 New tea snob in the making thanks to this excellent kettle |
| Review Date: November 24, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Hogun, Marietta, GA |
I am relatively new to the tea scene (my wife and I started drinking Teavana teas about a year ago) and as such I have been searching for a really good kettle. I wanted an electric kettle because of their ease of use as well as the extra features some of the nicer kettles offer. After an exhaustive search I decided upon the Breville SK500XL Ikon Stainless-Steel Electric Kettle based in no small part to the excellent reviews it has received on Amazon and other sites.
I went to a few stores to examine it in person and compare it to about ten other electric kettles that the different stores carried but nothing seemed to come close to the design and quality of the Breville. So after finally making my decision, it was simply a matter of time before I made my purchase. I am very glad I waited as within 2 weeks this new Breville kettle was released. While still substantially costlier than the SK500XL, the BKE820XL has a number of features and design improvements that made the extra cost more than worth it. These include:
- Multiple temperature settings (different teas require different temperature water for an optimally brew) with 20 minute hold
- Improved water level indicators now on both sides (the single water level indicator on the SK500XL is behind the handle which makes it hard to read)
I've only had my BKE820XL a few days (I purchased it from a local store) so I cannot speak to its long term reliability yet, if it is anything like the SK500XL, I don't expect to have any problems.
Oh yeah, and the tea I've made in the last few days is easily the best I've ever brewed! Yay!
UPDATE 1/2/2009: I've had the BKE820XL for over a month now and I still love it! The only thing I've found that I would critique is:
- After you are done boiling water for the day, you need to either dry out the lid by hand or leave the lid open for a few hours to let the water evaporate (from the lid where it collects). I am concerned that not doing this might lead to issues down the road.
Even with that, I am still overjoyed with my purchase (which I use at least 5 times a week) and highly recommend it to anyone in search of a quality electric kettle.
UPDATE 3/12/2009 - Nothing much to report except that my wife and I are continuing to use our kettle mutliple times a week and are extremely happy with it. It has a permanent place on our counter! :) |
Best tea and easy use
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| Review Date: March 14, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Papa H, Seattle, WA |
This is an incredibly elegant and precise, yet easy to use kettle. Even the sound to let you know when it's done is discreet and pleasant. Our household has a variety of schedules, and drinks a variety of teas as well as french press coffee. It's wonderful. Finally, jasmine green tea comes out at home as it should!
The manual holds only critical information, so it's brief - but read it well. I started to be dissatisfied about how the hold temp function works until re-reading the paragraph later.
I've only two minor criticisms. I wish that the minimum water that could be heated was 250 ml not 500 ml, but I get around it with an incredible insulated mug/carafe. More annoying is the cord length; if it was just a few inches longer to 2' it would be great. It's been difficult to find a place on the counter near an outlet that wouldn't steam the cupboards above or get knocked over. (And there's no room to stuff 3-6 feet of the correct type of 3-pronged appliance extension cord.)
So - very minor gripes. Even if it broke tomorrow, I'd order another immediately. |
A Kettle for all Occasions
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| Review Date: February 9, 2009 |
| Reviewer: R. Fernuik, Provo, Utah |
I love tea in variety, but have hated to monitor temperature for different kinds I brew. And sometimes, I forget I'm boiling water (I've melted a few traditional kettles to the electric burner). How lovely to have a kettle that I can just set for a particular type of tea, and just let it do the work. And with an automatic shutoff feature, I won't be melting any more kettles again. I debated on getting one that didn't have a variable temperature feature (just to make the expense more affordable), but decided to spring for this model. Such a worthy investment!
As for defects, I haven't personally experienced any. I use my kettle, on average, about four times a day. I boil water for tea, for oatmeal, for soaking dishes, for shaving, etc. In two months, I've had no problems.
If you're debating between this kettle and a cheaper model, I give you my recommendation for this kettle without reservation. |
Indeed a tea maker's delight.
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| Review Date: January 19, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Anime Domo, Canada |
Those who enjoy all types of tea (and not just the red and black "orange pekoes" normally popular outside Asia) quickly learn that different types of tea require different brewing temperatures. In the old days, there was little choice but to bring water to a full boil and then let it cool (and this was a very good practice for safety reasons in the days when water quality was suspect), but boiling water inevitably changes its taste, generally for the worse, and of course the more delicate the flavour the worse the effect. One Chinese tea ceremony includes careful instructions for boiling water in just the right way, up to the point of "Fish Eyes" but not to the point of "Old Man water", to control for such damage to the taste. In more distracting circumstances than found in formal ceremonies, enthusiasts such as myself have been known to employ Instant Read cooking thermometers in the place of such demanding and intuitive practices.... This kettle is made for those who for whatever reason want to bring high tech (or at least 'mid tech') to the problem. And what's more, this kettle allows one to reach the precise ideal temperature range without actually first boiling the water- testing with my Instant Read confirms this- I love it! And this answers a question I always had about whether skipping the boiling point would yield better taste- I've happily proven to myself thus far that it does in the case of Japanese Sencha and High Mountain Taiwanese oolongs, both personal favorite varieties. This kettle will as advertised also hold the desired temperature for about 20 minutes- very good for some Asian tea practices but water held too long is very similar to over-boiled water, so be careful. Asians, meaning the Japanese and the people who clone their products, have high tech systems, similar in appearance to rice cookers, that do a similar task for tea water but perhaps because they are more enclosed seem to me to be harder on the taste from the start, and because they will hold the temperatures for hours and hours, end up by affecting the taste of the water in a drastic way.
Electric tea kettles are much more common in the English speaking, tea drinking countries outside the USA, and that may be why the price for this one as seen on Amazon is over fourty percent higher than in my native Canada [not the normal state of affairs, believe me]. But, if you want a speciallized, variable temperature tea kettle, there is nothing on the market to compare with this one. The Aussies already ruled in the tea kettle world, through Breville- now they must be declared Emperor! Oy oy oy! |
Very Nice!
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| Review Date: April 10, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Adam Wineinger, Missouri |
| I was a little hesitant to spend so much on hot water, but my wife was always going through such a routine to get just the right temp for her green tea and the fact that our old hotpot was so ugly we decided to purchase the Breville. It absolutely does not disappoint. It will heat water to 5 different temps based on what you are using it for - anywhere from green tea to press coffee to boiling. It will also hold the temp for you. This is an elegant, beautiful, well thought out machine. Definitely worth the money. |
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