Tea and Coffee: Two Great Tastes That, Well, Maybe Taste Better Apart
Pick your poison. According to the AICR, only about 31% of Americans drink black tea- and only 15% drink green teas! 61% of Americans drink coffee, though few of them actually grind it at home (statistics unavailable, we blame Google). We were also unable to find out what percentage of Americans use loose leaf tea versus bagged, but we suspect it is a very small portion.
Which is a shame- both fresh-ground coffee and loose-leaf teas are quite a bit better than the pre-bagged kinds. Of course, Americans like convenience- but today’s article hopefully shows that you can still get quality and convenience, for either drink.
We’ll start with the Breville Conical Burr Grinder (model BCG450XL for the those who think in product codes). Said to offer “barista grade control, with engineering grade polymers”, we found a pretty normal coffee grinder. Burr grinders are much, much better than the blade grinders that can create uneven coffee dust sure to clog up your coffeemaker as well as heat up grounds (changing flavor). There are plenty of burr grinders out there – but the Breville does offer fairly consistent grinds. Most grinders don’t offer much variety in grinds, but the Breville does a decent job offering a wide range of sizes, great for those who are making espresso. Further, it’s quiet, though it does take a bit longer than some competing machines.
We tried it out for a while, and found it to be pretty durable, about average in cleaning difficulty, but offering a pretty small bean hopper (only 1/2 a pound). Fairly stylish, if you enjoy coffee, then the Breville Conical Bean Grinder is worth the $99 or so it costs to have it sitting on your counter.
If you’re a tea drinker, on the other hand, a coffee grinder won’t do you much good. And if you are serious about your tea, you drink it loose leaf. Tea strainers have gotten better, sure, but still end up dipped in your tea for too long, and you still have to worry about water temperature. Hence all-in-one tea-makers- another device to take up counterspace, but a lifesaver if you just want a cup of really good tea without fuss.
The Zarafina is the smallest full-service tea maker we’ve seen, and the one with the most options and features. We’ve looked at others before, but the Zarafina is unique in a few ways. For starters, it uses the same chamber for heating and steeping, but avoids steeping early by using a really cool floating tea chamber that only gets filled when the water is properly heated. Further, it offers handy switches to select between various tea choices (herbal, red, green, white, black) as well as strength (3 options). Pick your choices, flick a switch, and the Zarafina does the rest- in theory, steeping time and water temperature are handled automatically, and the tea is dispensed into the included pot when ready.
Unfortunately though, the pot isn’t heated or kept warm- which means that it can grow cold quickly and your tea with it. By the time the tea hits the fairly cool pot, and then gets poured into the also-cool (though attractive and included) cups, it’s lost a fair bit of heat. Further, the machine doesn’t make a sound to indicate when your tea is ready, so it is really easy to forget the tea for a bit- which would be fine, except that you’re certain to get a cold cup of tea if you wait a while. Also, the settings didn’t seem to matter that much- delicate white teas were still steeped too long, though the temperature (about 165) was correct. Finally, cleaning was a bit of a hassle- to do a good job, you’ll need to clean about 6 different parts, and a couple of them cannot be immersed in water (or put in a dishwasher).
All in all though, it’s still easy to recommend the Zarafina. It’s fun to use, has a small footprint, and invites plenty of comments. We wish it was more manually adjustable (though it would trade ease-of-use perhaps), and that it could hold a bit more tea. But, frankly, it’s well-made and for $100, the easiest way to brew consistent pots of loose leaf tea.
