Does anyone have an iced tea maker?

[Shugardrawers]

The tea bags in mine barely get wet. Wondering if I'm using it right or if there is a trick to it?

 

[CathrynRose]

The tea bags in mine barely get wet. Wondering if I'm using it right or if there is a trick to it?

I never have a problem with mine.... ???

I will tell you, you know how it comes with that filter thingee - so you can take it out and wash it? The first time I used it, I didnt know it was in there, and dumped the whole thing in the garbage.

Completely upset - I gave it a shot *without* it in there - and it worked fine. Sooo, maybe remove that thing???

 

[stinkerbelle]

do you have the drip "open"?
on mine...it has 2 settings...open and closed.
when making iced coffee - you want it open so the water will drip down after it passes through the coffee grinds.
when making iced tea...you want it closed so that the water stays up there and 'steeps' through the tea bags for a while.

make sense?

 

[Rhonda922]

Oooh, Stinkerbelle, I think you may have given me a really good tip for making the ice tea. It seems that ours is never strong enough. I think ours doesn't steep. The water is just running past the bags too quickly.

 

[Shugardrawers]

Gosh, mine's nothing fancy. It doesn't even make iced coffee. DSis gave it to me a couple of years ago because she never used it so I didn't get the directions. You pour in the water, put some tea bags in the basket, add ice in the pitcher and set it under the spout and press the button. The water kinda spits and spurts out into the basket where in dribbles from the basket into the pitcher. Unfortunately, the water misses most of the tea bags. It seems to taste ok but I think that's because we use a dozen tea bags at a time to make 1 pitcher (we like it a bit strong) and the water seems to hit enough of the tea bags to make it the strength we like. Mine's a fairly old Mr. Coffee one. I think I want to put this on the list for xmas this year. The in-laws always want a list. What's a really good one that makes a decent amount of tea?

On a side note, we were blowing through a 12 pack of diet pepsi every 24 hours and I know it's bad for me so I decided to switch to tea on my way to water. We are now drinking 2 of the 2 quart pitchers of tea a night

 

[stinkerbelle]

this is the one I have
http://www.mrcoffee.com/productdeta...or=&FilterType=&Ecommerce=&Specialty=&Search=

There is a "steeping dial" on it....closed/open basically
the instructions that came with it say "just replace tea with coffee" for iced coffee...MY BUTT! You HAVE to have the steep dial to "open" when doing iced coffee or you have a very very large mess to clean up

trust me...i know! heheh

 

[Shugardrawers]

I have been enlightened! While browsing iced tea makers on the mr coffee website I found a place to download the instructions. Well I'll be dipped in dog doo! I'm missing a part! The lid to the tea basket apparently keeps steam in and helps it steep. Of course, DSis would no longer have this part and probably never knew what it was when threw it out anyway. One other question though, if you are using bagged tea, why do you need a filter? Don't the bags act as their own fiilter??

 

[lovemygoofy]

Gosh, mine's nothing fancy. It doesn't even make iced coffee. DSis gave it to me a couple of years ago because she never used it so I didn't get the directions. You pour in the water, put some tea bags in the basket, add ice in the pitcher and set it under the spout and press the button. The water kinda spits and spurts out into the basket where in dribbles from the basket into the pitcher. Unfortunately, the water misses most of the tea bags. It seems to taste ok but I think that's because we use a dozen tea bags at a time to make 1 pitcher (we like it a bit strong) and the water seems to hit enough of the tea bags to make it the strength we like. Mine's a fairly old Mr. Coffee one. I think I want to put this on the list for xmas this year. The in-laws always want a list. What's a really good one that makes a decent amount of tea?

On a side note, we were blowing through a 12 pack of diet pepsi every 24 hours and I know it's bad for me so I decided to switch to tea on my way to water. We are now drinking 2 of the 2 quart pitchers of tea a night

I think that we may have the same tea maker. To make tea in mine I don't put ice in it at all. First, I put some sugar in the bottom of the pitcher (trying to cut out sugar but I was raised in the South you know). After putting the tea bags (4) in the filter part, I put water in the water area using a glass or my coffee pot. After I have filled it a couple of times during tea making and it's done, I take the tea bags and let them steep in the tea for about an hour while its in the frig. I take the tea bags out and throw them away.

 

[Shugardrawers]

I think that we may have the same tea maker. To make tea in mine I don't put ice in it at all. First, I put some sugar in the bottom of the pitcher (trying to cut out sugar but I was raised in the South you know). After putting the tea bags (4) in the filter part, I put water in the water area using a glass or my coffee pot. After I have filled it a couple of times during tea making and it's done, I take the tea bags and let them steep in the tea for about an hour while its in the frig. I take the tea bags out and throw them away.

Now THAT'S a brilliant idea! I can use 6 or 8 tea bags, run the tea maker and then drop them in the tea for a while longer. It'll make the tea stronger without using up all that tea! Thanks!

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

This is the one I have.
http://www.mrcoffee.com/productdeta...or=&FilterType=&Ecommerce=&Specialty=&Search=

I put 2 Lipton pitcher size cold brew bags in side by side without an additional filter and 1/4 cup sugar ( I totally understand the southern thing, lived in Atlanta for 4 years).
Fill with the required water and ice and presto, Iced tea in about 4 minutes.
Love it and I'm actually having a glass right now.

Can you order a replacement part?

 

[Shugardrawers]

Wow! I didn't even know they made tea bags in XL size!! See? Ya bring it to the Dis and get all the answers you need. Where do you get the large size bags?

 

[Sparx]

iced tea MAKERS? we always just made ours with hot water, a bag, and ice.

 

[summerrluvv]

this is the one I have
http://www.mrcoffee.com/productdeta...or=&FilterType=&Ecommerce=&Specialty=&Search=

There is a "steeping dial" on it....closed/open basically
the instructions that came with it say "just replace tea with coffee" for iced coffee...MY BUTT! You HAVE to have the steep dial to "open" when doing iced coffee or you have a very very large mess to clean up

trust me...i know! heheh

I just bought that at Target for 4.98 (regular 19.99).

 

[summerrluvv]

iced tea MAKERS? we always just made ours with hot water, a bag, and ice.

LOL they have hot cocoa makers too!

 

[Shugardrawers]

I just bought that at Target for 4.98 (regular 19.99).

REALLY??? I'm off to Target tomorrow to see if one is on clearance at ours!

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Wow! I didn't even know they made tea bags in XL size!! See? Ya bring it to the Dis and get all the answers you need. Where do you get the large size bags?

I found them at Stop and Shop grocery store in the tea bag section. They are in a long yellow box and say pitcher on the bottom left hand corner. It says Lipton Cold Brew. There are 22 in a box but I use 2 bags because I like it strong. You should be able to find them down there, I'm not sure if you have a Stop and Shop.

God I miss Chick-fil-a!!! They had the best tea, large tea 1/2 sweet and 1/2 unsweetened.........