I tried searching the forum before making a new thread, but a query for espresso machine and tea yields a flurry of Isomac discussions, too many to sort through.

Anyway, one of my favorite summertime diversions with any machine we own or are currently testing is to brew my iced tea in the portafilter. Yes, it requires grouphead cleaning before and after to prevent any intermingling of coffee and tea flavors, but it produces the quickest single serving of iced tea and tastes great in the process. What I typically do is fill a double basket full of loose leaves (usually Mango Ceylon, Ginger Peach, or a regular iced tea blend), lock the PF in the grouphead and brew up to 12 ounces into a 16 to 24 ounce cup full of ice. This is typically good for 2 brews per load and delivers a great cold drink in mere moments.

My days are spent drinking espresso, coffee, tea, or smoothies, so this really breaks up the monotony in a nice way. Does anyone else use their hammer as a screwdriver (I mean espresso machine as a tea maker)?

Taiwanese Klub Teapresso:

espresso machine - quick but typically underextracted brews with tea

vac pot - works really well for some teas

French press is a total no-brainer; in fact, I use it more for tea than coffee.

Drip coffeemakers also work well for some teas.

I have vague memories of some company/shop working on an espresso machine filter basket designed specifically for extracting tea. Can't remember where I saw it though and googling produces no relevant results.

Without a doubt the French Press works well. In fact, companies like Bodum make a modified French Press that is sold as a Tea Press but with a removable infuser basket. In my laziness, however, I enjoy the quick turnaround time with black tea in the portafilter. It is a bit wasteful, as you end up using more leaves than you would by traditional steeping or with a press, but when you want a fresh iced tea in under a minute, it'll do in a pinch. I still use the traditional method to brew my more temperature sensitive hot teas like my all time fave, Oolong.

The underextraction is probably accurate, though the extra tea might balance that out. I've only ever tried this on commercial/non-pressurized filter baskets. Has anyone ever attempted to brew their tea on one of the cheapo starter units with pressurized baskets? Might take care of the under extraction. Next time we test a unit, I'll have to give it a go.

Sorry, but I will put it out straight:

Tea is a quality product and I was specialty tea drinker for years before I discovered espresso. To give its full taste and yet to give a pleasure to one drinking it, tea must be brewed with only once boiled water, at apriopriate temperature and for apropriate time for the given tea, the volatile oils must be prevented from escaping with light linen cloth and not some other heavy one because then the tea will taste dull... the list of requierments goes on, teapots differ and have advantages and disadvantages etc. How much tea to use for how much water is not the most important contrary to coffee world.

There is tea and tea, to cut it short. All the tea sold in any other form then on weight is equal to instant coffee, preground coffee and similar. And even the most expensive tea brewed without obeying strictly the requierements tastes like tea-flavored water not like a cup of tea; at least compared to the taste of brew from teapot method.

No offense if anything above is the hard part of wisdom
I have yet more teapots then espresso machines or grinders so I had to write the tea-defense.

First... i do not make tea, and rarely drink it... but:

As I have heard, tea (a least black tea) needs to be brewed with boiling water. I hope your espresso machine does not dispense water that hot. I could be wrong... again.

I've never tried making tea with an espresso machine, but I don't doubt that what would come out would be drinkable. True, some black teas want water that is just off boiling (~210) and a good 4 or 5 minutes of steeping, but many iced teas are made outside in the sun and the water never really gets above body temperature.

It is an interesting idea, I may give it a try sometime.

jlhsupport wrote:My days are spent drinking espresso, coffee, tea, or smoothies, so this really breaks up the monotony in a nice way. Does anyone else use their hammer as a screwdriver (I mean espresso machine as a tea maker)?

I've tried this rooibos in my espresso machine. It's very pleasant but not astonishingly great. I think the appeal would be greater if I had a second group I could dedicate to rooibos... as it stands, the cleanup between coffee and tea is too much trouble for this to be a regular feature in my house. But when I make it, both my wife and I enjoy it, especially in a latte.

More commonly, when I want to make a tea drink, I'll brew tea at double strength without involving the espresso machine, add some simple syrup to the tea to sweeten it a bit, then use the steamer to make microfoam for a latte.

jlhsupport wrote: Does anyone else use their hammer as a screwdriver (I mean espresso machine as a tea maker)?

If all of your problems are nails, then all of your tools are hammers.
Or, "Every tool in your bag is a hammer. Except your finest, sharpest chisel. That's the pain can opener".

I simply but whatever tea I want to steep in whatever container I want to steep it in, and open the hot water tap. Too much easier. I tend toward herbal teas, usually before bed, but there are occasions where I'll take the time and the effort to do the Harrod's breakfast blend up right.

OTOH, I make pudding, soup, rice, eggs, hot cocoa, and whatever else wants steam or hot water with the espresso machine.
I'm not keeping fourteen litres of water on the boil 'round the clock for two or three doppio a day... ; >