brewing – Backerjack

The connected Teplo bottle does away with tepid tasting teas

Despite what most may think, properly brewing tea is an involved process requiring exact times and temperatures — and these figures change with every single type of tea. Any more or any less of any one variable and the tea in question won’t be as potent, losing the benefits that make it a healthy choice in the first place.

The Teplo smart bottle takes the guesswork out of brewing that perfect cup of tea. By combining an extremely simple design — a glass bottle with top and bottom bamboo caps — with a bit of smarts, company Load&Road LLC has designed a tea companion that guides drinkers through the brewing process using a companion smartphone app. With it, users can input the kind of tea being brewed and from there,

Qi Teamaker taps your smartphone to produce oolongs and aahs

Fancy coffeemakers are all the rage. But some people would rather drink tea in the morning instead. Without as much caffeine, tea can be had all throughout the day.

The Qi Teamaker makes the perfect cup of tea. This device lets the user control water flow, water temperature and brew time along with the strength of the tea they’re drinking. Best of all, the device allows you to choose what kind of tea you’re drinking so that it can adjust its settings accordingly. At its maximum capacity, this teamaker makes up to eight cups of tea. Qi is compatible with both loose leaf tea and tea bags. The Vita+ version of Qi comes with an accompanying smartphone app that lets users monitor the brewing process, customize the way their tea is made and track their favorite teas.

People who are into tea know that brewing time and water temperature are essential for making great tea, and those settings vary based on the type of tea being had. In this way, Qi is the perfect item for tea connoisseurs. The smartphone app, while a cool feature, doesn’t seem to serve much of a purpose, however, and so backers may want to consider sticking with the base model to save money. The Qi Teamaker Vita can be had for a donation of $169 CAD (~$149 USD) with an estimated delivery month of April 2015. Qi is hoping to raise $100,000 CAD (~$86,500) on Kickstarter.