Hot Tip! Coffee & Tea: A Coffee Maker Two-fer

Use this tip and you’ll save space, money and time. This tip is great for small spaces, but even if your kitchen is large enough to make Martha Stewart envious, owning fewer appliances means less to buy, less to clean, and less hassle to organize and store away. An added bonus? All of this translates into a convenient way of being a bit more eco-friendly…

People who love tea swear by electric kettles because they boil water faster than conventional stovetop kettles. Many people have either a stovetop or electric kettle for tea, and an additional coffee maker for coffee. Sometimes, people have all three!

Instead of owning all these things to eat up valuable cabinet or counter space, cut your kitchen gadgetry down to one. Use a common coffee maker to make both coffee AND tea. It’s simple. A coffee maker is essentially a specialized hot water maker. Using it to steep tea is incredibly quick and easy. With the exception of tea aficionados who have a passion for exact steeping temperatures, many people will love the convenience and simplicity of using their coffee makers to brew tea.

The How To:
• Fill the coffee maker with water as usual.
• If using a teabag, pop it into the empty carafe, making sure to stick out the tag before closing the lid on the carafe.
• If using loose leaf tea, use a tea infuser or, depending on the type of tea, pour the desired amount in the compartment designated for coffee.
• Place the carafe in the coffee maker and turn it on as usual. Walk away and when the coffee maker finishes running the water, you’ll have a very enjoyable pot of tea.
• Keep track of the steeping time the same way you would for a kettle. I use a kitchen timer or cell phone timer.

This tip works especially well when entertaining. It quickly makes large volumes of tea and keeps it warm at the same time.

Related Posts:
• 8 Easy Energy Saving Tips for the Kitchen
• How to Use your Dishwasher to Save Money

(Image: Russell Hobbs)