This was very quick to boil 4 cups of water. I could see us using it as a real timesaver for more than just tea - really anything that necessitates boiling hot water. The only reason I removed a star is a simple oversight. The measurement units are in Liters but standard tea bags in the U.S. have instructions units in cups.  I had to get out a measuring cup and measure out the water and then measure out the ice.  Not a big deal, but as a time-saving convenience item, would be a simple fix to include cups conversions.  In fact, the packaging/instructions of the item shows four different Liter measurements printed on the pitcher, but only two of them are actually printed. This may be a problem for those who use Liter measurements. [This review was collected as part of a promotion.]