the Tea Maker

We have had this tea making kettle for two months, bought in a fit of pique at a useless, much cheaper teasmade. I bought this Sage kettle without thinking save for knowing it was ludicrously expensive. I was wrong, expensive yes, ludicrous no. We use it to make our morning English tea, four mugs of perfectly brewed tea kept warm for up to an hour. The designers have made a brilliant product worth every penny of the price that I once considered ludicrous. Wow!

This product is great and produces consistent tea every time. Design is good and very sturdy (note that it's heavy, about 50% more than a metal kettle). Controls are good and function very logically and it is adjustable for different types of tea and different taste. I use it as a bedroom teamaker but it is really meant for kitchen use, hence the clock is only visible whilst setting it. and it is also quite large. I knew this when I purchased it though. When set, only one control is illuminated which should please light sleepers. I had no success with tea bags, even at the maximum set time the tea was too weak, so have reverted to leaf tea with no regrets and I get perfect tea which keeps hot for up to one hour and still retains its flavour. Minor niggles, the clock resets even with a very short power glitch (less than one second) which caused me to think it was faulty when I used it for the first time. A capacitor backed clock would not cost a lot and would be a great feature. Overall, a brilliant tea maker and I would not be without it. If Breville produce a bedroom version at about half the capacity and with a permanent clock, I will buy one immediately, in the meantime, this one is fine.

Have now used this almost daily for over six months so feel qualified to comment on it. Despite it's rather hefty price tag, we decided to buy it as our previous tea maker had broken just outside the guarantee period and could not be repaired! We followed the instructions carefully to start with but now rarely need to look at them as it's easy to use. It sits on a bedside table so we can have tea in the morning when we wake up. It's programmed to come on so that the tea is "brewed" by the time our alarms go off. The alarm, if you can call it that, is 2 quiet "pings", which sound when the tea is brewed and not when it starts to boil, which is great as you don't want to wake up before it's ready. As the tea maker is my husbands side of the bed, if I am asleep, it rarely wakes me up which again is perfect if I want to have a lie in. There is a "keep warm" facility which you can program in when you put the timer on (the night before) which enables you to snooze, if necessary, and still have hot tea. There are various programmes that you can choose depending on the type of tea that you want and you can choose to have your tea stronger or weaker as you prefer. As the tea is put into the basket (you can see it in the picture above the water) and is only dunked when the water has boiled, this means that you get a proper drink rather than a stewed one. We tend to use tea bags as it's easier for us in the bedroom but it's just as easy to use leaves. Easy to clean as well - not done every day, just emptied and then refilled, but cleaned thoroughly about once every fortnight to keep it in tip top form.

We have had this Tea Maker for a few months now so feel able to review it fairly. It just happens to be the best thing since kettles were invented. We drink green tea for health reasons, but occasionally have dandelion or nettle so we ordered a second basket and lid for the heavier smelling teas. The Customer Service at Sage is excellent. Your water type does matter and we filter ours through a normal Brita jug which gives a better cup of tea, much less staining and no limescale deposits compared to water from the tap. Also, water type will affect tea strength, so do experiment. You get a packet of descaler in the box, but do buy the Tea Make Cleaner as well as it is worth it (one sachet every 3-4 months). The Keep Warm facility is excellent as it does not stew the tea. This kettle may seem an extravagance but we don't drink coffee so it compares well with coffee maker prices. Also, if you buy good quality leaf tea and want to make it properly, it does away with a separate tea pot and thermometer as well as a kettle. Now..... if only it would weight the tea as well......

I bought this as an Xmas gift for my parents, they are some of the world's most frequent tea drinkers so what better present! To start with the top line summary: When used properly Sage genuinely brews the perfect tea, it's a hefty price tag for a glorified kettle but as the bloke who sold me my bed said: "think about how much of your life you spend in bed; why wouldn't you invest a small fortune?" Likewise for those people who drink several cups of tea a day I think it's fair to say this item is a worthwhile extravagance. What they loved: The keep warm setting that ensures your tea remains at the optimal temp for an hour. The automated mechanism does everything except load the tea Looks fantastic in any kitchen sturdy and durable, certainly well made Beep to notify you when it's ready What they didn't like so much: You can't fill the kettle more than 3/4 or as soon as it starts to boil it prematurely starts brewing the tea as the bubbles spill into the tea basket the measuring guide, instead of being on the front, is on the handle which seems stupid as you need to cover it to hold it under a tap. All in all, this is a niche product that the average tea drinker would probably choose to pass on in favour of something 90% as effective for a quarter of the price, but it's clear this product was not designed for the masses and it is pretty great if you are into this sort of thing. Not my cup of tea but I can see why a lot of people would love it.