Zarafina - amazing tea maker!

[Oni]

I watched the video about this zarafina tea maker. It doesn`t allow room for tea leaves to open, gong fu tea is about filling your vessel to the poit where the leaves comfortably take up all the space in your yixing pot, and this way it has perfect waterseal and makes strong cups of tea without turning bitter, and allows easy multiple brewing, this machiene will never even dream of making gong fu cha, it makes tea like in the time of LU YU when they boiled the tea, I think with an electric kettle I will make tea faster and better than this machiene, and the materials of wich it is built from can never match yixing, nor its heat retaining properties. It is okay to use it with low quality tea found in the western tea market, where most of the people have misconceptions about tea, but when one gets deeper in knowledge about tea and has tried the real deal will never go back to basket steeping inferior quality tea.

[Space Samurai]

Brewing tea isn't always about gong fu. There are a variety of styles each with their own unique...charm.

[horsencl]

I have this tea maker and I to say that I love it. I use my yixing and gaiwan for my best teas, the ones I know will be ruined if made any other way. It is great for herbals and flavored teas, especially on days when I am feeling lazy. I also love that it brews only two cups at a time so it is perfect for when I want to share with a friend. I have yet to have a bad tasting cup that wasn't the result of the bland blends from teavana.

[Oni]

I could design a machiene for tea that works better, it must be similar to those Handy teapot sold by o-cha, but still the preheating the teapot is a problem.

[Space Samurai]

I could design a machiene for tea that works better.

Really, I'd like to see that.

[Lord Darkstorm]

So what would make a good automated tea pot?

An ideal tea maker would be what? I would think temperature control, and timer for the steeping, but what else?

I have the zarafina maker, and it does do a better job than I do...although I am looking into some of the suggestions I have seen here for a better solution for tea at work. The idea of fresh oolong all day is something I could appreciate.

[Intuit]

This is yet another gadget for the technoqeek's kitchen or office space. What it does is (sort of) idiot-proof tea preparation. That's indicated by the setting for teabags.

You won't have washed leaves, and for the tea buffs who hope to quaff tea all day long, that probably means disrupted sleep cycles at night and caffeine jitters, because even with its lower caffeine content, it will add up over the day.

You won't have the soothing ritual that is a satisfying part of tea making. You won't have the fun of using specialty tea vessels, and you have limited control over tea brewing conditions. Part and parcel of participation in this forum and others is an education on tea making with various teawares and accessories.

I don't see this gadget as suitable for the tea table/entertaining with friends. There is nothing sophisticated about dumping tea leaves (or god forbid, teabags) into an opening, pouring in water, setting a couple of dials and hitting the start button. This is for the casual tea drinker who has very little time for tea making and is willing to forgo the pleasures of tea making.

Anyone can take a mug, put water in it, set the power and timer for a microwave, pull out the mug and check the temperature. From that, you can easily make an idiot chart of power/time for the desired water temperatures for that mug and microwave. Add your tea in an infuser, time the steep (maybe with a bit of agitation if the infuser has limited volume), and voila, tea just as good as this automatic tea maker.

The 'strength' settings are relative and their result will vary considerably with the tea. While the company boasts that their product assures a good cup of tea every time, this is a misnomer.

What this gadget does is it provides reproducible results for the same tea, tea weight (presuming you do weigh your teas), settings and water source. What you will never know if whether or not you are, in fact, getting the best out of your tea - because of the constraints of the brewing system used here.

I don't believe this Zarafina is capable of multiple extractions, a key feature of teas necessary for physically 'educating' the oral palate and learning/reinforcing taste memory associations (a complex network of sensory neurons dedicated to enjoyment, analysis and preference for food and beverage aromas and flavors).

You won't be able to smell or view the tea leaves as they extract that is central to this sophisticated education of the palate and naso-oral cavity. This gadget effectively removes 'hands-on' learning of the art of tea making.

If you have hard water, beware the buildup of deposits that can affect these automatic beverage makers in relatively short period of time. You may want to use filtered water to avoid these deposits that can short-out sensors or plus flow orifices.

I personally have reservations about acidic tea liquor and its capacity for extracting highly undesirable, leachable organic compounds (resin polymer catalysts, unreacted monomers) from the various plastic/rubber/coated surfaces.

Kinda offsets the whole purpose of consuming antioxidant-rich beverages.

[Space Samurai]

Not that I particularly like the Zarafina, but I at least have used it extensively when the company sent me one to play with.

It would be interesting to hear from more people who have used it. The rest of you are just kind of flapping your jaws here, cos you don't really know, do you?

Obviously this kind of thing is not meant for the gong fu practioner, so thumb your nose at it all you want to, if it makes you feel good. But since this forum is meant for people who enjoy all kinds of tea in all sorts of ways, it would be nice if we could be open-minded and a little objective.

[Geekgirl]

Intuit, I take it you have one of these and are reviewing something you know? Most tea drinkers are "casual" wouldn't you agree? The people who make a ritual of tea are clearly not this gadget's target market.

Kinda offsets the whole purpose of consuming antioxidant-rich beverages.

Personally, I don't drink tea because of the antioxidants.

[horsencl]

This machine almost caused me to stop coming to TeaChat for this exact reason. I made an innocent inquiry about it when I first joined and got similar snobby anwers. Just because it isn't for you does not give you the right to be condescending. Intuit, have you actually used the Zarafina? I don't think so based on what you said.

1. Multiple infusions are certainly possible, in fact I do almost every time I use it. Sometimes three or four.
2. The strength settings do work
3. Not all teas require ceremony and decorum all the time
4. My friends find it quite entertaining
5. I have never suffered sleep disruption as a result of using my tea suite
6. As I said in my previous post, I have never had a bad cuppa from this machine.
7.Aroma is not lost. It often fills my kitchen with the aroma of whatever I am brewing, something a single cup brewing would not do
8. I don't drink tea for the anti-oxidants either

I just had to get that off my chest. Differences of opinion are great and I don't think we would have so many different kinds of tea or anything to post about if they weren't. For those of you with heat retention worries, The pot that come with it is actually pretty thick walled. It keeps my tea warm for atleast 45 minutes.

[geeber1]

I think it sounds like it would be a handy machine, especially for consistency's sake.

And I agree ... to each his own as far as tea brewing goes. As long as it makes you happy and you get a good result, who cares how you do it? I've made crappy tea in a nice teapot and excellent tea in a pyrex measuring cup.

Ritual and tradition are great but not always practical for everyday life.

[Space Samurai]

This machine almost caused me to stop coming to TeaChat for this exact reason. I made an innocent inquiry about it when I first joined and got similar snobby anwers.

I'm glad you stuck around.

Due to the nature of our tea hobby/obsession, we can sometimes get a little over zealous. Many if not most of us made the progression from teabags to gong fu at some point, so I think it is too easy to make the assumption that those who have not reached "our level" simply need to be instructed on how to do it "properly." Unfortunately this just tends to alienate people.

[Chip]

This machine almost caused me to stop coming to TeaChat for this exact reason. I made an innocent inquiry about it when I first joined and got similar snobby anwers.

I'm glad you stuck around.

Due to the nature of our tea hobby/obsession, we can sometimes get a little over zealous. Many if not most of us made the progression from teabags to gong fu at some point, so I think it is too easy to make the assumption that those who have not reached "our level" simply need to be instructed on how to do it "properly." Unfortunately this just tends to alienate people.

I am glad as well.

Heh, yeah, we can be very zealous in our wanting to share our passion for the steeped leaf. Unfortunately, the line of where not to cross is hazy at best, and is often also a matter of timing, and thus left to the individual at a particular moment in time.

We all need to learn on a forum that sometimes you simply have to allow everyone to "drink what they like, and like what they drink." Also, with brewing we get into a mode of "helping" because we are constantly being asked ... to help ... that we forget to turn off the "help switch" when it is not solicited."

"Brew how you like and like how you brew."
.

[Shelob]

This machine almost caused me to stop coming to TeaChat for this exact reason. I made an innocent inquiry about it when I first joined and got similar snobby anwers. Just because it isn't for you does not give you the right to be condescending.

I agree w/ you, I have seen statements like this before, thus at this point, I really am asking very few questions due to the fact that I am quick to react and may get banned for using .... *freak*.....too many times ! As a result, currently I really haven't ventured far out of TeaDay and the other areas that I feel comfortable with re: my limited knowledge. Like the poll the other day, I want to give back, but when I am able and to do so positively. I have learned that we all are different, different teas, different brewing methods, different teawares, on and on and that it is OKAY to be so.

However, when asked, please give us advice, otherwise, I believe we all are entitled to our opinions! IMHO

OOPS, don't get me wrong, the majority of the peeps here are great and I feel are here to help, not be critical and condescending. Thank you to all who are especially patient w/the NEWBIES

[Lord Darkstorm]

For anyone who has one of these, and would like to know the rough temperatures and times I did a few runs:

Code: Select all

Tea Type	Strength	Temp	Time
Black	  Strong	   195F	6 Min
Black	   Medium	  195F	5 min
Black	   Mild	    195F	4 min
Oolong	  Strong	  190F	4 1/2 min
Oolong	  Medium	  190F	4 min
Oolong	  Mild	    190F	3 1/2 min
Green	   Strong	  165F	4 1/2 min
Green	   Medium	  165F	3 1/2 min
Green	   Mild	    165F	2 1/2 min
White	   Strong	  165F	6 1/2 min
White	   Medium	  165F	5 1/2 min
White	   Mild	    165F	4 1/2 min
Herbal	  Strong	  160F	5 min
Herbal	  Medium	  160F	3 1/2 min
Herbal	  Mild	    160F	3 min

All temps and times are rough and could vary a bit.  

I will have to say, I'm much less impressed with this now that I know exactly what it is doing....