I got one of these a few years ago after using a Hamilton Beach one for a while. That one started to leak from the base, so I had to switch. I only bought the Mr. Coffee one when they re-designed it from the large, round shape to the rectangular pitcher. I have a problem w/ things that take up too much space!
Anyhow, I am the only one who drinks the tea. I make it w/ green tea bags (Costco). If I'm making 3 qts I use 7 teabags. If I'm making 2 qts I use 5. I use a paper clip to keep all of the teabag tags (?) together instead of having them all over the place. I sweeten w/ Splenda in the container I'm storing it in. I use a Tupperware 2 qt-ish pitcher, so I just put in about 1/3 cup of Splenda and shake it up. HTH!