[teaBOT]

Yes, I think many people prefer loose leaf tea to traditional tea bags. It was a challenge to heat the water quickly on 120V, but I think we have a good system. It not only provides instant hot water, but also allows you to adjust water temperature.

[CHY872]

I think you would have a much harder job promoting your product in the UK. Tea in my experience is something you might have instead of a glass of water - always produced with a teabag, which is very cheap, and with consistent taste (it's not something you drink for the experience, it's something that's part of your daily routine). It's not something you'd go out to drink (quite unlike coffee), and many people will have never had loose leaf tea. Every house will have a kettle, although it might not be used for tea.

There's also no real value in (say) a company offering highly premium tea to their workers - specifically although there is a bit of a hierarchy with tea (Basics, PG Tips, Yorkshire, Twinings (which specifically tastes different in America, so far as I can work out)), if you grab a big box of Yorkshire Tea (<5p per tea bag, less if you buy in bulk) no one has any reason to complain, and the picky person will bring their own tea to work.

This is quite unlike coffee, where there's a big trend towards hipstery coffee shops.

I'll definitely check out your machine the next time I'm in Palo Alto!