effectively scared all away from touching it but me :) So I'm careful to not mishandle it and all has been well. I love this tea maker and can't imagine going back to a world before it. I miss it when I'm on vacation! If you are someone who loves the ritual of tea making, this will of course not really be up your alley. But for those of you who sometimes want to enjoy that ritual and often just want a good, bold cuppa? Spring for the Breville, it is well worth the expense. Man, all this reviewing has me hankering for some tea, thankfully I've got some brewing in the kitchen as I type! Cheers!
Top critical review
103 people found this helpful
Rust Spots & Horrid Breville Customer Support
By None on Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2011
Breville has done yet another wonderful job of marketing their products as a "high end" consumer item but when it comes to delivery they've failed in every measure. We purchased this tea maker and were happy with it's daily use for about 3 months. There were some rust-like deposits building up on the base of the tea basin so we called to ask for advise and to try an alleviate our concerns about the problem. Breville said to clean the unit with some vinegar so we did. A week or two later we went back to Breville and they then said to try something else - baking soda. We did that and still, nothing. Our concern that the spots were rust was not being addressed and no matter how many times we asked they not only denied it as a possibility but kept blaming it on the tea we use. Isn't that strange? Tea causes discoloration on a tea maker in less than 3 months, wow, what a design! In any event we didn't give up as it became a clear mission that we do everything possible to see how ready Breville was to make right what obviously is a design flaw. When we went to them the third time then told us to buy some third party product called CLR. We'd never heard of it and when we did the research we conveyed concern as their instruction manual said to NEVER use anything other than water and tea in the actual pot. We submitted, paid $30 to buy a product we never heard of and then when we got it were scared that this toxic substance was going to affect tea taste and of course our health but Breville assured us after talking with R&D that this was the best product on the market and would solve the problem. Guess what - didn't even change the markings on the tea kettle one bit. When we called Breville - now 5 weeks after we reported the problem - they said they needed pictures before they could further assist. This was starting to get silly so we made it clear to them that most consumers who can afford to pay this much for a tea kettle wouldn't dare take their time to do such high maintenance efforts, let alone take time to email pictures and such. As you'd expect, at this point we continued with the mission and provided the pictures. Breville disappeared for a week or more and then came back to us saying that they'd be willing to replace the kettle and they'd ship out a FedEx label so it would be at no cost to us. Wow, we were impressed, that only took 2 months... What happens next? We get an email with a FedEx label that is good for two days and two days only. We were expected to pack, ship, and be without a tea maker for the entire time that they inspect the defunct kettle. We drink tea 2-3 times a day so expressed our clear displeasure with this approach and suggested they send us a replacement and that way we can put the label on the box that the replacement kettle came in - saving us time to package and of course ship something that clearly failed for causes that had nothing to do with us. Well, we've never seen that replacement kettle and so we've not only been burned by Breville but likely many others will unless they've as much time to invest in their tea as we do. Point is, DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT UNTIL THEY WORK OUT THE KINKS - 1 TO 2 YEARS I'M GUESSING. The customer support is horrid, the sensitivity to the customer needs is the worst we've seen for a kitchen appliance, and of course the cost is high so that is a really bad combo!
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