Customer Reviews

Smart Tea Maker 18 Ounce. Our Best Selling Tea Accessory. Amazing. Great Gift!

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a nice device for steeping and brewing tea. Even though it comes with a coaster it doesn't leak while brewing or when you are finished dispensing tea. It's made of a sturdy plastic that won't easily chip or break. It's well insulated keeping in the brewing heat so you can hold it even when it contains boiling water. It's transparent so you can watch your tea brew and if you have a good eye you can tell when it's done.

But the biggest advantage is it's easy and unique tea dispensing feature. Just put the device on top of your mug and a pressure value opens filling your cup. When your cup is full lift the device and the valve closes.

I have only two nits with the product. If you're not careful you can overfill your mug. I did that a couple of times until I got use to judging the volume. My other nit us that it won't fit my larger cups with openings larger than 3 ½" in diameter.

Overall, I am very happy with the Smart Tea Maker.

I drink tea regularly (a good four cups each day at work...) and this is the best steeping vessel i've ever used. the cavity is broad giving a large surface area, and it's great watching the tea rise and fall during the process. the strainer is very fine so I rarely have leaf fragments make it through, and it is simple to clean. finally, it's microwave safe and has no taste of plastic. nuke a cup to a boil, or add already-boiling water and enjoy your loose tea as though you've dropped it in an open teapot, with none of the extra work. rinsing is a breeze, after a couple of attempts i was able to get all of the leaves out in one go.

as a side note, i'm going to recommend against dishwashing this or any other tea cup/pot. you really can taste the soap, and plastic is renown for its tendency to hold detergents. just rinse it out with hot water and a clean washrag. see if you can taste the difference!

I LOVE THIS PRODUCT!!!!
I use it multiple times a day.
It is amazing and it cleans up great!
I would recommend this to anyone.

The cup works well except for one major issue--the water release mechanism seems to let go spontaneously when the tea maker is resting on its approved coaster in the brewing position. This has happened more than once with this cup, never with similar tea makers by other brands that I have used. It may be a weird fluke with my particular tea maker, but it makes a terrible mess all over my kitchen counter. Disappointed with this malfunction.

This is a great cup it is larger and makes enought tea for two people at any given time. It does not leak but does come with a coaster. It is a little different from other tea makers in that you push the handle to the side inorder to strain the tea while others you put the tea maker on top of the cup and the pressure on the bottom of the tea maker strains the tea. However this feature allows you to see how full the cup is without over filling it.

I just got this product in and I like it enough to write a review.

We use loose leaf and the biggest advantage is being able to steep your tea multiple times. A lot of loose leaf tea can be steeped 2-4 times and usually (for me at least) the 2nd steeping is the best. So roughly 1 tea spoon of tea can make 3 cups.

I would strongly suggest only drinking loose leaf tea - its so much healthier and tastes way better then tea bags. Even the expensive tea bags like Old Republic taste like dirty ashes in comparison to nice loose leaf tea (not to mention 1 3oz of loose leaf costs about $7-$15 for 40 cups - double or triple steep and that translates to 3 cups of tea a day for a month costing only $15 max).

Now my only concern is I just read a website talking about how tea is good for you and it said that steeping in Metal or Plastic *may* affect the flavor. I have never seen an all glass tea maker for loose leaf so this seems good to me.

Don't fill it to the top and it wont overflow. Leave bout 1 CM from the top and you should be safe. Maybe use a marker to mark the outside of it for the perfect level. We use a water cooler/heater so this is really the perfect combo. Just add hot water to the tea, let it steep, set it on your cup and your good to go.

I own a lot of different kinds of tea makers. But unless I need more than two cups of tea, this is the only one I still use.

The genius of this teapot is that all of the tea leaves are in contact with all of the water during the entire steeping process. The straining screen at the bottom is so fine that one can use very finely ground tea without ending up with a bitter cup. And none of the tea gets caught in the screen--making the system very easy to clean.

It makes two normal cups of tea (without dripping between cups) or one large mug.

Smart Tea Maker vs Adagio

Adagio: Filter often comes loose while brewing for no reason
STM: Filter is secure and never ever comes loose unless you want it to for cleaning

Adagio: Slimmer design helps save some space on small desks.
STM: wider design looks much more attractive and makes it much less prone to being knocked over.
(both make the same amount of tea)

Adagio: Less expensive
STM: More expensive.

Adagio: Lid does not easily come off.
STM: Lid can easily be removed for cleaning if you want.

Adagio: BPA free??? I don't know. At the time of this writing can't find info on that.
STM: Company clearly states it is made of BPA-free materials.

Adagio: Has markings on it (company logo)
STM: Has no markings on it which makes it look a bit more sophisticated.

Adagio: does not come with extra coaster.
STM: comes with extra coaster. (The coaster is not necessary for this product, but I find it handy and use it not only as a coaster for the device, but also as a cup cover to keep drinks warm)

Conclusion: I like the STM better. Mostly because of the filter and because it just looks nicer.

The pictured cup is not included, it is not a set. It works well, but loose tea is harder to clean out than in a Boodum pot. Also, even in closed position, the drip tray doesn't suffice unless you have patiently, completely drained the bowl of every last drop. Tea tastes good, top rack dishwasher safe.

I've had mine for several years now, and use it in the microwave!
Good plastic, no leaks, works great! And they look just like the
ones sold at teavanna.