The Watery – Review

By Steve Crabtree

I’m all for tech and convenience, and after being seriously impressed with the Milky Plant machine that I reviewed last year, I was quite excited to be handed the chance to try out the latest product from the same company – this one being The Watery.

The genius behind this latest creation promises filtered water, and instant hot water for tea, coffee, hot chocolate and more. It’s a push button kind of thing, and to try and save a few minutes to fill and boil a kettle? Why not! And when this huge box arrived on the doorstep, I was curious to see how it performed…

What’s in the box

• 1 x The Watery machine
• 1 x RO Filter
• 1 x ACF Filter
• 1 x Watery Pitcher Jug
• 1 x User Manual
• Access to mobile app with tips, tracking and advice

Setting up and finding space

As the packing indicated, The Watery is a big appliance. It required a bit of set up from the off too –  easy enough to put together, with components popping and clicking into place quite simply.

When you read the instructions, you realise that you can’t use it immediately. The Watery asks you to draw water through the machine seven times before it’s ready to give you water to consume, and that’s not a fast process. Patience is key, and it’s a commitment in this world of instant pleasure to draw large amounts of water through the machine for it to be ready. You do get your steps in going to and from the sink, but it has to be done!

As for positioning the unit, this posed a quandary for us. Due to the size of the machine, we couldn’t find a perfect spot for it in our kitchen. If we tuck it away where the kettle and toaster is, you can’t lift the water chamber out at the rear due to the cupboards above. If we place it on the kitchen island, it sticks out like a sore thumb, with cables constantly in view. But we decided that, whilst checking it out, we’d place it neatly under the cupboards and persevere with moving the unit out and back every time we needed to refill (once a day).

Learning how it works

The set up was complete in the afternoon, so to give the machine a first go I went for a cup of tea for my maiden drink from The Watery.

As with everything touchscreen, once you work out the control panel it’s easy to operate. You basically set the temperature of the water, and the size of vessel you’re pouring into (I went for 100 degrees into a 300ml cup) and tell it to go.

The pour isn’t kettle-like – it’s quite a slow and narrow flow, and what I noticed to start with is that this slow pour didn’t look like it was letting the flavour flood out of the tea bag. Once the pour had finished, it more resembled a bag that had been dipped in the water, so I gave it a squeeze and stir and let it brew.

Three minutes later I came back to it, adding a drop of milk, and I must say the result wasn’t what I was looking for. The tea was quite weak, and I sensed a slight plastic taste to it. With beginners luck not giving me anything here, I gave it another go, aiming the pour onto the tea bag. But again as the pour isn’t strong, and it didn’t have the desired effect. The tea tasted the same, and side by side with a kettle brew, it just didn’t have the same taste that you devour when you make a good brew.

Other drinks

I aborted the attempts to make tea, and threw some instant coffee into a cup to see how that fared instead. To be honest, that was better. Perhaps the stronger taste of coffee masked the funny taste I got from the cup of tea.  I could happily have drunk a black coffee made by The Watery – I have one, perhaps two of those in the morning.

The family had a go as well. Tea and hot chocolate. And their verdict was that they preferred the version that can be made by using the kettle. Whether the power of the pour is the key factor in all this, I don’t know, but it seems to be from our experience.

There is a jug of pure water that fills up on the front too. I’m not a dedicated water drinker, but it tasted ok. As the jug sits on and refills from the unit, it stays at room temperature. So, for me this didn’t tick any water drinking encouragement boxes.

Everyday usage and experience

I tried the unit for three weeks, and sadly I didn’t manage to perfect the cup of tea that I was oh-so hoping would happen. The main reason I was attracted to The Watery was for the more instant hot drinks, but for me – it just misses that mark.

Also, by having to move the unit on a daily basis at least to empty the chamber – it’s perhaps not an ideal solution for a medium to large-sized kitchen like ours. For practicality and aesthetic purposes, it’d work in a larger kitchen – or in an office at a tea station.

Cleaning wise, it’s as easy as it is to refill. So again, location of the machine is paramount.

Filtration and long-term savings

From the point of view of contamination and filter life, The Watery claims a 97.99% removal of contaminants including fluoride, heavy metals, PFAS, antibiotics, hormones and more. The filter is designed to last 12 months, and the unit includes a water quality monitor.

From a money-saving angle, using The Watery versus bottled water could represent a major saving. Their info tells you that:

• 1000 Litres a year: £130 vs £1,250 bottled
• 2000 Litres a year: £150 vs £2,500 bottled
• 3000 Litres a year: £180 vs £3,750 bottled

The Verdict

I do appreciate all this machine is able to do, and the guys at Milky Plant are very clever with all their water based technology. Despite The Watery not really being my…cup of tea (sorry!) I do think the appliance has its uses for some, and will be a great unit for an office. But for a family home, it’s perhaps a nice idea which falls just short of the practicalities you’re hoping for it to meet.

The Watery is available now from milkyplant.com – RRP: £499.00

Steve Crabtree( Writer )

Give Steve music, give him food, give him theatre, tech or travel… and he’s a happy man. He’s been writing professionally since 2003, turning to journalism in 2017 when it offered him the chance to enjoy a lot of his existing passions, and learn some new ones at the same time. Steve can be found spending many of his summer nights watching bands at The Piece Hall in his hometown of Halifax, or enjoying a bite to eat and a drink with his wife anywhere in Yorkshire at any time of year. Random fact: He does the best impression of Zippy and George from Rainbow that anyone has ever heard.

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