Tea pods

In a word: Terrible. Not in an "I brew *my* tea from loose tea only" way, but in a seriously terrible tea way. :)

I got one of these for free before Christmas at Target. If you bought a box of pods you got the maker for free. So I bought Tea pods, English Breakfast (it was one of the better options from the selection) and it consistently is some of the worst tea I have ever drank. I will say that I tore open a pod and put it in my infuser and brewed it properly and it was better (although still not great) so I am thinking the maker is to be blamed somewhat. The tea that came from the pod was poor to barely passable IMO, and a pack of Twinnings would give it a strong run for its money (and much cheaper).

I actually wouldn't say a restaurant would be any better with one of these. They are purely a money making scheme and the pric per cup is very high. The only possible thing I could see this good for is teas that require lower temp. water. I have brewed a plain teabag of green tea in it to see and it was pretty much the same as if I had done it in the microwave.

Dunno, that's just my opinion. I've made about 4 cups of tea with it and it is in my basement now, where it will most likely stay.

- Dominic Drinking: Nothing, time to brew more.

Thanks, that's what I thought. It doesn't seem like the tea in the pod would have enough time to infuse to draw out the flavor. They keep trying to build a better mousetrap when it comes to ways to preparing tea, but so far, in my experience, nothing beats the good old electric kettle.

I know some people make their tea in their coffee makers. I wouldn't want to drink tea prepared that way, either.

That sounds like an argument against gongfu tea preparation.

Disclaimer: not a pod person, have never tried pod tea.

/Lew

I'm confused, help me out there? Gongfu is a standard brewing process taking the proper steps, water temps., brewing methods, and time to produce the tea... a pod brewing machine is basically a glorified coffee maker and using a small pod that is restrictive and running improper water temps through it, and for an improper length of time for most tea... and it is not configurable for different tea's needs. They are pretty different animals altogether.

- Dominic Drinking: Cheap Jasmine Green.

Of course they're different, but I was responding to the assertion that the pod machine was bad because it didn't allow enough steep time to draw out the leaves' goodness. I plead guilty to provocation, but still...

/Lew

My "Mr. Coffee" only makes the hot water. I use separate pots for the tea and coffee. If I see a package of pods, I would like to try it. My machine is for 4-cups. MLB

Well, gongfu doesn't come in pods, so clearly that is a non-issue. The types of tea that are available in pods all require longer steeping times than the pod machine allows for proper infusion.

Apparently the pods are recommended for use only in the Home Cafe brewing machines and not a regular coffee maker. The pods are expensive - about $6 for a package of 20, which I think is a lot for the quality they are offering. I suspect that they are only glorified round tea bags and I bet they could be prepared in a teapot with boiling water from the kettle. But it's not worth it to me to find where they are sold and pay the extra bucks to find out.