Customer Reviews

Adagio Teas triniTea Electric 32-Ounce Tea Maker

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

Finally, an electric tea maker that was clearly designed by tea drinkers and not as an after thought by the coffee-maker crowd. It heats the water in the top chamber, drops it into the steeping chamber with the tea, steeps for however long you've set it for, then drops it into the carafe at the bottom. Perfect! In the winter I use mine almost daily. I set it up the night before, then just hit the on button before I hop in the shower in the morning - hot tea with no risk of over-steeping! Pros: two temperature settings (for black/green tea); variable steeping times so you can adjust to your taste and the type of tea; can use either tea bags or loose leaf tea; keeps your tea hot all day so you can make a whole pot and not worry about it cooling off like it would if you used a traditional teapot. Cons: while it is possible to pour the tea without dribbling, you must pour slowly and carefully and hope that the stars are aligned just right. But then again, I don't believe I've ever owned a traditional teapot that didn't have the same problem. I'm considering buying another one to have at work.

I was very weary when I purchased this product. I had read many reports of the triniTea leaking, the pot spilling, the unit not getting hot enough to make a good pot of black tea, the unit being temperamental about the order each segment is put into the stand, etc. Here is what I have come to realize. There are 2 different versions of this unit out on the market. The first version, which I assume has the above issues, beeps 4 times when the tea is finished (the unit beeps after water heats, after steeping finishes, and after all the tea is in the pot). The newer version beeps 3 times when the tea finishes. I have come to this conclusion based on a number of different reviews. I have no official word on this from adagio, but I would bet money it were true. So my suggestion is, when you first get the unit, let it do a run through with just water, no tea. If at the end it beeps 4 times, dry it off, pack it back up, and send it back with amazon's amazing return policy. If it beeps 3 times, you are in for a truly wonderful experience. I ordered my triniTea on Sept. 22 2009 and received the new version from amazon. Perhaps all the old units are off the market now, but check to be sure.

I have now made black tea, oolong tea, green tea, and white tea. I simply went across the spectrum of tea, one after another to see how the unit performed. FYI, I have had to pee about 10 times today, so I suggest you do not do this kind of test =) The tea comes out perfectly hot and perfectly steeped. Some people love their tea to burn their mouths when they take that first sip. If you set the machine to make black tea (boiling water and a 5 minute steep) it will burn your mouth, or at least it burns mine. However, if the let it sit for a minute or 2, and allow the heating element under the pot to take over, the tea becomes the perfect drinking temperature. Some people complain the tea doesn't keep hot enough. This is of course just my personal preference, but I think it stays at the perfect sipping temperature. Secondly, I have yet to see any tea dust in the finished product, which speaks to the quality of the infuser. The pot has not spilled a drop of tea no matter what speed I pour. All around a perfect tea experience, and fun to watch each step happen because of the clear plastic infuser and glass pot.

Some people have complained about the size, and this was a concern for me, because I live in a dorm room. No offense meant to the people who think its too big, but I was actually surprised by how small it is. I picture on amazon I think gives a good perspective on the size. All I will say is that I have plenty of room for it in my little dorm room.

As for one review which talks about the health risk of boiling water in a plastic container, I am sure you can go out an find web pages which will tell you about the "risks" of doing so. These will probably also be the pages that tell you not to reuse ANY plastic water bottle because of "leaching". You can believe who you will, but instead of looking for pages that will tell you about these "dangers", look for pages that just give food safety ratings of plastic. I wont start attacking other people's reviews, but I will just tell you that I am not worried about the triniTea killing or poisoning me.

In conclusion, the triniTea has by far exceeded my expectations. I was expecting to have a few of the problems I have read about, and just had to deal with them. Instead, I have had no problems, and will continue to use the unit everyday. The unit looks very high caliber, makes a wonderful cup of tea, and makes tea drinking worry free (no more watching the clock making sure I am not over steeping. The trinitea is expensive. You cannot argue that point, but for the quality of the unit and the tea it puts out, and the fact that there really is no other option if you want a device like this one, it is well worth it.

I got this tea maker today and checked it out. I used to have a Krups teatime, which died last week after 25 years of use. The Trinitea is of much lower quality operating with the same technology. The water heating chamber looks like non stick or painted black inside, my Krups had a aluminum chamber. The lid of the tank is marked PP5 which is ok according to US plastic food safety standards. THE TEA STEEPING CONTAINER IS MARKED >PC< IN A TRIANGLE, which means Polycarbonate, which could be leaking toxins under high heat. (duh, boiling water!). The lid of the steeping chamber and the lid of the glass carafe are marked >7< in a triangle with ABS written underneath. which is not recommended for food and might leach toxins which may be causing cancer. Mostly used for elimination water pipes in the US. This appliance is made in China !!!!!
Do your own research before you buy !

This is an good product. It is easy to use, makes excellent tea, and I'm happy I bought it. The one negative is its carafe - which is nearly impossible to pour from without spilling liquid in multiple directions. While this is very annoying, it would not prevent me from buying it again - as in all other respects it is a great product.
Jan 20, 2009
I've recently received a new machine which has been improved over the previous model. The water tank is now lined with something like Teflon that will prevent corrosion and importantly, the carafe now pours straight. I am completely satisfied with the machine. However my previous machine only lasted 16 months after which the heater mechanism failed. I hope this new model lasts significantly longer as it's a great machine.

I LOVE THIS TEA MAKER AND I LOVE THE TEA IT MAKES! I have enjoyed trying almost all of the wonderful samples from Adagio and have narrowed my two favorites down to Earl Gray during the day and Decaf Spice in the evening. It is also fun to mix different teas for unique blends. THE ONLY PROBLEM is the tea pot drips. No matter what you do, it drips. I complained to Adagio about this, they sent me a new tea pot, that one was worse and the handle came right off the first time I used it. So I'm back to the original pot, I bought some black hand towels to keep under the "tea pouring area". ONE OTHER IMPROVEMENT NEEDED: The amount of space this machine takes is way too much. the unit controls are on the left but the handles need to be positioned straight out the right side so it has a HUGE footprint which I think is really stupid. They could have designed the handles to come out the front of the machine not the side. THESE PROBLEMS ARE WORTH THE TROUBLE THOUGH...I EVEN TAKE MY TRINITEA MAKER WITH ME WHEN I TRAVEL!

Received the tea maker In Early October 2008. By the middle of December 2008 it stopped brewing hot tea. Sent an E-mail to the manufacturer in Mid December but no response. I guess the very limited 90 day warranty period has now made my tea maker a disgusting counter ornament. Too bad, while it worked, it brewed good tea.

As far as I've been able to tell, this is the best tea maker on the market today. First, it's a "real" tea maker, where water is boiled, dropped onto the tea and steeps for a length of time you set. That alone is hard to come by. Secondly, this model has two temperature settings, one for black tea (with boiling water) and one for green, white, or herbal teas where you want the water just a little cooler. The warming plate does a good job of heating the tea without overheating it and it's sealed pretty well against spills. I've been using mine for a year (about 5 times a week) and it still works fine.

The only negatives that I can think of are that you have to pour slowly to avoid drips and the tea basket is not the easiest thing in the world to clean, but it is pretty straightforward.

i like the quality of the tea it makes, and i like the ease of using it. i have two major issues with it. the first is, as others have mentioned, it drips unless you pour really carefully. the bigger issue is that the tea isn't hot enough. i returned my first one because the tea came out at 120 degrees. the second one is only marginally better - about 145 degrees. i didn't return it because i like having something i don't have to time as it steeps - i drank a lot of over-steeped tea... but i wouldn't buy another one.

This product brews perfect tea. It's not complicated to use, however I find the cleaning of the brew basket difficult. I would be nice if they could design a paper liner for the brew basket.

It could have been a love affair, but turned out to be a horror show.

I must say, up front, that I have had a lot of good experiences with Adagio prior to this product. I bought a lot of tea from them, and it was all good stuff. I've bought a number of other tea gadgets from them, too; like infusers and specialty cups. This tea maker incident has made it so that I will never, under any circumstances buy anything from them again.

First, my mother bought one of these for me for Christmas, and it just suddenly died. My girlfriend at the time then bought me another one, without my knowledge, as a surprise gift. If you look at the user-submitted photos I've posted, that is the tea maker she bought me. So...

First of all, please look at the photos I posted under user-photos, for this product. They say a photo says a thousand words; I think the photos I posted say a lot more than that.

I've had two of these units. The first stopped working suddenly. The second, which is pictured, has a problem that I think may actually be a public health risk.

The non-stick coating in the boiling chamber comes off during operation, leaving a exposed metal (which according to another Adagio reviewer, eventually rusts).

Because the coating is in the boiling chamber, which has it's contents poured into the tea leafs and carafe below, I have to assume the coating and potentially the rust, end up in your tea. Meaning, I think I ingested WHATEVER this coating is made of, and possibly metal deposits. The fact that there is a coating at all means it's probably a cheap metal that shouldn't be in contact with things humans consume.


It seems like this is a design flaw that the company, if responsible, would address. Using stainless steel, or hardened aluminum in the boiling chamber would fix the problem, I'd think. The issue, I guess, is that Adagio doesn't actually make the unit, and probably didn't have anything to do with its design. This is an outsourced product that they just put their name and logo on.

Adagio Tea charges $99 on their site for this machine, and that is far too much money for something that has this kind of problem.

Also, Adagio has admitted to me in e-mail that they know of the problem, but that the warranty is 3 months, and that's it. So, here is your expectation when buying this product: You will have the coating come off shortly after the warranty runs out.

If the coating issue isn't a big deal to you, that's entirely your business. I'm not drinking polycarbonate, particulate metal, or rust. Tea is supposed to be healthy.