Swan Vintage Teasmade - Rapid Boil with Clock and Alarm, Featuring a Clock Light with Dimmer, 600 ml, 780-850 W, Ceramic Teapot Included, White, STM201N

Okay, I love this thing! I wonder why it took so long to have a version for the US? Anyway, I know what Teasmade detractors say: “who has time to have tea in bed?” I agree. Who has time (or desire) to lay around in bed having tea: I don’t, and that’s really not why I wanted one of these. I don’t sleep well, and tend to be an early riser, so anything to help me stay organized and ‘jump-start’ the morning is a welcome addition. My bedroom is far from the kitchen, and I found that going to the kitchen after taking a shower and waiting on the water to boil, I would get sidetracked starting all of the various chores left over from the night before or necessary in the morning and would end up feeling rushed and disorganized! I’ve tried automatic tea kettles in the past (these are hard to find) and even using coffee makers with timers to just heat the water; but, in each case, I found the water not hot enough for tea or pour-over coffee. It was usually serving temperature, but not hot enough to brew. Even electric teakettles, now that they all have automatic shut-off as soon as the water starts to boil, don’t seem hot enough to me. I’ve been using a Chemex glass stove top teakettle, where I can let the water come to a ‘rolling-boil’ and then take it off the heat to cool a little bit before pouring over tea leaves or pour over coffee.The Swan Teasmade makes the water very hot! Water is placed in a tank with a sealed lid, so that when it boils and converts to vapor (steam), there is nowhere for the steam to escape except a small tube that sends the steam to the tea pot; once the vapor (steam) contacts the air, it converts back to liquid; so, you are getting water that is very hot – just off a rolling boil hot, and I think that is perfect for black tea, red tea, and pour over coffee. Since the teapot is ceramic, it holds the heat better than glass or metal, in my opinion.The unit itself is small enough to fit on a nightstand or dresser in a bedroom. The clock does make a ticking sound, though some reviews say it doesn’t. It’s a soft, rhythmic, slow ticking of a quartz movement, not a loud incessant ticking of a wind up clock. It doesn’t bother me, but a sleeper sensitive to sound may be distracted or need to move it away from the bed. It’s really not loud, though, in my opinion. The clock face has a lighted dial – mine is a blue/grey light, but some seem to be an orange-red light. It is very bright when you first plug it in; but, there is an adjustment. Under the lid top (that doubles as a tray), two knobs set the time and alarm. A third knob, with a graphic of an asterisk, dims the display, but there is no way to turn it all the way off. At full strength (all the way clockwise), it is VERY bright, but at the most dim (all the way counter-clock-wise), it is a soft grey light that really doesn’t even provide enough light to view all numerals on the clock face. It’s not distracting to me, but for those sensitive to light at night or who prefer total darkness, it is understandable that this could be distracting. The time is pretty easy to set, and the clock keeps excellent time; I have never had to reset it, despite what some reviews say. The alarm setting can be a little challenging, because I think we are all used to digital setting on our phones! If you want 5:43 or 6:03; that’s easy on a digital clock/phone app; but, on analog clock, setting anything but the hour takes work. Alarm setting on the hour is easy: just put the red alarm hand indicator over the hour numeral. For other settings, you have to guess and try for a few days. Each hour is divided by four lines, but the oval elongated face makes these settings somewhat vague. It’s not a 24 hour setting, so you can practice in the afternoon/evening to see if you’ve got it correct. Or wait until it gets to the time you want the water to heat and the alarm to go off, and move the alarm hand to that time. I tend to wake up without any alarm and like to shower before coffee or tea, so I’ve gotten it to begin the process of heating the water just as I’m out of the shower.Setting the system is pretty easy. You’ve got to fill the water tank, add tea leaves, tea bags, or nothing for just hot water to the tea pot the night before. There is a safety switch in the well where the teapot fits, and it must be fully depressed or the water will not boil. The teapot pushes the switch in, and a lip on the base of the unit holds the teapot in place. This can be a little tricky until you get used to it. If a red light under the left switch with a tea pot icon does not light when the switch is up to SET or down to NOW, the pot is not correctly placed. The switch on the right controls the system and the alarm sound. In the middle position, the alarm/system is OFF. Up to SET means the alarm will sound at the preset time, and DOWN to snooze adds about five minutes to the alarm. – The Left Switch is the Water Boil control. In the middle position, the water boil is OFF. Up to SET makes the water boil at the preset time (before the alarm rings). The DOWN position, NOW, is used to boil water on-demand. So, to have the water to boil and the alarm to ring at the preset time, put both switches UP to SET. The water is rapid boil and takes about five minutes to fully boil and deposit in the teapot. A few seconds after the water enters the pot with a whoosh, the alarm will ring. Move both switches to OFF (middle), or just the left switch to middle if you’re using the NOW (on-demand) function. When I use the Teasmade to make tea over loose tea leaves, I move the Alarm switch to snooze after it rings, so I can let the tea steep for about 5 minutes. If I am using just water for pour-over coffee, I don’t do this. I find the teapot makes enough water to fill (perfectly) a 3 cup Chemex pour over pot. The alarm is a beeping sound, similar to most clocks on the market; it’s not aggressively loud, and the water boil and whoosh is much louder!I like the top that doubles as a tray; I didn’t think I would use it, but I do. For tea, I don’t use sugar, but I do use milk, so I keep that in a small Yeti thermos. For coffee, I don’t use sugar or milk. I keep a small bowl to place the tea strainer after I pour out the tea, or to put the filter/grounds when making coffee. I keep a larger tray so that I can take everything, including the teapot, to the kitchen and dump trash and put in stuff in the dishwasher to have ready to set up for the following night. To me, having tea or coffee without having to go to the kitchen saves time, and makes me feel more organized and less stressed! I still have to do all of the things that need doing, but I’m getting dressed, leaving the bedroom/bathroom and not making multiple trips across the house before doing those things.Some things that could be improved: adding the ability to turn off the light: the dimming switch is there, just add a click that would turn it off fully (not an issue for me, but may be for some). The teapot is well constructed, and the lid has points and grooves to keep it in place; however, the center of the lid has a large hole where the water enters the pot. This hole releases a lot of heat/steam and makes it difficult to touch the top while pouring. I put a large cork in the hole or use a small towel to cover it. I know it is necessary, but it would be nice to include some type of plug/top that could be put in the top for pouring after the water is deposited in the pot.Wish List: A larger model! Two/Three cups is great; but a larger version could be useful at times when more than one or two people need to be served.Overall, a great purchase! I’m considering buying another for the kitchen to use in the NOW mode, or even the office, so I don’t have to use the breakroom! I’d love it on the desk. I like the large clock face, and in the kitchen and office would be another welcome asset.

I love this Teasmade! I have always wanted one and now that I have one I use it nearly every day. Easy to follow instructions, makes a decent cuppa (two actually) provided you use good tea ;) and it's easy to clean.By itself, the alarm is sufficiently annoying enough to get me up. Once I hear the swoosh of the water being injected into the teapot, I don't get up until the alarm buzzer goes off. That's when you know the tea is brewed.As others have noted, the clockface light is pretty bright, but it doesn't really bother me. I just turn it down. Easy peasy!Just one caveat - don't do what I have done a couple of times: filled the pot with water and then went to bed and forgot to add the tea to the teapot. Ahhh: the awesomeness of a Teasmade! I really do love getting up and having a cup of tea ready and waiting for me. All real tea lovers love a Teasmade!

Well. Being British, we were excited that the teasmade arrived today. It would be our first US teasmade. We had one in the UK and liked it a lot.Anyway, I inboxed it not long after we received it. First I noticed no cable tie. Normally new things come with a cable tie in the lead, right? Next I noticed the sticker on top was mucky. Then I saw the scratches top left (see picture), then I unpacked the teapot and saw dried on tea... as a regular tea drinker I know what tea looks like on a pot if it dries. And then I looked into the water boiler, and it really did look used!Hey, if the description said refurbished, good but not brand new, then I would be ok with this. But reselling goods on without saying they are not new is out of order.Hopefully the replacement will be a nice new, clean, in damaged unit. And I see I might be waiting a while for it which is more disappointing. And I need to go make a return which is inconvenient. I might ask them to pick it up. Not my fault they shipped unsatisfactory goods.My parents had one of these teasmades. Twice in fact... the first lasted 20 or more years but died eventually... the second one amazon replaced when it started making tea whenever it wanted to instead of at the set time. New technology is not a match for the old stuff sometimes!I will update this review when we get the replacement and assuming it is good and works.EDIT: The update I promised...The new one looks new. Everything about it was new compared to the prior effort.So the good... Tea has brewed on time every morning. I cannot tell you how happy I am. I take water into the bedroom at night, a mug with a splash of milk ready (I put cling/shrink wrap over it, but I may get a small milk bottle for the fridge in the theater room next door ... such a hard life!)It’s amazing to have a great cuppa to wake up to. Takes me back to being 9 years old and waiting for Dad or Mum to appear with it, for me, my brother and sister, sitting as we did, at the top of the stairs in the morning.The difficulty... I am not sending it back, but there’s a flaw in the design. The tea pot and its holder, and the button (to detect that the pot is in place) are misaligned. To know it will work in the morning I “pack” the space on the pot holder with a folded up piece of card. Then the pot presses against the button and the unit knows it can start a boil and fill the pot at the time it is set to do so.Unfortunately, without my manual paper folding modification, this would have to go back. Poor quality. But, my mod works, and I get my “teasmade” in a morning!! It’s worked every day with the folded piece of card. The folded card might be needed if you get one (see the other reviews where it says “make sure” the pot is seated correctly)