VarieTEA kettle - Review

The VarieTEA tea kettle sold by Adagio.com allows water to be boiled as hot as the type of tea one is making. I ordered mine back in late spring, taking advantage of a special dollar off amount, and using up some of my gift certificate points for purchases and selling signature blends.
It is available for sale on Adagio.com, along with a 12-month warranty plan:
http://www.adagio.com/teaware/varieTEA_kettle.html?SID=0fc02aa8965eb87ef14312bd069a40e1

I received mine a few days ago and am in heaven! I love the variety (er, sorry, varieTEA) of teas I can make with this. I've used it on all settings, but since I prefer green tea - and typically that's all I drink in the summertime - that's the kind I've brewed most lately. I use the delicate setting for a lot of the caffeine-free teas, such as Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime line. I'm surprised at how much crisper a lot of the green teas are - I can actually taste the gunpowder green in the Mint Green Tea from Culinary Teas. Also, my Awakening blend from Adagio tastes much better; I can identify the light vanilla taste with mint.

There are some quirks; though nothing is as bad as others have reported (see the reviews from Adagio). I have to watch when I set the kettle back on the stand because the black tea "212" button will light up. I can just select another tea type or turn it off. Also, the "keep it warm" feature doesn't work too well... or at all. But since I would prefer reheating the water anyway, I don't mind. (Sometimes I'm not sure which tea I want to have next, so I like the option of changing my mind.)

The price is another downside. Since I got this on a sale and using gift certificates, I didn't worry about the price so much at the time. But I thought about getting this as a gift and I'm not sold on the price tag, with as many quirks as has been reported.

Readers, if any of you have purchased this kettle, what do you think? Is it better or worse than other varieties?

Stay tuned - I'll do a review after I've had this for a month to see it is still up to par.

Quest for Earl Grey

One of my tea friends recently had a birthday. She's an Earl Grey fiend, so I purchased a bunch of EG samplers for her, from Adagio and other places.

I decided to try EG Lavender by Adagio for myself. I've tried other EG Lavender varieties - such as Metro Teas - and enjoyed the cuppas. I call EG Lavender the EG Gateway. I'll get there some day, folks.

But not with this variety. This doesn't taste anything like lavender! It brews up syrupy sweet - meaning it smells like syrup. And not in the way that the awesome Pancake Breakfast from 52teas does (which is my latest obsession). It's bizarre. I'm going to try to brew it w/less time, maybe that will help.

Honestly, I'm a little embarrassed that I trusted Adagio's EGs for a b-day present.

Quest for Earl Grey

It's begun. The Quest to Conquer EG Fears.

I'm an Earl Grey (EG) rookie, but it's time I finally branch out into bergamot and start enjoying the pleasures of this watery fruit loop tea.

OK, I'll be nicer to it once it starts tasting better.

List your fave EG varieties below and why. I'll link up to any reviews I do and may even try some based on your  opinions.

The first EG I tried after YEARS of shunning was the Earl Grey Moonlight by Adagio.
http://steepster.com/teas/adagio-teas/8397-earl-grey-moonlight
...I am typically NOT an Earl Grey fan, and maybe that distinction yields my appeased tastebuds. Overall, I love the combination of creamy vanilla and citrusy bergamot. A friend of mine who adores Earl Grey can’t stand it – she says the medley is too unlike Earl Grey to take it seriously. And I think that’s why I like it! :) I also added a bit of Splenda (two packets) because the bergamot flavor was too strong for me at first.

• Take a LeviTEA break to ponder: "Grey" can be spelled two ways - also with an "a," "Gray" - but when it comes to Earl Grey, I rarely see it with the "a." Why is that?

First Keen Tea Thyme Contest - Hurry, Ends March 25 @ 11:59 p.m.

If we still used tea as currency - as the ubiquitous "they" did until the nineteenth century, I'd be filthy rich! I've got more tea than I know what to do with. Plus my 30th b-day is around the corner and I'm ready for some fun. So I've decided to host a tea giveaway!

You've got until 11:59 p.m. on Fri., March 25, 2011, to answer the question below by e-mailing me.

Please do NOT post your answer below. You can post that you will e-mail me the answer so I'll know to look out for your entry. If you post the answer below, your posted comment will be removed and you'll be disqualified. Sorry to be so touchy about that, but I want to keep this fair & fun. I'll select a winner randomly based on the number of correct entries on Sat., March 26, 2011. After contacting the winner, I'll post his/her name as well as the correct answer.


Who (unintentionally) invented the tea bag? 

Why bother entering? 'Cause you'll win tea, silly! :) The winner will receive a goodie bag of at least five samples of my custom blended tea from Adagio, including the following:

• Vampire Lemonade
• Toasted Marshmallow
• A Love Affair
• My Name is Bruce
• Sassy Cupid

The winner also gets a choice of five other samples from my Steepster cupboard, which is updated regularly. All samples will make at least five cups of tea. I'm generous when sending; ask around. :)

So, when answering, please include the five additional tea samples you'd like. Again, please do NOT post the answer below. And remember, the contest ends Friday at 11:59 p.m.! The clock is ticking! :) :)

If you have any questions please feel free to e-mail me. Good luck! :)