Customer Reviews

Primula Flowering Tea Set with Half-Moon 40-Ounce Pot, Black/Glass

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I have read the reviews listed here and I will try to address some of the concerns.

1) The tea infuser as the directions DO indicate is used for loose tea. The directions on how to use the flowering tea are actually right on the box itself and I am unsure how someone could miss it. One must actually read the loose directions that come in the box to uderstand how to use the tea infuser for LOOSE tea which is in fact what a tea infuser is used for. This does not however seem like the best infuser but its a free addition so I wont complain. I actually like using this infuser to drain the pot for the last cup without getting all of the loose tea bits mixed in.

2) 40oz is 40oz. It makes about 5 cups of tea. I am talking about actual tea cups not going out and buying a 32oz Big Guld and calling it a tea cup.

3) There is a plastic shell that does partially encase the pot...go ahead and take a look at the picture. I have mixed feelings on this. I like to see the tea blossom and a totally clear pot allows for this to a greater extent. The plastic casing however does help insulate the pot and allows you to handle the pot a little easier as it does not tranfer the heat to the handle and the base.

4) Incase anyone was wondering the Spanish review said that the pot came broken. This is more of a shipping issue than a pot usage issue. My pot came boxed in bubble wrap and was not broken.

5) Hope this review helped...Happy Sipping!!!

I have the totally clear teapot but got this one for my daughter so she could use it with teaflowers I purchased for her. It seems more resilient and sturdy than the delicate all glass one I have. I know she is very pleased with this and will use it daily while she is in college.

This is a NICE teapot and I'm glad I got it. Because I got it 'for free' as part of the Flowering Teas promotion at Amazon. However, paying the price this item lists as a stand-alone purchase would be a big mistake - it appears to be overpriced by a factor of 2 or 3. But, let's discuss the teapot itself.


CONTENTS, BUILD AND DESIGN

The pot's design is not awful but, given that it's supposed to be used with the 'flowering' teas, maybe a little less plastic and more see-through glass would have been preferable. As I already hinted, the glass bowl is partly covered by plastic, as seen in the picture. It's possible that the intent was to not fully show the 'flower' inside by keeping it in the shade or in the dark and leave some to our imagination but, then again, they (Primula) are also selling a full-glass teapot so maybe it has to do with saving a few pennies with the handle attachment.

The pot's mouth is covered by a plastic ring - this is where the mesh infuser would rest - and a plastic cover. The infuser appears to be made of stainless steel wire and it goes sufficiently deep into the pot to guarantee that loose tea would give you a brew even if you don't fill it to the rim.

Both the black plastic that surrounds half of the glass bowl and the glass look and probably are 'cheap'. This is not the kind of object you would display with 'the crystals' or your antique Chinese porcelain collection. It IS made in China, of course, but it's the product of some automated industrial plant, not of skilled hands. While cheap-looking, I did NOT see anything that would make me suspect that this teapot is not reasonably durable. If handled with care, it should be making tea for a long, long time.


OPERATION

The 40 oz. capacity while 'small' if the expectation was to make tea by the gallon, is a lot larger than I'm used to. To me, tea is a 'drink', not a 'beverage' and it's best enjoyed with good quality leaves and prepared properly. You drink tea from small cups. This pot will fill at least 6 teacups, maybe more so I feel that the size is adequate if not a little too large.

Depending of whether one is using the pot with with loose leaves or with the flowering teas, you will or will not use the infuser. It's easy to take it in and out. Once the tea is in, pour near-boiling water, cover, wait for a few minutes and... there's your tea.

The pot comes with 3 sample tea flowers, which is a good thing to try. I may actually buy some more beyond this Primula 12-Pack Flowering White Tea with Peppermint that qualified me for the free teapot. I am, in fact, enjoying one of the green-jasmine-flower combination samples that came with the pot as I am writing my review. I've been drinking mostly white teas for the past couple of years but the "green-jasmine plus yellow flower in the pot" tea is worth trying and I'm happy they included it. It should be noted that each of the flower pods can be steeped up to 3 times so you can make A LOT of tea out of one little flower pod.

When it comes to maintenance, the pot is easy to clean on the inside - it's just glass, after all. But, please, do NOT drop this into a dishwasher and do NOT attempt to separate the glass bowl from its plastic enclosure. Unless you really want to break it, of course.


RATING

It's a usable teapot and the 3 flowering tea samples add some value to what you get. However, if it stays listed at the price it was when I wrote this review, I can't justify the purchase. For a 'cheap-looking' teapot, it gets its 5 stars because it makes tea well and has a couple of extras - infuser, 3 sample flowering teas. As an obscenely overpriced item, it gets 1 star. The average should be 3 stars.

The last word is: get it if you can get it for free with a promotion but if the price stays what it is don't bother. Even if you want to try out the flowering teas, you do NOT need this specific teapot. ANY bowl-shaped, glass teapot will do.

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April 14, 2010 Note:

I've been using this teapot for three months now and I'm using it more now because my Japanese teapot's lid cracked on my a few weeks ago - Okay, I dropped it. It's still good for private use and easy to clean but the cheap-looking plastic attachments don't make it suitable for public display.

Like another reviewer I saw the promotion where you got this teapot for free when you bought a pack of flowering teas. It seemed like a great bargain and a neat gift idea, so I bought a couple.
When they arrived I was a bit disappointed by 3 things:
1) one teapot came in a cute box with a photo of the flowering tea blooming in the pot while the other teapot came in a plain white box with a product code and "made in china" printed on in black block letters (not so pretty to give as a gift);
2) the box with the picture of the teapot had an "As Seen on TV" emblem on it, which made it seem a bit cheesey;
3) The quality of the plastic was cheap and the glass seemed really flimsy- it wasn't the nicest teapot to give as a gift.
Still I thought giving it with the box of teas made it a decent gift for a yankee swap, so I did. I kept the 2nd teapot for myself.

The first time I washed it I was so careful, but I still tapped the side of my sink when moving it from sink to draining board (I hand washed it as a safeguard- ha!). The glass shattered into many tiny, sharp shards. I cleaned it up, but it was pretty dangerous (I'm glad it broke in my sink and not on my floor!).

All in all I'm disappointed with this purchase. The product isn't high quality and the glass is so flimsy, I knew it was just a matter of when (not if) it was going to break. I'm just glad I got it for free. I would not buy again and I would not recommend to others :( Which is too bad because I did enjoy watching the flower bloom when tea was steeping.

I received this teapot in the end of December, I have been using it 2-3 times per week and have always hand washed it. This morning as I was pouring in the hot water the teapot shattered. Thank goodness I was using my instant hot water tap and was holding the teapot over my sink.

Works with blooming and loose leaf tea. It's not insulated so your tea will cool quickly. The filter is tight and snug so leaves won't end up in your tea. The tea pours nicely without drips. Comfortable handle and easy to clean.

Years ago I was bought some fancy loose tea leaves as a gift and as I had no way of infusing them I bought one of these teapots. It has a heat resistant glass pot, plastic handle and lid and a stainless steel mesh central infuser. You pour your leaves into the infuser, pour in your hot water and hey presto, one delicious cup of tea. This is easy to use and clean and one tap of the used leaves into the bin and a quick rinse under the tap and you are ready to use the teapot again. This is a simple design that looks relatively attractive and achieves what it is designed to do, what more could you want? Well worth considering if you enjoy using loose tea leaves or if you are considering giving them a go.

Feel free to check out my blog which can be found on my profile page.

From the list price, I expect much better quality tea pot, but this is not, very bad quality, not worth the money, very disappointed

I bought one of these about a year ago at Ross for $10, thinking that it didn't have to be all that great since it was on sale. Well, I just loved it. It worked as well as any teapot could. Alas, yesterday I dropped it and, as one might imagine from a glass teapot, it didn't survive. But I highly recommend it and will probably be buying a new one... for twice the cost of the original, it appears. But worth it!

Couple weeks ago I dropped my glass bodum teapot (Kenya) and decided I didn't want to pay another $30 for a teapot so I opted for this cheaper one, which was a big mistake. In terms of size this one is slightly bigger but the overall design flaws are not worth it.

The first issue is the way the tea leaves container is separated into two pieces rather than one piece like the bodum teapot so when you're adding water into the teapot you have to aim directly in the middle or else the water will splash out. This is not a problem if you're pouring the water from a kettle but if you're doing this with an electric boiler the size of the pot will prevent you from adding water unless you tilt the pot. Also the metal mesh container that holds the actual tea leaves is poorly made, there are stray wires pointing out that could easily harm a child. The metal container design also makes it not as easy to clean if the metal is still hot.

Another problem I had was the lid would fall off when I'm pouring the last of the tea from the pot. The bodum lid has a built in tea-press design which keeps the lid in place. Also it's a product made in china and the box says as seen on tv which speaks to the quality of the piece.