Aberdeen Smart Tea Maker, 525 ml

I’m lowering the score here a bit, for one reason only: the floppy lid was actually very, very annoying. One cannot spoon out of a lightweight tin or bag and hold open the lid at the same time, so I was having to spoon the dry leaves into a little shot glass, then hold open the lid and pour the leaves from the shot glass into the infuser. Not great.

My husband fixed mine by shaving down the rounded end of the tab (where you put your thumb to lever open) with a Dremel until it would sit on the handle below without flopping closed. (But I’m afraid I’m making it sound simpler than it was; he also had to somehow hand grind/adjust the little pieces … um, “legs”? I don’t know. The bits that go through the holes in the lid to keep it attached to the body. For some reason I didn’t quite catch.)

Aside from this, I’m quite happy with it, and yes — it definitely cleared my counter of all the bits of paraphernalia, as I use this 95% of the time, and also find it super easy to clean. So, Mission Accomplished. With a bit of a hiccup.

So: Size/shape = A+; Materials = A+; Filter = A+; Performance = A+; Lid design = D

I’d give the lid an “F,” but I think it’s actually very cleverly shaped to keep the condensation from dripping onto your hand or the outside the container when raised.

So, really this is actually a very, very good item … mostly . If only it weren’t so tediously aggravating with the lid. My husband took it off to work on it, so that is one possible solution — just take it off, and lift it on and off as needed. Also it’s maaaaybe possible that mine was a bit defective, and most don’t have the same problem. I didn’t see any malformation though.

¯\(ツ)/¯