In spite of my love of coffee, we drink lots of tea. For many years we’ve bought Ceylon tea from Robert Wilson, and have loved every drop. We’ve currently got a bag of Hellbodde Estate on the go, which is one of our favourites.
But today was a revelation. Up to now we’ve not been making our tea properly, which is a shame. But wow, now that we’ve discovered the secret, is it good!
Enter the Sage Tea Maker.
It’s yet another kitchen gadget of course. But the first sip of our usual cuppa convinced both of us. Bright, fully flavoured, with all sorts of flavour notes in the aftertaste. Gorgeous, especially by comparison with our faithful teapot, which delivers a much duller taste with a narrower flavour profile. Not that we knew it before, but the difference is remarkable.
And because it keeps the tea hot without stewing it, second and (in Jean’s case) third cups are almost as delicious as the first.
Here it is in action with green tea, in this case Monkey Paw from Rare Tea Co.
Weigh the tea into the basket.
Put water into the Tea Maker and install the basket.
Select the Green Tea programme …
… and watch as the water comes up to temperature and the basket lowers into the water, then rises back up when the tea is perfectly ready.
I’ve used green tea as an example because it also illustrates two other features. After the tea has started to brew, you can recycle the basket so that it lifts and then lowers to agitate the leaves in the approved fashion.
And the leaves will stay safely and hygienically in the basket for a second and third steeping. We don’t normally re-steep black tea, but with the Tea Maker, perhaps there are undiscovered delights there too. I’ll report back.
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