Hamilton Beach 40911 2-Quart Electric Iced Tea Maker
by Hamilton Beach
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List Price: Our Price: $19.99 You Save: $5.00 (20%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $12.99 (click here) Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Hamilton Beach 40911 2-Quart Electric Iced Tea Maker
Customer Review: Simply Great.
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this so I could make green tea at work. It is really handy, makes great tea and doesn't take up a lot of space. My co-workers agree with the quality of the tea that comes out of it. I really have no complaints. The pitcher is a good size for what I need. We get the tea drank before it goes bad and then we make another pitcher. Easy.Customer Review: A great appliance!
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a tea lover, and I'm thrilled with the Hamilton Beach Iced Tea Maker. What I like:
1. It's much safer than boiling water on the stove (and possibly forgetting it!) or having to pour boiling water into a pitcher.
2. The tea tastes better than tea made the conventional way. I use 2 large bags of Luzianne tea, with the "strong" setting, and it turns out great - a pretty amber color, no bitterness, just the flavor of tea. Leftover tea tastes good hours later or even the next day. I love that this appliance allows you to dial the strength of tea you want.
3. The pour spout on the tea pitcher does not leak or spill over! This may seem trivial, but it's not to me. Most of the pitchers I've had in the past were messy to use.
4. The appliance is compact. The tower fits easily in the cabinet under my sink. The streamlined pitcher takes up little refrigerator space.
5. The price is reasonable. And, Amazon puts this item on sale most weekends, with free shipping for purchases over $25.
I couldn't be happier with this appliance. I just hope it lasts forever (we'll see!).
Customer Review: Excellent Product
Summary: 5 Stars
This iced tea maker works as advertized. Much more controlable brew than with a Mr. Coffee. I like my tea strong and this unit has a variable brew selector. I received it in a timely manner fromt he seller and I am very satisfied. I have recommended it to my friends.Customer Review: Wonderful Product - lets you adjust the strength of the tea
Summary: 5 Stars
Wonderful Product - lets you adjust the strength of the tea
The adjustment feature works. I started out on strong and found it bitter but once I lowered the setting to medium the tea is just right. I really like the tea bags being in the container in the pitcher since I don't forget and leave them in the machine.
It is so easy to make iced tea now I save money since I cut way back on my soda consumption.
Customer Review: Great little machine
Summary: 4 Stars
I read the reviews from others and, because of them, decided to give this iced tea maker a try. I was not disappointed. I've had it for about a month and have used at least once everyday. I love it. I agree that the pitcher could have been made a little sturdier(the only reason it didn't get 5 stars from me) but, since I immediately transfer the tea to another container and hand rinse everything it's not going to be an issue. It will hold up for a very long time.
The machine is very simple to use. I, per directions, put one quart of water into the machine and then put about 1 INCH of cold water in the pitcher and add ice until almost the 1 quart line on the pitcher. I do this because the container that I transfer the tea to doesn't have a very large opening(2qt. juice bottle). To fill the pitcher with ice to the 2qt line on the pitcher(per mfg. directions) would require me to wait a long time for the ice to melt enough to make it an easy pour into my "holding container".
Either way, the pitcher needs to be protected by ice/cool water from the very hot tea dripping into it or it could heat fracture over time. The 2qt rectangular type juice bottles are great because they take up less room than a round Tupperware type pitcher and they can also be stored on their side. And, if they break they're easily replaced when you finish drinking your cranberry juice.lol I digress.
My recipe for iced tea to my liking:
Selector on tea holder/"seeper" set to "strong"
Two Lipton large size tea bags(on their side at the end where the hot water flows in). I also adjust the tea in the bags so it's spread out as it lays flat in the holder/"seeper". The large Lipton decaf bags are $3.46 for 24 bags at Walmart.
While it's brewing I pour 13 packets of Equal type(Walmart brand 200 packets @$2.14) sweetener into my juice container and then squeeze in a good dose(1-1? oz???) of Sicilia brand lemon juice. Unless you're using actual lemons Sicilia brand is the only way to go. IMHO, the other lemon juice brands, i.e. Realemon, are horrible and make for a lousy tasting tea. My local Walmart does not carry Sicilia but the other stores in my area do. It's 99?-$1.50 for 4oz. Look in the produce section if they're not in the aisles near Realemon, etc...
When the tea is done brewing, the ice(prepared my way) should be just melted and the tea will be room temperature. I take apart the unit, hang the just used tea bags in the pitcher of tea to cool off while I wash the tea holder/seeper and cover, and then squeeze out the tea bags into the brew and discard them. The brew then gets poured into my juice bottle with the waiting sweetener and lemon, shaken, and stored in the refrigerator until it's cold. I find that "aging" the brew for at least a couple of hours(while it's getting cold) brings out the flavor of the tea. Seeing as how I always have two containers in the "fridge" I don't have to worry about diluting the brew any further by pouring room temperature tea over ice to cool it. By the time I get to the "reserve" bottle it's cold. When I start drinking my "reserve" bottle I make a new batch to replace it.