Tea Sets

Tea Makers

Face it: Coffee always gets the spotlight. A wedding’s wrapping up? It must be time for coffee! Meeting a friend? Why not get together at a coffee shop? Tea’s never had the same cachet as coffee, and while electronic coffee makers have been high tech for a while, it’s finally tea’s time to shine, thanks to some new appliances.

There are two primary ways to make tea in the Electronic Age—with a tea maker or with an electronic kettle. Each has its own benefits; a tea maker is a sister appliance (and sometimes built into) a coffee maker and processes tea leaves, whereas a high-tech tea kettle essentially heats water, but has more bells and whistles.

The next generation of tea makers goes beyond steeping a tea bag in a mug of water. Many of these machines closely resemble coffee makers in terms of size, accessories and setup, and that’s because the tea- and coffee-making processes are similar. Just as coffee makers process ground beans, electronic tea makers are designed to process loose tea. That function means tea drinkers can now explore a range of flavors and can prepare various leaves accordingly.

Steeping control, which measures how strong a given cup of tea is, is a basic feature on electronic tea makers, and some of the higher-end appliances are actually designed to brew at different temperatures for different types of tea. Many tea makers also accommodate pods, which are single-serving beverage pouches.

However, while tea makers are evolving, some specialty—and some would say, “must-have”—features are only incorporated if making coffee’s part of the deal, too. Timers and clocks are available on many combo coffee/tea makers, but are lacking in most mass- market tea makers. One notable hybrid is the Morphy Richards 43580, which has a clock, an alarm with snooze functionality, a timer and even a radio. This particular model also makes two cups simultaneously, which is worth mentioning because either a single cup or a pot, depending on the machine size, is standard. What’s interesting from a cultural standpoint is that the Morphy Richards model is advertised in some places, such as the U.K., as a tea maker, while in the U.S, it’s billed as a hybrid coffee/tea maker, which reflects tea’s broader appeal abroad.

But electronic kettles are advancing in ways tea makers are not. Two are particularly noteworthy. First, The ipot, a Japanese creation, is specifically designed for seniors. A wireless connection inside the pot can generate an e-mail to a relative, and can report, for a monthly fee, when the machine was turned on, how often water was added, and the duration of use.

Another high-tech teapot comes from England. The ReadyWhenUR tea maker, which was developed by the British tea maker PG Tips, responds to text messaging from your cellular phone. This kettle can be operated by SMS technology when the user is a short distance away, and is slated for release this month.

Who knew tea could be so cutting edge?