There really is nothing better than a nice cup of tea, brewed to perfection, just the way you like it. 

Unfortunately, getting that perfect cuppa during the pandemic has been hard. So, make your best cup of tea in the comfort of your own home -- whether hot or cold brew -- with this carefully selected range of tea makers and kettles, which we think would make an excellent addition to any home or office. 

By brewing tea at home, it might even taste better than anything you could ever buy at a store or shop and you will save money.

Breville BTM800XL One-Touch Tea Maker

Best tea kettle

For a simple but perfect cuppa with minimal effort, try the Breville tea maker. This can be configured to brew tea in different strengths, steep tea leaves for different lengths of time, and keep your tea warm for up to an hour after it has been made.

To avoid the tea stewing, the basket lifts out of the liquid after moving up and down to agitate the tea to the correct strength. It has a clock so you can program the time you want your perfect cup of tea. It also functions as an ordinary, albeit expensive, electric kettle.

Pros

• Keeps tea warm
• Automatic basket lift

Cons

• Expensiveoption if you just want a kettle

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Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System

Hot or cold tea maker (coffee, too)

Ninja

If you want an all-singing, all-dancing machine that will make either coffee or tea, hot or cold, in any amount -- and has a milk frother too, then look no further than the Ninja. It will brew you a hot drink -- or will brew over ice in around 20 minutes. It works with loose coffee grounds or leaf tea or bagged tea in six different-sized amounts. The Ninja comes with different brew baskets so that the flavors do not mingle. It also has a frother that will aerate hot or cold milk onto foam for your preferred beverage.

This ultimate tea and coffee machine has a price to match, but for the functionality you get, for coffee and tea lovers, it is definitely worth its price.

Pros

• Makes both coffee and tea
• Makes hot and cold drinks
• Milk frother
  

Cons

• Expensive
  
• Does not keep drinks warm

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Buydeem K2423 Tea Maker

Features an infuser and a keep-warm feature

The Buydeem tea maker is an electric kettle with an infuser and a keep-warm feature that will keep your tea hot for up to an hour. Push one of the buttons to determine the boiling temperature for either black, green, white, or oolong tea, and it will boil to the perfect temperature for the leaves in the infuser. Remove the infuser when your tea reaches the required strength. The Buydeem also can be used as a kettle.

Pros

• Keeps tea warm
• Removable infuser

Cons

• Expensive option if you just want a kettle

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Teavana Perfectea Maker

Straightforward tea maker

The Teavana is a straightforward tea maker. Add tea leaves and hot water to the tea maker and place it over your cup. The water will drain through into your cup,  leaving the leaves in the Teavana. The unit comes apart for easy cleaning.

Pros

• Simple to use
• Easy to clean

Cons

• Expensive for making a single cup when a teabag in the cup will do

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Brentwood KT 2150BL Iced Tea and Coffee Maker

64-ounce pitcher that can go straight in the fridge

Add leaf tea to the basket and sugar to sweeten if you like. Choose the strength of tea, switch it on, and the water pours through the basket full of tea and into the 64-ounce pitcher, which can then be placed straight into the fridge.

Pros

• Easy to use
• Large capacity jug
• Choose the strength of the tea

Cons

• Pour cold water over teabags in a jug for a lower cost option

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What is the best tea kettle?

The Breville BTM800XL One-Touch Tea Maker is the best tea kettle, due to its programmability, ease-of-use, and superior tea flavor.

How strong is the brewed tea?

Most of these tea makers have a programmable strength dial so you can set the strength of tea you prefer. Where there is no strength dial you can leave the basket in the liquid to steep the tea leaves to your desired strength.

Will the tea machine keep my drink warm?

Only the Buydeem and the Breville tea makers have keep warm features. You will need to drink your tea soon after the program has finished to enjoy your hot drink.

Which is the simplest tea maker?

For simplicity itself, the Teavana and Brentwood do not use electricity. Pour hot (or cold in the case of the Brentwood iced tea maker) water into the receptacle and the water will infuse with the tea leaves to make your perfect hot -- or cold -- brew with minimal configuration.

How did we choose these tea kettles?

We chose these tea kettles on three factors: Ease of use, features and price.

Some of these tea makers are simple to use. Pour hot or cold water onto the desired flavour of tea leaves, and wait until the mix has reached its desired strength.

Others have extra features such as programmable strength, and will lift the basket out of the liquid when it reaches its desired strength or the machine will keep the liquid hot after it has brewed. The Ninja will brew both hot and cold tea, others are single use machines. The Breville and the Buydeem kettles will lift the infuser basket and keep the tea hot after it has brewed.

If price is an issue then the Brentwood and the Buydeem are the lowest cost options. The other models are significantly more expensive.

Which tea kettle is right for you?

For the perfect tea kettle, you need to decide on flavor and strength of the tea you want. Do you love stewed tea, or do the floral, delicate teas dictate your choice? There are many fragrances of tea leaves that can be destroyed by over brewing and this should be an important consideration when you choose your tea kettle.

Also, consider the following:

• How complicated is the kettle to use? Are there many moving parts that can go wrong? Is the kettle difficult to clean, fragile, or fiddly? Does the trickiness of getting the perfect cup of tea outweigh the enjoyment of the finished cup?
• How geeky is the machine? Do you need complexity when you are not really bothered about the taste of the final cup of tea? Will a jug and filter paper, or a teabag in a mug do the same job for you?
• How long does it take to produce the perfect cup of tea? Weak tea can take only a couple of minutes to produce, but a full-flavored strong brew of black tea could take up to 20 minutes if you like really strong tea.
  
• How expensive is the machine? Some of these tea kettles are expensive and might not be an option for you if you are on a budget.

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