Customer Reviews

Cuisinart TEA-100C PerfecTemp Programmable Tea Steeper and Kettle

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Boils water super fast, nice to set water temperature, but getting your loose tea in and particularly out of the basket is difficult and messy. Also the volume of the beeper on the unit needs an option to turn it down!

This is the ultimate tea steeper/kettle. Heats up water very quickly to preset temperature, has an ingenious system for lowering tea into water and steeping using an easily-programmed timer, followed by a superb keep-warm feature. It works exactly as advertised, looks great on a counter and produces great-tasting tea. Much better than another brand which gave a chlorine taste to boiled water. I highly recommend for tea lovers and the price is very reasonable for such an effective piece of kitchen equipment. No complaintS or negative observations.

This kettle makes amazing tea and the system is very clever however as someone else mentioned it is very difficult to get loose tea in and especially out of the basket. It is also quite small and when boiling to the highest temp it boiled away a full cup of water and if you try to use the max tea amount of water it boils out the top. Also found the beep quite loud and would prefer if the keep warm feature could be turned back on or extended.

Read this product info carefully! Yes it heats water quickly, maintains the right temperature for different tea types, and selects the best steeping time for your tea then keeps the tea warm. BUT - unlike the Breville counterpart (yes, twice as expensive...) this is not automated! It beeps when the water is heated, and YOU lower the tea (it is a cool mechanism) and then beeps when the steep time is up and YOU raise it.
So you can't walk away and come back to perfectly steeped tea, or pre-program it to wake up to prepared tea in the morning. All this saves you is having a tea thermometer and tea timer separate.
Handy? yes.
Ingenious? no.

Very user friendly. It's great if my husband and I are the only ones using it. Only two minor issues ... 1. As other reviewers have said , it is a little fiddly trying to get loose tea out of the basket when cleaning. 2. Would have been almost perfect if it held two cups more. Manufacturers cup sizes are always much smaller than the normal mugs we drink out of, so four cups doesn't go very far when you have a couple of friends over for tea.

Much the same as others have mentioned regarding getting tea leaves into and out of the steeper is a pain. The lid for the steeper portion does not come off so putting the tea in is a two handed job. As for getting the leaves out is tricky and requires persistent rinsing in the sink which seems to defeat the purpose of saving you time.

The temperature selections are nice and it does heat up very quickly which is great in the morning. The time selections for how long to steep are adequate.

Lastly, the 'keep warm' feature is something I would use to make an extra cup of tea for myself so I don't have to go through the whole process again of making another when I wanted it. As the maximum time is 30 minutes I feel this is too short and would extend this feature. Coffee makers have this, why not tea steepers?? That said, if you make extra tea for later and its cold you can simply set up the desired temperature on the unit (as if you were steeping another tea) and it will be the desired temperature in a few minutes.

Overall, it is reasonable and does what you want it too. If you make ALOT of tea throughout the day this may not be the unit for you because of the difficulty getting tea leaves in and out of it. Otherwise, should be fine.

This kettle does a good job on the more expensive loose leaf teas I have been buying. It heats super quick, and the tea is better.
I also like the temperature range. The only improvement I would make is to make the keep warm function longer than 30 mins.

Great product. I would buy it again!

The tea steeper is a convenient and excellent way to enjoy a good cup of tea.
I would like to see a larger pot and the ability to extend the heating option.

I drink 2L+ of green/white loose-leaf tea per day so it seemed that this kettle would make my life easier, unfortunately it hasn't quite worked out with all four units that I've had. Additionally, if you're expecting a product as convenient as modern coffee makers, you are in for major disappointment.

- All four units eventually stated leaking at the top, where the black plastic is sealed to the glass using a silicone substance. This isn't an appropriate seal for a heat-cycled product, so after a week (first unit) or a month (2nd, 3rd and now fourth!) of use, you'll have hot tea going everywhere as you pour. This is a major fault and renders the product unusable.
- All four units never "finished" boiling water for black tea: I'm at 1000m+ altitude, so the water doesn't reach 100ºC to trip the thermocouple. This is a common issue with consumer products and should be programmable by the user, or set in the factory and controlled via distribution chain.

Other issues that make this product not worth your time:
- It's nothing more than a temperature-controlled kettle with a timer, and a poor one at that. You still have to stand there for five minutes while it heats up and you cycle the basket down/up, or risk nasty over-steeped bitter tea. A single motor/actuator to automatically cycle the basket would actually make this product useful...
- The basket mechanism is awkward to use. It starts in the down position when you put it back after filling with tea, so your loose-leaf gets dunked in cold water and wilts while the water heats up. Of course, you can always have the entire plastic top out and fiddle with it in the air, set the basket to "up" and then insert the whole thing, oh what an adventure! Accessing the basket to remove soggy tea-leaves is a frustrating exercise in rinsing, shaking and smacking.
- The control panel and user interface are needlessly confusing. The "select" [temperature] button is larger and further away from the temperature indicator than the "temp start" button. For some strange reason, this annoys me greatly.
- Really loud annoying BEEP!

So close, Cuisinart, and yet so hopelessly far! Try it again, but this time with some usability and longevity testing.

Bad points :
- It's hard to clean the leaves.
- Water isn't always the temperature it is supposed to be. For some teas, it is not a problem, but for some, it can be. You should test with a thermometer a couple of times to make sure the temperature of the water according to the level.

Good points :
- Timers. Timers. Timers.
- Temperature level pre-setted (still, check how hot water is really, but when you know it, it's very useful).
- Convenient to drink tea for a long time when you can't afford to spend too much time on preparation...
- It quickly become a part of your life and you can't go without anymore !

There is some delicate teas for which I rather not used this kettle. However, this kettle is a great add to any kitchen for a tea lover. The warmer option is especially nice ! I drink very slowly, so I am used to drink my second cup cold, but thanks to the warmer, which can be setted for a long time, it stays hot. You can enjoy your tea to your own rythm without worries.

Also, even if it's a bit difficult something to wash away all the leaves from the steeper, it's not impossible. It will takes a few minutes. I think that it's something you can easily forget when you see the good points.