Breville Tea Maker (BTM800XL) for Loose Leaf Tea: Worth It?

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Ever ruined a good green tea or oolong with water that was too hot or a steep that ran too long? The Breville tea maker (model BTM800XL) exists to fix exactly that.

It heats water to the right temperature for your tea, lowers a basket of loose leaf into it, steeps for the right time, then lifts the leaves back out. You press a button and walk away. It is on my wish list, and here is why.

What the Breville BTM800XL is... a beast of a teamaker

It is an automatic tea maker built around loose leaf tea. A German-made glass carafe sits on a brushed stainless steel base, and a motorized basket does the steeping. Capacity is 51 ounces, about 1.5 liters, so it makes a full pot.

The basket is the whole idea. It lowers into water at the right temperature, can gently move up and down to agitate the leaves, and lifts out when time is up. Over-steeping is the number one reason home tea tastes bitter, and this takes it off the table.

Photo: Breville

What you get

Five presets: green, white, oolong, herbal, and black, each with its own water temperature and steep time. You can customize both.

Strength button: mild, medium, or strong.

Delay timer: set it at night, wake up to finished tea. Dreamy.

Keep warm: holds your tea for up to 60 minutes.

Hot water mode: use it as a plain kettle for cocoa, matcha, or instant anything.

If you are mostly a green or oolong drinker, this is where the machine earns its keep. I wrote about why those teas are so sensitive to heat and timing in my guide to oolong and in my rundown of Japanese green teas.

Why I trust Breville with gear!

Everything I own from Breville, coffee and tea, has earned its counter space. I have loved all of it.

They build for people who care about the details: temperature control, repeatable results, sturdy materials. When a company gets that right on coffee gear, I am willing to believe it can get it right on tea. It is one of the few brands where I buy first and research second.

What owners say

The Breville BTM800XL sits at 4.4 stars from nearly 3,000 Amazon ratings, and about 79% of them are five stars. A few owners stood out to me:

Tes used hers daily from 2015 and, by her count, brewed over 5,000 pots before the heating element finally quit. Her response was to order a replacement right away.

Kathleen loved hers so much she bought a second one two years later, as a backup and for brewing two teas at once.

Peter said his oolongs came out more aromatic than with any other method he had tried, and that it tamed bitter Assams too.

Another lady said it gave her a new appreciation for green, white, and oolong, because the leaves were no longer scalded by boiling water.

The pattern is the same everywhere: loose leaf drinkers who stop guessing and start getting the same good cup every time.

What to know before you buy

It is a splurge at about $320. The carafe is glass, and some owners report cracks, so treat it like glass. The base cannot get wet. The minimum brew is about 500 ml, so it is not a single-small-cup machine.

Want to give it a go? 

Want a cheaper way in?

You do not need $320 to stop scorching your tea. A temperature control kettle fixes most of the problem for a fraction of the price. Here are my picks: Ideal Electric Kettles for Tea: 2026 Edition.

Starting from scratch? My full tea setup under $50 covers the kettle, teapot, and mug.

And if you want to know why temperature matters so much, read time and temperature.

Common questions

Does the Breville tea maker work with tea bags? It is built for loose leaf. Bags can work, but you will not get the full benefit.

Can it boil plain water? Yes, it works as a regular hot water kettle.

Is the Breville tea maker worth it for oolong and green tea? That is where it earns its price. Both punish water that is too hot and steeps that run too long.

Cheers, friends!