Takeya
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I’ve owned two of these so far and have been putting them through daily use for the past three years. I’ve yet to find a better way to easily brew large amounts of iced tea from loose leaf. The filter is particularly fine and even does a decent job with roobois. It’s also large enough for most teas to expand but compact oolongs and pureh seem to get a bit cramped. When brewing with hot water be sure to not close the lid all the way as this will cause pressure to build.
I have had minor problems both my fault. One of these sadly bit the dust after a particularly nasty fall that busted open the plastic. These can usually take a drop but the plastic had already been compromised from being used to make cocktails where the limes were placed in the pitcher and smashed with a wooden spoon. This caused hairline cracks to form so don’t smash things in there… The other one now has some of the pour spout chipped off from another drop on to a tile floor when completely full of tea. This has compromised the already finicky pouring. Also, I’ve gotten a lot of tea buildup on the filters and the pitchers itself. Baking soda works decent but it might be time to get some of that magic tea soak I’ve been hearing about since it’s hard to clean inside the narrow filter.
I have a couple of these, and they are great for iced tea! I always make a point to scrub them out really well with a bottle brush. So far I haven’t had a problem with tea buildup, but I haven’t had mine as long as you.
I’d be lying if I said I always wash it out between teas. It usually just lives in the door of my fridge until I empty it then immediately I make more tea. I don’t add sugar and hopefully the boiling hot water takes care of anything nasty, but this habit probably doesn’t help the buildup problem.
That would do it. I cold brew, so I make sure to wash it.
I own 1 (very soon to be two!) of this pitcher. The only difference is mine has an extra long infuser that reaches about 3/4 of the way down to the bottom. I got it from DAVID’s tea as a gift from a friend (my second one is in the mail as I ordered it). I love that it is made from BPA free plastic, (my mother in law owned a glass carafe from DAVIDs: the lid fell in when there was hot tea in it and it broke somehow :/), how much it hold and the fact that is is skinny and tall (I have a smaller sized fridge so not a lot of room). I’ve been making pitcher after pitcher in this thing. Between my husband and I lately we are drinking a pitcher of iced tea a day which is why I need two of these.
The only reason why I didn’t rate this 100 is the fact that the extra long infuser can be a pain to clean and the price tag of this pitcher ($30 at DAVIDs). Otherwise, this is my favorite pitcher of all time.
Overall I would say that Takeya has delivered exactly what the package described, a classic black tea. Much like the iced tea I grew up with the flavor isn’t particularly strong. It does have a slightly sweet, almost fruity flavor that is perfect for iced tea. I did find that once I added ice the tea immediately began to cloud, something that doesn’t bother me, but is a huge sticking point with some iced tea traditionalists. Brewing the tea hot, then allowing it to cool in the fridge instead of adding ice helped somewhat with the issue of clouding while also giving me a stronger flavored tea. Unfortunately that meant I used 4 packages of tea instead of 2 when making a full pitcher. Since there are only 6 to a box, so this method isn’t really cost efficient. I’ve seen these priced around $3.99 per box (and as much as $7.99.) At that price I’ll most likely continue to measure out my tea into sandwich bags if I want to leave it for my husband or take my Flash Chill pitcher with me when I travel.
You can read the full review on my blog:
http://www.notstarvingyet.com/index/2015/6/9/tuesday-tea-flash-chill-classic-black-whole-leaf-iced-tea-takeya
Preparation
Steep Information:
Amount: 2 packets
Water: 2 QT room temperature
Tool: Takeya flash chill
Steep Time: overnight in fridge
Served: Cold
Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: hint of coconut, strong lime
Steeped Tea Smell: lime, fruit
Flavor: fruity, tropical, lime finish
Body: medium
Aftertaste: lime, woody
Liquor: cloudy orange green
pretty tasty
Rating: 2/4 leaves
Blog: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2015/05/takeya-usa-loose-leaf-rooibos-tisane.html
Preparation
I got this about 5-6 weeks ago from David’s Tea, and have used it almost non-stop since. It turns out the hubby likes iced tea! This works well both for flash chilling with hot water and ice, and also for cold brewing. However, I do have a few caveats:
- When pouring, the spout is a bit splashy, especially if the pitcher is nearly empty.
- The plastic retains smells very easily. This doesn’t affect the taste of the tea any, but when the pitcher and filter are washed out and drying, you can definitely smell a lingering smell of previous iced teas.
- The pitcher is VERY tall. There is only about one space in my fridge where I can have it stand upright, which is on the fridge door next to the milk.
I think it seals tight enough that you can lay it on the side! I had it for a few months before I dropped it on my floor and cracked it. :|
Ooh, that reminds me, if I screw the lid on and hold it real tight, I can actually hold the pitcher upside down to shake the contents and get them mixed more thoroughly.
Aww, that’s too bad, Cavo. David’s is still selling them, though now the pitcher accents are an electric blue to match the new Carnival theme.
OH cavo…. i meant to tell you…i think these might be at costco..in a 2 pack. if they are, we could split one….
I have a couple of 2L Takeya iced tea jugs that are sold at T2 in Australia as “T2’s The Jug”.
The original 2L jugs had filters that weren’t nearly long enough for the jug, and to be honest they weren’t quite big enough for fruit tea ingredients to make a full 2L jug either. Thankfully the company seem to have learned quickly from this error and the new jugs come with much longer filters. I’m not sure if T2’s jugs are quite the latest version as the filter in my new jug purchased in December 2013 still doesn’t reach as far down as the one on Takeya’s website shows, but it’s still great and does the job.
I would have been happy with just my black one but I couldn’t resist the beautiful limited edition light blue one and I have to admit having two is excellent over summer. All iced tea all the time.
I got a double pack of iced chilled tea makers from Costco. LOVE these!The tea infuser is very fine so nothing gets thru the filter and the filter is very long so it goes all the way to the bottom of the pitcher. One of the pitchers comes with the tea infuser the other comes with a fruit infuser which I haven’t tried yet. The size of this pitcher makes it fit perfect on the side of the refrigerator.
I LOVE this pitcher!!!!!! I had been looking for a pitcher that I could use to cold brew my tea in the fridge. I’ll admit, I was skeptical that it would steep the entire pitcher when the infuser only goes down 1/4 or so of the way. Filled the pitcher with cold water, added loose leaf, screwed in the infuser and set in the fridge overnight. Much to my surprise I had a fully infused pitcher of tea in the AM! MIRACLE! Don’t know how it worked or if the fairies got in there overnight, but it works like a dream.
I just ordered a second one so that I can have more than one kind of tea ready!
This is a great brewing pitcher, especially for cold brewing.
Its very well made, and I like the fact that the infuser screws right into the lid.
It fits nicely into my fridge and makes the cold brewing process (which I am new to) very easy.
The only downfall would be if you only wanted to make 1/2 a pitcher, because the infuser does not reach to the bottom.
