TeaBOT (YC S15) Makes Customized Cups of Tea with the Touch of a Button

[teaBOT]

Thanks Kat! Hi HN, I'm one of the founders of teaBOT and I'm happy to answer questions you might have about our tea robot!

Rehman

[DanielStraight]

Does it dispense directly into the cup or into a bag?

I know some people leave their tea in their cup the whole time they're drinking, but I find it's really best to control steeping time and limit it to a few minutes.

[fennecfoxen]

sigh I suppose it's probably unrealistic to hope for separate first-flush and second-flush Darjeeling blends...

[Hysterica]

It sounds and looks really cool. Although I see most of the coverage has been US orientated. Do you have a rough estimate of when you'd be likely to launch in the UK?

[jseliger]

You may also want to consider answering questions at reddit.com/r/tea, which is fairly active.

[semi-extrinsic]

What do you do with teas that require a hot water rinse first, such as most chinese green teas?

[cstross]

Or you could just buy a Sage Tea Maker and keep it on your desk/in your kitchen (hint: I did, it works great):

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sage-Heston-Blumenthal-Maker-Litre/d...

(They're available in the USA but in a reversal of the normal state of affairs they cost more than in the UK. Oh, and Amazon.co.uk aren't the cheapest retailer for them; just the first that came to hand.)

[Renaud]

That's not really the same thing, you are comparing a fancy hot water pot with an automated tea maker that holds actual tea and can blend it in individual cups.

Producing hot water at the right temperature is not the complex part here, in the Far East people have been using water boilers that keep a set temperature for ages. It's in every home and every office.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00133WML8/

[slvv]

I'm a big tea drinker and would love to see more high quality loose teas available for grab & go. However, I would not be as likely to use TeaBOT if I couldn't use my own reusable cup. Do you have any plans to produce and/or market reusable cups to work with the machine, with the (seemingly) popular filter lid?

(I'd also rather be able to control the steeping time, but I get that that's hard to manage in a to go situation.)

[timharding]

Tea bags on strings make steeping time really controllable.

There are pack-your-own tea bag systems too here in the UK but I think most people would rather just have something good/familiar rather than blend their own weird tea.

[teaBOT]

Amazing feedback! We hope to allow reusable travel mugs (not yet though). We've been debating this internally, but it's great to hear it from a customer. Would you (or do you) carry a travel mug?

[freddier]

I tried this at Coupa Cafe. It's really clever. The lid in the cup has a filter, so it can brew while staying inmediate and portable.

I got Earl Grey + Lavender. Cheap and great. I kept the filter lid :)

[teaBOT]

Thanks! So glad you enjoyed it. Lavend-Earl is on our popular blends page.

[argumentum]

Is it still at Coupa? I would love to try it.

[Tifis]

I just tested the bot at Coupa Café in Palo Alto. I'm from Colombia, and all my colombian credit cards were decined but at the end, my local CC was accepted. I took a pic: https://instagram.com/p/5h993iw_hk/ and I was very happy. I'm a tea geek, and I loved the concept. Wish you the best, guys !!

@tifis

[teaBOT]

Thank you for the feedback. We're so glad you enjoyed it! Sorry it didn't accept your Colombian credit card. We'll work on it. I know it accepts Apple Pay if that helps.

[jameshk]

Teabot is awesome! The Tea is fantastic, and the little touches like the filter lids make it delightful!

Rooibos + Bamboo + Lavender = :)

[teaBOT]

Thanks James! I can't say I've even tried that combination yet. I'll try it today :)

[finkin1]

How do you remove the tea in order to prevent over-brewing? It seems like you are highlighting tisanes, which can pretty much be brewed forever. Almost all actual tea (Camellia sinensis) needs to be brewed for a specific amount of time otherwise it can taste bitter.

[teaBOT]

We're catering to the grab-and-go market. Our current machine doesn't address this but we're working on it.

[chippy]

gotta chug the tea, it's grab and go and chug!

[yurisagalov]

I just want to go up to it and say: "Tea. Early Gray. Hot."

Can I do that? :-)

[teaBOT]

You may not be able to, but Patrick Stewart can :)

[tyingq]

Father Guido Sarducci would be proud. "Just add water, and Mr. Tea does the rest!". Shame the video isn't anywhere I can find it.

[teaBOT]

Video is on the www.teaBOT.com website.

[loceng]

Did you go to YC because you couldn't find money here in Toronto?

[teaBOT]

Not at all. We love our Toronto investors and are looking forward to launching there in the fall.

[melloclello]

Blimey, it's a Teasmade for 2015

[anacondasteel]

where do you source the tea from?

[tlackemann]

This reminds me too much of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[strick]

"When the Drink button was pressed it made an instant but highly detailed examination of the subject's taste buds, a spectroscopic analysis of the subject's metabolism and then sent tiny experimental signals down the neural pathways to the taste centers of the subject's brain to see what was likely to go down well. However, no one knew quite why it did this because it invariably delivered a cupful of liquid that was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea."

[trcollinson]

Too much?! You make that sound like a bad thing! This totally reminds me of HHGTTG and I want one! Very neat product.

[talllguy]

There's a very good reason Dent liked tea. Too bad that Vogon ship couldn't get it right... should have had a teaBOT. I think Douglas Adams would have agreed. #BotThisShip

[sbashyal]

Shame less plug: Dear tea lovers on HN, I am from Nepal - home to some of the best organic tea [1] grown in the foothills of Himalayas. I have been thinking about starting Candy Japan [2] like subscription service but for Nepali tea. Would you be interested? Please e-mail me if you would like to help me start this. [email protected]

[1] http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/from-assam-to-oolong... [2] http://www.candyjapan.com/candy-japan-crosses-10000-mrr

[sbashyal]

I have already received a few emails showing interest and I am committed to make this happen. Send me an e-mail today showing interest and I will ship an assorted pack of premium Nepali tea for free for the first month (early September).