Last year, I wrote about my fantasy Christmas wishlist. The Sage Tea Maker was top of the list for many good reasons. Finally, with the tea maker on sale, I managed to get my hands on one.
Here is a quick look at the packaging that this little baby comes in.
And another view of the box with some quotes by it's co-creator, Heston Blumenthal. My tea making god right now.
So what does it do?
Well, it's essentially a wonderful tool to perfectly brew your tea. It takes into consideration white tea, green tea, oolong tea, herbal tea and, of course, black tea, adjusting temperatures and brewing times accordingly.
What features does it have?
- It can be used as a kettle to boil water only
- It has controls so you can alter the type of tea you are brewing, the strength you like your tea and has a manual control button which means you can alter the settings to suit your tastes
- It has a basket infuser that drops down and raises up from the water
- It has a keep warm feature - you can keep your tea hot but as the basket elevates out of the water, prevents tea from stewing
- It can be timed to start in the mornings so your tea is waiting for you when you get up.
How many cups can you get from it?
You can brew as little as three cups to as many as five.
I have been waiting to be able to afford this gadget for several months now. When it was first released it was priced at £199.99. However, it is now on sale for £99.99 at Lakeland. It's also available direct from Sage and is also on Amazon.
So, lets begin ....
First of all I'd like to say that I have tried brewing black, white, green and fruit tea in the machine. It also has a button for Oolong but as I do not currently own any I cannot say how it works with oolong tea.
The teas I've brewed in the Sage so far are:
Black Tea: Northern Tea Merchants Yunnan which I reviewed here.
Green Tea: Kensington Tea Company Green Christmas Spice which is reviewed here.
Fruit Tea: Bluebird Tea Company Strawberry Lemonade which is reviewed here
White Tea: Wilkinson's of Norwich Silver Tips White Tea (not yet reviewed).
So how does it work?
As I said before you can brew from 3 to 5 cups of tea. There is an instruction book included which explains the water to tea ratio but that does not mean you have to stick to it. Add more tea if you like it really strong!
The jug of the Sage Tea Maker is made from glass so you are advised to use room temperature water. And, obviously, you have to let the tea maker cool completely before adding more water and rebrewing - you don't want the glass to crack.
Once you've worked out the water to tea ratio you fill the jug up with the desired amount of water. Then, you can fill the infuser with preferred tea.
Here you can see the infuser filled with Northern Tea Merchants lovely Yunnan blend which is a black tea.
Below you can see the infuser attached to the metallic strip inside the machine.
This is where it gets REALLY fun!
This is where you select your desired tea. Of course, I pressed the button for black tea. The light next to the black selection will illuminate.
You can also see the Auto Start button. This is an option to preset the machine which will then automatically start at the time you've set it to. So it's kind of like a teasmade too!
The basket button allows you to manually operate the basket infuser.
As you can see on the right hand side of the panel you can select what strength you want your tea. As it's early days I opted for medium. To the top of the panel you can see the button which says Hot Water. Obviously if you just want to boil the water as a standard kettle you would pick this. On this occasion I've selected medium. Once you've done that, you press the Tea button and you're good to go.
Now, the Tea Maker is in action. As you can see from the panel here, the water has reached 100c, which is the desired temperature for black tea. Of course with green and white this will vary between 80 and 85. The brew time is registering 2 minutes which is in relation to selecting medium strength. This will alter if you opt for strong.
Once the water has boiled, the infuser will lower into the water and infuse the tea for the set amount of time. Once the brewing period is over it will automatically lift the infuser out of the water.
I did try to get action shots but they wouldn't come out as well so anyway above is a photo of the basket lowered to the bottom of the water.
Once the basket has risen out of the water the machine will bleep and you are good to go. Upon pouring your first cup of your perfectly brewed tea, you can press the Keep Warm button which will keep the tea hot for up to a hour after it's brewed. And remember - because the infuser is lifted out of the water your tea will not stew, and in the case of green or white tea, it will not go bitter or have that horrible astringent element to it.
So, that is it in a nutshell. I'm new to the machine so haven't tried to customise the settings as of yet. However, I will be playing around with it shortly.
How's the tea then?
I have tried all of the main teas in this machine. Black, white, green and fruit tea. (I don't do herbal sadly). I haven't been disappointed at all by any of the cups that I've tasted so far.
But, although the black tea's are fantastic, it's with the green and white tea's where this machine really comes into it's own. You don't have to worry about tea timers, you don't have to worry about guessing if the water is the right temperature. It's all done for you and hence you get a perfectly made cup of tea. For the first time ever I can brew green and white tea with utter confidence - no guesswork needed.
Also, what I like is if you find that the tea isn't strong enough or too strong, you can alter the infusion times or even easier, alter the strength of the tea by simply pressing the buttons on the control panel.
Although there is a suggested tea to water ratio, if you'd like to add more tea to have a stronger brew you can change it - it's up to you and its completely down to personal taste.
The machine - and it's instructions booklet - is extremely easy to understand and within a couple of hours you'll be able to operate the tea maker with your eyes closed. It's really that simple.
How do you keep it clean, though?
Because the main body of the machine is made from glass you have to be careful. You can easily wash the infuser and the tea makers lid in warm water, to clean out the actual jug I would suggest to rinse out well with water after every use and wipe out with a piece of kitchen towel to get rid of any sediments from the tea. This is useful if you're flicking between say, black and green or fruit and black tea. However, if you solely use black tea, the booklet does suggest the sediments do add to the taste of further cups of tea.
I have noticed though that if you drink black tea you do quickly see a build up of tannin. However, the booklet suggests several ways of cleaning it as to remove the tannin.This can be done by using lemon juice, white vinegar or the Sage cleaning tablet. It's down to you.
I would recommend that if you use flavoured tea then the best bet is to use lemon juice overnight and rinse thoroughly between uses.
Is it any good or just another space wasting kitchen gadget?
This machine is brilliant. And I mean seriously good. It's not a airy fairy gadget made just to impress kitchen visitors. It's practical, easy to use and should be a vital part of the tea lovers life. As a tea lover I wouldn't be without it. Yes, it looks sleek and modern, but it provides a brilliant service - that is to give you a perfect cup of tea every time. You can also use it solely as a kettle but that is a waste of it's potential if you ask me.
If you are a serious tea lover, who drinks a lot of tea, then this is the machine for you. If you only have a cup a day then I doubt it would be worth it, but for me, who can easily at the weekend drink fifteen plus cups a day this is a godsend. And, best of all, you get five cups of tea out of one boil! No having to boil the kettle every five minutes.
And it's nice, finally, for tea lovers to get the space age type machines. Why should coffee lovers have all the fun in the kitchen?
The machine boils rapidly, too. So no hanging around! And the jug cools quickly too when you remove the lid so if you want to make a fresh pot you don't have to hang around too long.
Any con's?
Not that I can tell currently.
Summary
I've had my eye on this machine for ages and I love it. I'm dead pleased that I managed to get hold of one in the sale, too. This is an absolute must for tea lovers and really for anyone who drinks tea and needs to make large quantities at once.
This is not a waste of space gadget that will eventually gather dust. This is a practical item that can be used daily and will genuinely be a help to your life.
I'm really pleased with it.
More information
Please visit the Sage website for more information on the Tea Maker
You can also purchase it through Lakeland who have a sale on all Sage appliances, from coffee machines to toasters.
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