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yuwen's gu fei

TeaBot meets Teamaker!

THE FUTUUUUURE! It’s pretty fun to watch a robot make you a custom tea blend and then have another tea robot brew it for you! I couldn't pass up an opportunity to use the TeaBot at the Toronto Tea Festival earlier this year and im pretty pleased with the CUSTOM blend I made! Not only do you get to choose the teas that you wish to blend (through a fancy little interface) but you can use slider to use custom ratios. SO COOL!

I figured that the best way to brew a cup of robot tea would be with my Perfect Teamaker from Teavana! I've seen other models of this device around but I prefer this one. Sturdy and easy to clean (plus no leeching chemicals in the plastic).

My blend (properly named ‘Tea’s Tea’) is a blend of Rooibos that I enjoy not only for its honey-like flavor but also its health benefits, a smooth cherry black tea and another black tea with caramel and little bits of almond nougat. It smells kind of like a softly sweet breakfast cereal!

I love how easy it is to use the Teamaker and that I can enjoy watching my tea open and expand as it steeps! It sure beats a bagged tea or teaball. It’s such a sad thing to trap tea leaves in a little ball where they aren't able to dance freely in the hot water am I right? I just love watching my tea steep. Its like a nice way to press pause on the day and just enjoy my tea time.

Here is another fun perk to using a tea making robot:

WHEEE!!! The pressure plate on the bottom of the device lifts up a plug underneath the strainer so that all you have to do is place the Teamaker on any cup or pot and away it goes! The handy thing now is that the Teamaker with the used leaves in it can be popped into your fridge and re-steeped later in the day! (Steeping removes a lot of the caffeine as well so my second steep will be better as an evening tea and without the fuss of commercial decaffeinating methods!)

My nose says: Oh Caramel-y nougat-y bliss! The smell of the rooibos, mixed with the nougat and caramel flavors, makes me think that this is going to be sugary sweet. I feel like I could take a bite out of this tea, the scent is just that thick! But wait...where’s the cherry in all of this?

And my mouth is sayin’: Oh! There is is! The caramel overload has just been diffused and I love the little game my tea has played on me! The brisk tannins of the black tea and the cherry is mixing so well with the smooth rooibos and creamy flavors ‘n smells. I'm going to have to play with this some more by adding milk and sugar or honey but on its own...this tea is great! I want to high-five the TeaBot.

BY THE WAY: Rooibos is pronounced like “Roy Bus” or “Roy-boze”. It’s an herb/bush that comes from Africa and is consumed there for all of its great health benefits. Honeybush teas are very similar but that's a whole different topic! Ill have a post all about Rooibos teas but in the meantime, go search the web and learn a new thing!

Brewing Details:

Water: 195-200F (right off the boil is safe for black teas)

Tea: 3 teaspoons (2 for the average sized coffee mug)

Time: 3-5 minutes (over 5 minutes will cause the tea to release too many tannins and your tea will taste sour or bitter)

I love my tea. Such a lovely tea. That’s a happy tea face.