Tea is more than just a drink, and its preparation goes beyond the use of a simple teapot and an array of ingredients. For many people and cultures, it is part of tradition. A smart machine - or a robot, if you will - called Teforia - promises that it can brew a perfect cup of tea through a mechanized process that still honors time-honored processes.
Teforia is analogous to having a personal tea master since its technique entails the same tradition in tea-making, which includes the consideration of factors such as ingredient source, proper treatment according to the age of the tea leaves, season of the year and the temperature of the water, according to Tech Crunch. Teforia considers all these variables and so much more through the so-called "smart infuser technology."
The infuser - aside from the capacitive control in the device - is the brains of the intelligent machine. It is also controlled by an app through Wi-Fi. If the user wants to brew a curated single-origin tea, the machine will brew it to a tea master's specifications once the infuser scans its code, Digital Trends reported. The user can also teach the infuser new recipes, and he or she could tweak the flavor and temperature using a smartphone.
Teforia's output has been proven to be better than other methods. For instance, it had better flavor with an unmistakable buttery quality and balanced finish than a cup made by a Teavana infuser, The Wall Street Journal reported. Watch the process, which many likened to the calming effect of traditional tea preparation, in the video below.
Teforia is made for home use and will retail at $1,300, but pre-orders cost $650. It is designed by Allen Han, who previously worked for Amazon, HTC and Microsoft. He was part of the team that designed devices such as Kindle Fire and Xbox.
