My love/hate relationship with my teamaker

I love my Mr. Coffee teamaker. At the same time I hate it*. It makes amazing iced tea (a staple here in Texas). However whoever designed the blasted thing didn't think it would get much use. The pitcher has a seam right up the spout that cracks easily after several months. I've babied the darned thing and hand wash it and handle it carefully, but it still cracks. I've replaced my pitcher so many times. I have even purchased more than one to save on shipping. It is not the most frugal thing I should do. It is cheaper to just purchase a whole new one than to purchase two new replacement pitchers and have them shipped. I just can't bring myself to throwing away the perfectly good body part. So I keep looking for a new design from the Mr. Coffee people. Maybe most people just purchase a whole new maker when their pitchers crack and so the Mr. Coffee people are high-fiving each other thinking they have a well-made popular item when in reality it is just the same 25 people buying a new one over and over. Hmmmmm Maybe that's their plan all along. Anyway, I'm hooked. I love this thing, but at the same time I can't really recommend it to friends without warning them about the addictive purchasing cycle you will get in if you decide to get one.

*For an exciting update on this Mr. Coffee teamaker click here.

Here are two of my favorite teas at the moment. Mighty Leaf African Nectar is my favorite but a little pricy at $8.00 a box. It only makes 3 - 3 quart pitchers of tea. It also is hard to find. I did find it at my local HEB store. The Celestial Seasonings Country Peach Passion is inexpensive and tastes wonderful.