Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

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 scoop CONS: - 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.