Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

TL:DR - I like it, but a Japanese person did not approve of it because lets all the flavor out in 1 steep by unravelling the leaf too quickly. I purchased this product in January of 2013 at Teavana in the Chrstiana Mall in Delaware after returning from Japan with hundreds of grams of various grades of tea. My hope was to invest in the best product in the US market to make and enjoy the tea with. For the next year I used the machine to prepare tea and I was extremely happy. I learned about the automatic feature which allowed me to prepare the machine the night before and wake up at 7AM for work with a huge carafe of fresh tea. But I was unaware... A year later my in-laws from Japan visited us in the US and I was so proud to show them the tea maker. They brought lots of Japanese tea, among other gifts! As they watched the first cycle 'お父さん' (father-in-law) said, "''''''''''''''''会社いんがとても働きましょうね” (It looks like a company employee (at Breville) worked very hard to make this...) Japan has all the world's most modern tech gadgets. Although going about it politely, this machine did not completely impress him and here's the only reason you need to know. It is too rough. The tea leaf must be steeped in a traditional Japanese earthen teapot (called a Ky'su) to gently extract the final product. The leaves can be steeped at least three (3) times before being discarded, of which the second time is the most delicious. On our second trip to japan one year later we were gifted a Ky'su and told how to properly make tea. Since then I use the Breville tea maker only to warm the filtered water to 175 degrees F, 76 degrees C. If I had known the tea making feature was too rough for making tea, I would have purchased the variable water kettle from Breville in the first place. That is the advice I'd like to pass on to you. I've owned the unit being reviewed for 3 years and I use it every day. As my father-in-law stated, the work Breville has made to have a machine brew tea is outstanding and impressive. However, they're lacking the gentle touch required to make tea which satisfies the Japanese palette. IMO Japan is the global authority of pure exquisite tea. No other culture can compare to the way the Japanese propagate, cultivate, and manufacture the unadulterated tea leaf which in the end yields the most healthy and delicious hot beverage on Earth. So how do you make a good cup of tea? (1) Use Breville to heat filtered water to 76 Degrees C, 175 degrees F (2) Add 6 grams of Japanese green tea to a 300ml Ky'su (So every 100ml of water requires 2 grams of tea) (3) Add 300ml of heated water (4) Steep for 1m30s, pour, then drink (5) Repeat 3-5 times (6) Discard or compost tea leaves. Remember, the second steep is the most flavorful, delicious steep of them all. Thanks for reading, Stevie