Bodum Ceylon 51-Ounce Ice Tea Maker with Filter

My husband and I both enjoy brewing our own iced tea to drink and so thought that this iced-tea maker would be the perfect practical fit for our needs. Easy enough to drop in loose tea or teabags in the plastic filter piece and pour in hot water. No extra gadget or gizmo to store outside of the pitcher itself, which in a small apartment is a must! And a slim pitcher that fit easily into our fridge.

For the first eight months, it was a great investment. We'd make iced tea several times a week and keep it in the fridge to drink, varying what kinds of tea we'd use. The filter was easy to drop in and pull out for cleaning and we were very happy with the product. After about six months, the plastic filter started to become stained and warped, though it was still usable. After another month or two of use, the plastic of the filter became brittle and the top of it broke off. Well, it was still usable, so we kept brewing tea in it. That lasted until the pitcher started to weaken and the spout and lid cracked. Finally we had to accept the fact that it had to be thrown out.

Obviously, this product just doesn't hold up well under heavy use with hot water brewing, and if I buy another ice tea brewer it will be something sturdier. This is probably fine for occasional use, especially since it stores easily and doesn't take a lot of work to use or to clean. The issues we had probably wouldn't have developed if we hadn't regularly poured hot water in to brew, but that would be pointless for our purposes. The other issue is that the pitcher, while handy, is still a bit on the small side so that we went through the iced tea very quickly with just the two of us. This pitcher would not work to make enough iced tea for a large group of people at once and would require several brewings. Again we really enjoyed this ice tea maker during the months we could use it, it just didn't last very long.

If you are looking for an ice tea maker for regular use and like to hot brew your tea, you may want to look for something that will hold up better, because this one will not last very long. However, if you simply need something for occasional summer tea or cold brewed tea, this might be a perfect fit for you, both in practicality and price.

Happy Brewing! Shanshad ^_^

If you are looking for a heavy duty iced tea maker...this is not the product. However, it works well to infuse tea and make iced tea with teabags. It is made of a thin plastic which wouldn't hold up using everyday but like a lot of items it has its purpose.
It is thin, lightweight. This is the 2nd one I have purchased. It lasted about 3 years. For what i use it for ...it's great.

I absolutely love this pitcher. I go through a ton of iced tea, and this makes keeping a fresh batch on hand so easy.

I haven't had any problems with it not straining the loose tea sufficiently, and I wonder if the people who have aren't using good quality loose tea. If you're using tea that's designed to be brewed loose, this shouldn't be happening. Hasn't been a problem for me.

Nice size, doesn't take much space in the frig. I wish the lid was removable so that it would fit in the dishwasher. The lid moves only 90 degrees, which makes it almost impossible to fit in a dishwasher.

I ordered two of the 51 ounce tea makers, fully expecting them to be as they were pictured - and as I have seen them in stores. However they arrived and were bright orange in color and definitely not see through as I wanted. I decided to keep them and get used to the color. They are fully functional and work very well - as well as the clear ones I am sure! So, although I'm disappointed in the actual appearance of the tea makers, we are still enjoying delicious cold tea. I bought two smaller ones in order to make and keep on hand two different kinds of tea at once. The clear ones would have allowed us to see clearly which kind of tea was inside, without opening them or smelling. And I am getting used to the startling color. I'm not so sure about my husband. He wanted me to return them. But I'm not planning to serve them at the table, so I decided to enjoy the low price I paid and deal with the garish color.