Making a cup of tea can be a very simple process. Heat water to the proper point, throw in a tea bag and steep for a suitable period of time. But in this, the era of the iPod, the iPad, the iPhone and numerous other technological marvels, it’s no surprise that there are gadgets that have gone a long way toward automating the process of making tea.

This is not exactly a new thing, mind you, though these gadgets tend to be more sophisticated than their predecessors. Most noteworthy among these are teawakers, an alarm clock/tea maker combo that was quite popular in the Britain but never caught on here in the United States. For more about teawakers, also known as teasmades, check out Teasmade.com, which is probably the definitive word on this topic.

While this is hardly intended to be a comprehensive look at automatic teamakers there are a few models out there these days that deserve a mention. One of these is the Breville Automatic Tea Maker & Kettle, which bills itself as “a kettle, that could also brew the perfect cup of tea.”

The Tea Machine, by Fine T, like the Breville, is notable for its eye-catching space age styling, though neither device comes cheap – both will set you back about $300. The Tea Machine is alleged to be “fully programmable for all types of quality tea bags & Loose Teas, such as Green Teas, White Teas, Puerh Teas and Black Teas and water temperatures and infusion times.”

The Zarafina Tea Maker Suite is also in the reasonably affordable category and is the only one of the four that I’ve personally had a chance to try out. After more than a year or so of daily use I’d give it fairly high marks.

Hard core tea lovers may want more control over time and temperature than any of these gadgets can offer but for anyone else (with deep enough pockets) they’re worth taking a look.