omorka | Further Kitchen Gadetry, Part 2

Second experiment with the new teamaker :

Water: 24 oz, to make two 12 oz. mugs
Tea: 4 t Twinings' English Breakfast (1 per 8 oz. water, plus "one for the pot")
Setting: Maximum strength

Observations: Liquid again started very, very light, became almost coffee-dark by about a third of the way through the brewing time, and ended almost clear. The characteristic deep, leafy scent of English Breakfast was evident by about a minute into the brewing process. In the carafe, aroma was very evident, although not a strong as it would be in a 5-minute-steeped teapot; color was very dark, as appropriate for this tea cut.

Flavor: A little weak; again, what I would expect from a 3.5 minute steep with this amount of tea and water. This had the unexpected advantage of not being as tannin-heavy as English Breakfast often is, although it still had significant astringency. Not very bitter. Tasted stronger with lemon (second cup) than with milk (first cup), probably due to the acid. Drank with a 12 oz. coffee mug this time; still had a couple of ounces left over, which I discarded - two mugs of English Breakfast is enough, as this thing does seem to do a good job of caffeine extraction! (There's its coffeemaker heritage showing, I suspect.)

Conclusion: Near total success. This is perfectly acceptable morning jumpjuice. Might try it with the same amount of tea and slightly less water next time to see if the flavor is a bit more concentrated.

Comments: Cleaning the used tea leaves out of the brewing basket is a pain in the ass. Some of the plastic parts are already taking on that tea-stained color.