2008 IQ Innovations Fine T

The Fine-T four cup tea maker boasts an impressive seven settings, to exactly match the type of tea you are making. This means that the temperature and brewing time are automatically adjusted, depending on whether you are making green, white, black or oolong tea. An eighth setting is the ‘teawash’ setting, which actually rinses tea leaves before brewing commences. The makers of this machine clearly understand the art of tea making.

A very useful feature is the programmable timer. This allows you to set the tea maker to brew your tea for when you get up in the morning, or come home from work. There is even a heated base plate, which maintains the temperature of the tea for 30 minutes, should you be delayed or would like a refill.

Once the tea setting has been selected the LCD information panel will show you the type of tea you are making, the temperature required and the length of time it needs to infuse. Once the tea is brewed, it is poured into the carafe that is supplied with the machine. The carafe is heat-resistant with stainless steel features. This matches the tea maker itself, which is sleek and modern in design. At 16″ x 8.5″ this is not the smallest of tea makers, but it certainly looks attractive.

The machine is self-cleaning and the carafe is dishwasher safe. There is a water-level viewing window, allowing you to monitor the water-level, as well as additional markings inside the water tank, which indicate the minimum and maximum amount allowed. The infusion basket swings out, which is very convenient and prevents spills inside the machine. It holds the recommended one teaspoon per cup (the tea maker brews four cups at a time).

The one drawback of this machine is that it can only use loose tea. Some machines will brew from teabags, although anyone who invests in a tea maker probably wishes to use leaves anyway, for a more authentic cup.

Although more expensive than some other tea makers, this Fine T model comes with added features that are very useful. A wide range of loose teas can be brewed to perfection, and the heated base plate is a fantastic idea (it even shuts off after thirty minutes to help preserve the tea’s flavour). This machine caters for all tastes, with very little input but fantastic results.

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