Zarafina Tea Maker Suite with Ceramic Tea Pots, Cups, and Serving Tray
by Zarafina
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List Price: Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Zarafina Tea Maker Suite with Ceramic Tea Pots, Cups, and Serving Tray
Customer Review: Brewing tea just right, in theory and in practice...
Summary: 5 Stars
Update May, 2009: This works great when it works. Eventually started leaking as others have reported. The leaks were too severe, so I scrapped the unit. Purchased the newer variable temperature Breville Ikon.
*****
I am pleased with the Zarafina, although it is costly and impossible to find at a discounted price (I looked very hard). It is marketed, obviously to an upscale audience, by the Sunbeam conglomerate, which also produces a passable tea brewer costing only $19.99. It brews only 16 ounces of tea, which cool quickly after being dispensed and so should be served shortly after brewing.
I otherwise expected at least some small compromises in automated tea making, similar to those you find in the best of coffee makers, but I have found none. If you are brewing teas that, unlike black teas, should begin with water below boiling, the Zarafina is especially convenient. But even for black teas, you couldn't do better.
One zany review here (Zarafina - makes tea for American tourists, March 3, 2007) faults the Zarafina for setting its thermostat for black tea to 208º Fahrenheit. That is a mere four degrees below boiling (at sea level) and a temperature unattainable in a teapot! Nonetheless, some subsequent reviews actually take this nonsense seriously. Tea is typically served in the United States with water that is too cool to begin with and allowed to cool even further. The tea leaves are usually pretty nasty too.
No one claims you can't brew decent black tea using a kettle (electric or stovetop) and a teapot. But consider how imprecise the process is, even if you follow the most fussy and fastidious of techniques. You can control the initial temperature of the water by heating it to boiling, which is as hot as you can get it in a kettle. If you are at sea level, that will be 212º Fahrenheit, but cooler at higher elevations. You can heat the teapot beforehand, usually with hot or even boiling water, but it is typically made of ceramic material (occasionally metal, usually a better choice if not reactive) and has no separate heat source. This means that boiling water will cool as soon as it is poured into the teapot and will continue cooling as it rests in the teapot, however insulated it may be. Do you have any idea what the beginning, ending, or average temperatures are? Sorry, but it's probably way cooler than you'd think! Once the tea has steeped for the precise time, it must be promptly separated from the tea leaves (i.e., poured completely out of the teapot into separate containers, presumably teacups). How do you manage to pour it completely and at the proper moment? You probably don't--even if you still serve pretty good tea.
You are all the worse off with green, oolong, white, or herbal teas because the only conveniently observable benchmark of water temperature is the roiling boil, right for black tea but too high for most others. With a watchful eye and a thermometer, you might be able to control the initial temperature. Is that even remotely practical?
The Zarafina deals with all of these issues by controlling the water temperature when the tea comes into contact with the water, thermostatically controlling the average temperature of the water as the tea steeps, and dispensing the brewed tea away from the tea leaves after the precise steeping time.
Although it should be treated kindly and with precision, tea must still be awfully forgiving in the way it is usually handled. It still manages to be drinkable, usually enjoyable, even when handled only with good intentions and primitive British instruments.
I have always enjoyed black tea, but was dismayed at being encouraged to drink green tea, which I have rarely found to be other than bitter and unpalatable. Using the Zarafina and quality green teas, I hope to be able to change my habits and enjoy the benefits and pleasures of the full range of teas.
Customer Review: Its in the details...
Summary: 5 Stars
As a daily tea drinker, I was interested in simplifying my daily tea routine. Timing, tea types, boiling, water temp., steep times, etc. It really is an art form. And though I enjoy it, I just don't have the time for it. Consequently, I do not make tea as often as I would like to. I looked at several tea makers before deciding on the Zarafina. Here are the salient points that guided me to the Zarafina as my final choice.
-Has options to accommodate all tea types, including the roibois and herbal teas. And can accommodate both loose teas as well as bags.
-Simple and adaptable controls. The Zarafina almost needs no instructions, it is well designed.
-Is adaptable to the "brew style" I like. No matter the type of tea, I tend to like mine on the "weak" side. Preferring subtle flavors to strong ones. The Zarafina accommodates this by allowing you to choose "weak, medium or strong brews" for every type of tea.
-Does not take up a lot of counter space.
-Looks pleasant on the counter, even beautiful. I have a small kitchen and keep the unit out all the time. It looks good. The Zarafina is heads above the rest in this regard. The whole thing has a pretty small footprint. The offwhite ceramic pot and the charcoal/slate coloring of the unit complement each other well and blend with most kitchen decor. The ceramic pot gives it a "traditional" flair that I really like. I use the Zarafina pot to serve guests and it looks nice. The pots from the other machines look more like coffee pots and I would have transferred the tea to one of my other (traditional) teapots for serving purposes. Bleh, who has time for that anymore? The clear brewing chamber is also quite lovely and allows you to view your tea as it brews.
-I host tea parties. I wanted a unit that would be able to quickly brew small quantities (2 cups is perfect) of many types of tea. I use small traditional ceramic cups for my guests and they get to sample 4-6 different teas through the party. The Zarafina handles this beautifully. The pot will serve 4-8 small cups of tea (determined by the size of your small cups). This unit also comes with a serving tray that fits and complements the pot that comes with the unit. I keep the tray under the Tea Maker instead of using it to serve tea. I already have serving trays and I like the look of the Zarafina on its little tray.
-Easy to clean. After brewing a pot of tea, it takes about 60 seconds to rinse all the parts and set them back in to dry. I put them back into the unit (still wet), but keep the lids off. This works fine.
In addition to the above points, the Zarafina also has some thoughtful details added to the design. The kind of things that tell you it was created by thoughtful designers for tea connoisseurs. Details like;
-the "stem" of the brewing basket has a small notch in it that you can use to quickly trim away the string of your tea bag (if you are brewing with tea bags).
-the pot has a barely noticeable, but very thoughtful thin foam pad affixed under the handle to the side of the pot to protect your fingers from the heat of the hot tea.
-the serving tray doubles as a caddy for the machine and the pot while on your counter top.
I've had my Zarafina for about three months now and am very happy with it. We enjoy tea more often because it has saved us so much time. We don't have to fret with timing and temperature and brewing, etc. It is also a great little helper when it comes to hosting my tea parties and it looks just lovely on the counter. All in all, I am very happy with it!
Customer Review: Excellent Tea Maker for Most Types of Tea
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a wonderful, although expensive, gadget that has made my life a little easier. I drink a lot of tea (herbal teas (tisanes), red teas (Rooibos) and traditional black teas), both loose and bagged, and the Zarafina works well with all of them. I had been looking for something to make tea making more convenient and looked at several different products before deciding on this one.
Some of the other products I looked at were a couple of carafe, kettle and tray systems (no timer to remind me to take out the tea bags, I constantly forget), tea presses (same problem), a tea maker that dripped water through the tea (not appropriate for tea), pod systems (can't use my own tea) and another tea brewing system. Comparing the features of the two final candidates, I selected this one because it has more options for temperature, type and strength control, a sleeker design and all of the parts are easily replaceable through Zarafina. I balked for a couple of weeks at the price, but finally took the plunge. And I am SO glad I did.
I make and drink several pots of tea a day, and this makes it so easy and convenient. If it weren't so expensive, I'd own two of them, one for home and one for work. As it is, I bought another tea pot ($14.99) and just carry the tea maker back and forth to work every day. I've shared some of the tea with my co-workers, and they agree it is some of the best tea they have ever had.
Cleaning is a snap, either just rinsing between uses or the occasional wash in mild soap and water. There is a small amount of residue that builds up on the bottom of the steeping chamber when I brew a more viscous blend, but the stainless steel bottom is easily cleaned with a delicate scrub sponge.
Zarafina has addressed the problem of water inadvertently getting into the electrical connection by proving a cleaning cap for the connector. You can get one free by calling or emailing Zarafina. Thank you Zarafina!
*UPDATE* The steeping chamber and infuser basket were getting pretty dingy and brown despite trying a wide variety of cleaning methods - until I decided to try the Mr. Clean® Magic Eraser on them. The Mr. Clean® Magic Eraser removed all the tea staining from the transparent plastic without scratching, and returned the metal and mesh sections to shining silver with just a wipe. My tea maker now looks like new again.
*UPDATE*2* Had an odd leak I couldn't figure out - somehow tea was getting into the bottom part of the tea maker and leaking out the bottom. A bit of research found a tea leaf stuck in the dispenser in the bottom of the steeping chamber. It didn't cause the steeping chamber to leak, but it did cause some of the tea to shoot out at an odd angle when dispensing. Poked it out with a toothpick, rinsed well and the tea maker is now functioning normally again.
I do use tea filer bags with most of my loose tea because no matter what kind of loose tea I use, some always seemed to escape because of the gap in the top of the infuser basket lid around the string cutter. Tea filter bags solved that problem handily.
*UPDATE*3* Magic Eraser Duo Pack works even better for cleaning the Zarafina. Also for some reason the Duo doesn't shred like the original Magic Eraser so they last longer.
*UPDATE*4* July 2009: Still love my tea maker. It's still working perfectly and still making wonderful tea. It works great with white and rooibos (red / red bush) teas.
Customer Review: Here's another five-star review to bolster the rest...
Summary: 5 Stars
Today, I had a chance to use my new Zarafina, and it is superb!!!
There's a lot to be said about brewing the proper cuppa.
When I was in Great Britain, I was very surprised on how HOT the tea water was -- absolutely scorching!!! Took at least five minutes for me to venture a sip without scalding the tongue. But the high water temperature really does make a difference, especially with loose tea.
I've brewed water on my own and used the heated water from the office water cooler -- the tea was nothing compared to what the Zarafina did. What a HUGE difference.
I do like the 16 oz capacity -- I like to drink various teas a day... depends on what my stomach and brain are recommending.
A large part of my tea collection are the fruit melanges -- strictly fruit, some herbals, but a lot of dried fruit. The tea company recommended brewing times of 7-10 minutes. I used two heaping spoons and kicked the Zarafina on loose black tea mode and the intensity to STRONG. Perfect!! And it did not take that much longer to brew.
What I did like most is that the teapot included hardly dribbles -- I cannot afford a multi-colored stained desk.
So if your tastes in tea are that immense, this is the perfect system to have. And a fresh brewed cup is certainly better than what comes out of the thermos -- not to knock those who do -- It's just that I tend to break those thermos bottles in a day, but not the pot. Go figure.
UPDATE: Okay, I have this wonder tea brewer for about a year... maybe longer? About two months ago, I noted that the water reservoir did not fully empty, even despite being very careful with cleaning, etc. I contacted the company, knowing I would be paying through the nose for a replacement -- everyone wants to send stuff to Alaska by UPS 2nd day air, and it sits in Anchorage for a week before I get it -- but they sent me the replacement part (UPS, of course) but for FREE!!!
By the way, for first-time buyers, I highly recommend getting a few extra brewing baskets so you don't have to go to the sink every you want to make a new pot of brew.
BIG PIECE OF ADVICE!! Make sure you didn't leave any residual tea in the tea pot before making another one. I have flooded out my paper-strew desk twice, and I was brewing cranberry fruit tea. There's no way to save stained paperwork like that.
Would I buy this product again. ABSOLUTELY!
It's now May 2010 -- and my Zarafina has lasted longer than the job I originally bought it for. I now have three of them -- one I use and two I'm keeping for spare parts.
Customer Review: Excellent Tea Maker
Summary: 5 Stars
I received this tea maker for Christmas. I absolutely love it and have no complaints. The tea maker is designed very well and easy to set up and use. The company even provides a cap to cover some of the mechanical parts when not in use to protect the machine from damage during storage. It makes loose leaf or bagged tea. You can choose one or two cups- wish it did make more, but I'm the only one that likes tea in my house so it's enough for me. There a 5 different tea types you can choose from such as black, oolong, herbal,white, and green. You can also pick the strength of tea you like. It is very easy to clean. One note: the steep basket comes apart for very simple cleaning.
I bought some Earl Gray tea to try in it and forgot to change my setting from oolong to black. The tea turned out excellent on oolong- it brought out some fruity flavor in the tea. The next time I tried the black setting with the Early Gray tea and it tasted more like a black tea. I'm going to keep experimenting with trying different settings than the tea really is since the oolong made the Earl Gray taste so good- a mistake that turned out to be a good find. The directions that come with the machine are excellent too. When you put the steep basket into the water it floats on the top of the water until it's ready to drop into the water- the directions tell you that so you know that is what it is supposed to do. Also it leaves a little tea in the pot and it tells you why it does that. The packaging, that the machine comes boxed in is quite fancy too. I think part of their pricey price went into packaging up the machine. I have not tried the loose leaf tea as of yet, only bagged and I am very happy with the taste. There is a big difference between a tea kettle and using this machine as far as taste.
If you are interested in this machine.. Linens and Things sells it in their store and you can use their 20% off coupon to take some of the price off. They also accept Bed Bath and Beyond coupons at Linens and Things- even their expired ones in case you don't have a Linens and Things coupon. They also sell Zarafina's loose leaf tea at Linens and Things, however it is expensive.. 19.99 for a very small container.
I really recommend this tea maker if you love hot tea.