Sunbeam HTM5 Tea Drop Hot Tea Maker

Designed like a coffee maker

By Michael  Jan 16, 2008 | 1 out of 1 found this Sunbeam HTM5 Tea Drop Hot Tea Maker review helpful

Pros: Keeps the tea warm

Cons: Treats tea like coffee

This machine was designed by people that make coffee makers and they didn't take into account that tea needs to be prepared differently. The water is heated and slowly run over the loose tea or tea bags held into a seeping basket. As the seeping ...basket fills from the top it is drained from the bottom into the warming pot. The water is held in a 'seeping basket' for only seconds before being released into the pot. Functionally, strains the tea rather than seeps it similar to the way an auto drip coffee maker works. From the time I turned on the machine until the warming pot was full was less than two minutes even with the strength dial all the way up. Black teas and herbals should be seeped for 4 to 5 minutes or more, so the only way I could get a good strength tea was to add two to three times the amount of tea I would normally use. It works, but it doesn’t seem worth it to me. Green tea has a shorter seeping time so strength was less of a problem. However, I found that if I used a quality loose leaf green, the high water temperature and straining rather than seeping method caused the tea to be bitter. Tea bags worked O.K. White tea it too delicate for this Tea maker. There are some tea makers out there that use a three stage process. It heats the water; releases hot water into a seeping container that holds the water and tea for an adjustable period of time; and then finally releases the final product into a warming pot. They are much more expensive but worth it. Hope this helps. Read more Less