Beginner looking to step things up a bit

A vari-temp kettle is my favourite thing, and a brilliant idea having it wake you up as well.

but.. I see what you mean, ive read two reviewers says it hits the setting at full power and so goes over the desired temp. That might be annoying if you cant get it right – delicate teas like whites and greens will go bitter at higher temps.
Getting the right steeping parameters were one of the things that gave me an ‘ah-ha!’ moment and suddenly everything tasted so much better.
Some members here might know of a better kettle – Im in the UK and we dont have as many brands here

That’s the kettle I have—best $20 Walmart purchase ever! But the reviewers are right, it gets a little… overzealous… when it’s heating up. You can hear it turn on to heat the water, so I usually wait a minute or two after it turns off to use it if I’m steeping a green, white or oolong that might get grumpy with water that’s too hot.

I’ve recently noticed that when it turns on it SOUNDS like the water’s boiling, but it’s not. It’s just vocal. I’ve considered picking up a cheap cooking thermometer just to check how close it’s getting to the temperature I set it at…

I have the Krups glass one. I think I spent about $80 on it at Kohl’s last year during a sale. There are only 4 different temp settings, so no, it’s not as precise as the really expensive one people get. For example, I can set it to 194 (the temp recommended for some Japanese greens) and not 195 (recommended for some oolongs). I’m not the sort of person who actually minds or notices a 1 degree difference, so it works great for me. For me, this was a good middle-range price point, and it’s going strong after a year.

You could get it for $75 at Lord & Taylor right now (sitewide 25% off sale, code EXTRA):
http://www.lordandtaylor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/en/lord-and-taylor/electronic-glass-tea-maker?site_refer=CSE_GGLPRADS001_LT&prod_id=0201-FL700D51&CAWELAID=120178030002820775&CAGPSPN=pla&catargetid=120178030000916986&cadevice=c&gclid=CjwKEAiA8K20BRDetNv3p6DNhXwSJADSwa3tjOKf_1GTQsvhUDw7bMMnKWGDNleOuplOi7v4rKYSBRoCFlzw_wcB

I’m perfectly happy with it, but I don’t use the steeper that comes in it either. I steep in my gaiwan or steep basket.

@kristinalee — Thanks! Does that have a timer function, though?

@Casey — Maybe I’ll go ahead and just get that one. It’s a good price, and since I’ll mostly be drinking black tea, I guess the temperature should probably be fine as long as it’s just off boiling.

Oh, like a steeping timer? No, I just look at my watch for gaiwan brewing or use the kitchen stove timer for English brewing. Also, you can get them pretty cheap at any home goods store if your stove doesn’t have one.

Also, there’s a “warm” button, and you can keep it at the same temperature for up to an hour, which is really helpful with all the resteeping.

Nope, I mean a time-set function, so I could fill it with water at night and set it to boil at, say, 8:00am.

No it doesn’t, but it only takes about 2 minutes to boil.

Just for comparison – ive got a Bosch Styline. – Its a good kettle, does 70/80/90/100 which gets me by fine. 70 for green, 80 for white, 90 for some Oolongs & darks, 100 for other Oolongs & darks. Boils really quickly.

BUT – It has a really loud beep. So loud in fact theres actually a youtube video of another owner showing you how to take it apart and remove the beeper. lol. you need an odd shaped tool to do it, but it was easy.

Honestly – SO LOUD – My flatmate could hear from my room to his across a 1400 sqft flat.

Ah, yeah, the Krups doesn’t beep. There’s just a quiet click.

I’ve had the Hamilton Beach kettle for over a year now and I think it’s great for the price! It does tend to keep heating up once it reaches the temperature you set, but as long as you’re paying attention and pour it into your teapot as soon as it reaches the set temperature, it works just fine. (Or, if I’m not paying attention and let it overheat, I just pop the lid for a minute and it usually cools down quite quickly.)

There are certainly better kettles out there if you’re willing to spend the money on them, but I definitely recommend this one if you’re looking for a budget-friendly option!

Oh man, I would totally get that piece of extravagant machinery. But it doesn’t look like it’s available in the US.

I think the Breville one touch tea maker has a timer function, if you wanted to go extravagantly fancy. Personally, if I was going to go for fancy extravagance, I’d buy a MIITO. I love the futuristic minimalist design and the energy saving aspect. http://www.miito.com/

Ah, yeah, the Breville was the expensive brand I was thinking about.

Woah, the Breville looks awesome. Just what I was looking for and more. That would be amazing — I wouldn’t even need to steep the tea myself! Great way to get out of bed in the morning. $250 is a bit steep (heh), though it may be hard to resist . . .

Teavanna has a multi temp glass kettle that is the same body as the One Touch without the fancy inner steeping mechanism or timer. That is the one that I have had for a few years and I love it. I do have to steep my own tea tho…

I didn’t want to spend as much as the Breville and now I’m glad I didn’t. It barely takes mine any time to heat up, and I’d rather steep my own tea so I have more control over it.

Totally understandable. My reason for wanting something like this is that I am really, really not a morning person (I have a tough time getting out of bed everyday) and I think having hot water or tea made and ready for me would help me get up more easily. Partly due to laziness, partly due to something warm, comforting and delicious available to help ease the pain of getting up.

Huh, I can understand that. I am a morning person, but it’s hard for me too, especially when it’s cold in the winter.

If you take a shower in the morning (not a given, I guess) then you would need to allow for a 10 minute delay to work through all that, so it wouldn’t matter, you could plug in or hit a switch on a kettle. Or no? It took some working out but after awhile it wasn’t so hard to make tea a part of a breakfast routine that really doesn’t delay things.

Omg! I actually have the ikettle! It’s so odd to finally see some discussion on this site about it. My boyfriend is really into techie gadgets like this that use WiFi, so of course he got me one for Christmas a year or two back.

I actually kinda hate it. The app the ikettle uses is not great, and crashes often. I barely use it anymore. The lid is not secure, and the heating process can take a lot of time. Also, there are only a few temp settings. I don’t mind it, but everyday I wish for a bonavita with a gooseneck spout.

Bonavita… I didn’t know about that one — it looks very nice. I shouldn’t already be making a list for my next electric tea kettle when the one I have is perfectly functional, but I do wish I’d known about that one when I bought the one I have now.

Oh, definitely. I do want to try other things — I like green tea as well and will look forward to trying some nice options.

Oh dear, I just looked at the Upton samplers and I think I want about 6 of them . . .

Yum! Saved to my wishlist, thank you :)

Thanks! That looks so nice, though looks like only programmable in terms of temperature, not brew time.

Thats the kettle I have, have had it for 4 years…for the most part I like it. Every so often it doesn’t beep like its supposed to when it gets to the right temp. Been seriously thinking about the Bonavita gooseneck kettle though…the cuinsinart is still working fine…just want a new one.

That looks nice, and is probably the one azurephoenix mentioned up above, as well. Depending how into this I get, I may take the temperature of the water that comes out of our hot water tap to see how close it is to boiling and then get something like this if it doesn’t quite make it.

Yes, that’s very similar to the one I use. Mine doesn’t have the dual voltage option, but it’s only $30 at Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Bonavita-Voyage-0-5-Liter-Electric-Travel/dp/B008YQLZOW
I tried using a Hot Shot, but it only got up to 185F or something – ok for greens or tea bags, but not my blacks. This one gets to a rolling boil.

I got a super cheap one from Kohl’s that is currently missing. Food Network brand.

ah, you’re sorted then. all you need some way of getting the temperature right, even if its just a cheap thermometer for now – it really is the difference between a sweet tea and a bitter tea.

I cant believe I have been drinking green tea with boiling water for most of my 20s, what a waste.. its a different drink at 70c

You’re lucky to have red blossom tea near you, if you can go there and get samples or taste the tea in the shop, I would do that

Oh no, I’m not the one who needs one. I just mentioned it here as a possible option.

@Rasseru: My dad had some green oolong that he steeped at boiling, and he said it was bitter. I said I’d show him how to make it the right way one day.

Haha oh Yeah you’re kristina not ekm0924..

It was the lack of avatar so you both are the same blue teapot

Yeah, I should find an avatar.

http://s12.postimg.org/8rkbynjft/avatar_large.png ? :D

All right I found one in my photos. It is a picture of a colorful piece of fabric which has nothing to do with tea.

haha perfect.

kind of drifting off topic a bit, but it was odd for me to experience people brewing green tea with boiling point water in Vietnam. one might see that as an error on their part but it seems to be a national convention, that they prefer that bitterness. they also tend to drink the tea from a pot without any limit on brewing time, so it gets quite astringent. it’s funny how much of preference isn’t actually universal. the same tea turns out well brewed at lower temperature for a limited time.

American Southerners leave the black tea to steep until it the water completely cools and then put it in the refrigerator. Indians I know steep their chai in the boiling water for 20 minutes.

masala chai is a little different because you can brew frightfully strong tea and then it goes right back to pleasant once the milk and sugar hits it. Southern sweet tea is a little like that, maybe not so clear that it works as well, to me. they get the same result by adding a lot of sugar, though, compensating for the resulting astringency.

or really the standard approach is to boil the milk with masala chai, as I understand it, not that it changes the same basic idea.

Ha yes, Ive been to india 6 times and theres a big pot with everything in boiling all day long. SO sweet. too sweet. blech.

Sri Lanka is interesting, its basically one big tea mountain with herbs & fruit growing on it

Well, yeah, you boil it with milk, but I don’t think it’s 100% milk — maybe I’m wrong on that.

I drink unsweetened Southern tea when I’m in the South. The overwhelming sweetness started to get to me, so I got used to the bitterness instead.

Thanks! I’m not too far from May Wah, actually, so that’s a great idea.