Tea Time Essentials: The Top 5 Best Kettles For Tea

There are so many kettles on the market – but not many that have been designed with tea in mind. So what makes a good kettle for tea!?

Each tea kettle varies in price and features. So it’s important to decide on a budget and what features are most important to you.

I’ll go over what to look for in a tea kettle, and which are my top 5 best kettles for tea.

Psst! This blog post contains affiliate links in it which sends me a bit of extra money if you use them… at no extra cost to you!

First – Stay Away From Teapot Kettles

A tea kettle is not the same thing as a teapot. A kettle is only for boiling your water, a teapot is for steeping your tea. Do not try to combine these two.

There are now tea kettles on the market with a tea strainer inside that allow you to brew your tea directly in the kettle (like this one on Amazon). This is just a plain ol’ bad idea.

You lose all control over steeping your tea, and therefore risk making over-steeped, bitter tea. For starters, depending on the type of tea you’re drinking, you may not need to boil your water at all. And you should only be steeping tea for the recommended amount of time.

What Makes A Good Kettle For Tea – Popular Tea Kettle Features

If you want to make consistently good tea, there are a few key features you’ll want your tea kettle to have.

Temperature Controlled Kettle

Having a temperature controlled kettle is one of the most important features of finding a good tea kettle.

You probably already know that there are different types of tea (see them here), but did you know they also have different optimal steeping temperatures? P.S. This could be why your green tea is always bitter, you might be burning your tea leaves!

You don’t necessarily need a temperature controlled kettle, but it will make your life easier. You can always boil water, let it stand for a few minutes to let the water cool down before adding your tea.

Even better, if you have a thermometer (like this one), add it to your water once it’s boiled and watch as the temperature goes down. Once it’s cool enough add your tea!

A temperature controlled kettle will just heat up your water to a specific temperature, so it will save you a few steps, and a few minutes of waiting. If you’re planning on steeping different types of tea (not just black or herbal) then a temperature controlled kettle will really come in handy.

Do You Need A Gooseneck Spout For Tea?

Depending on how you’re steeping your tea, you may or may not want a gooseneck kettle.

A gooseneck spout can offer a lot more control over pouring water into your tea – but it also tends to be a slower pour. This is more important for using a gaiwan (p.s. don’t know what a gaiwan is? Read more about it in my post!), but can be very annoying when filling up a mug – or worse… a teapot!

If you’re steeping in a big teapot or even mug, you’ll most likely want a faster pour speed, otherwise you’ll be waiting a while as that slow and steady gooseneck spout fills up your pot.

But, like I said, if you’re steeping tea in a gaiwan, you’ll want variable speeds. For example, going slowly at the beginning for a more precise pour. But towards the end of your session, or for stronger teas, you’ll want to add more pressure by pouring more quickly.

P.S. if you also like pour-over coffee, you’ll want a gooseneck spout for more precise pouring. In fact, most of these kettles were actually designed with pour-over coffee in mind, and not for tea.

Temperature Alert

An alert can be a beep, a click off sound, maybe even an LED light to indicate that your water has reached the desired temperature.

The type of temperature alert is a preference thing. I personally like a sound alert because if I leave the room while the kettle is heating up, I’ll know to come back once I hear the beep.

But I know a lot of people actually don’t want the sound alert because it’s distracting and ruins the atmosphere.

So the type of alert depends on you – there’s really no right answer for this one.

Temperature Hold

Some kettles will be able to hold the temperature for a duration of time. I really like this features because I have the tendency to fill up my mug several times.

This is also especially useful if you want to enjoy a gong fu session (read more about that here!). You’ll always have water to refill your cup at the right temperature!

Different electric kettles for tea will hold the temperature for a different length of time.

Timer

I had no idea this feature existed before researching tea kettles, but some tea kettles actually come with a built in timer. This is a nice feature in the end because now you don’t have to have a second device to time your steep.

They will work differently on each kettle. Some of them it will start automatically when you lift the kettle up from the base. Other kettles, you’ll have to manually start the timer.

Top 5 Leading Kettles For Tea

These are the top 5 kettles for tea at varying price points. They’re very similar, but have a few notable differences.

At the end of the day, you can’t really go wrong with any of these kettles for tea. The best one for you will depend entirely on your budget and your tea priorities.

	Capacity	Temp Alert	Time To Boil	Timer	Read More
Cuisinart	1.7L	Beep	7 minutes	No	Click here
Cosori	.8L	Beep	5.5 minutes	No	Click here
Bonavita	1L	Nothing	6 minutes	Yes	Click here
Fellow Stagg EKG	.9L	Nothing	5 minutes	Yes	Click here
SAKI Baristan / Luna	1L / 1.75	Light	6 / 4.5 minute	Yes / No	Click here

After a lot of research, I ended up getting two more budget friendly kettles to fit my tea needs instead of one very expensive kettle.

I wanted a temperature controlled high capacity kettle for my morning tea and teapots so I ended up with the Cuisinart CPK-17 Programmable Kettle.

But! For my gaiwan sessions (and pour-over coffee) I also wanted a gooseneck kettle to be more precise. For that one, I went with the Cosori Smart Kettle. I couldn’t be happier with my choices!

1. Cuisinart CPK-17C Programmable Kettle

The Cuisinart CPK-17C Programmable Kettle doesn’t have a gooseneck spout, so it will be less precise when pouring. You also only have set temperatures to choose from. P.S. Cuisinart recently released the CPK-20 where you can choose your exact temperature, it is slightly more expensive though (see it on Amazon here).

I also like it because you have measurements on the kettle. You know exactly how much water you’re boiling every time. It’s also the only kettle that has a filter for calcium build up – so you don’t necessarily have to use filtered water.

P.S. Cuisinart does sell a gooseneck model in Canada (see it on Amazon here). It’s smaller (1L), only 1200 watts, and you can set any temperature you want within 5 degrees.

2. Cosori Electric Gooseneck Kettle

Cosori actually has two options to choose from, with a $5(CAD) price difference. The regular Cosori Gooseneck Kettle or the Smart kettle.

The Smart kettle is my Gooseneck Kettle of choice. It has bluetooth enabled, so you have added control over its features from an app your phone. Otherwise, you have to choose from preset temperature options instead of being able to manually set it to the degree of choice.

One of the best added features of this kettle is the delayed start. If you add water at night, you can have it automatically boil the water for you the following morning. Tea on command – now that sounds nice!

I chose this kettle for the very reasonable price point, especially since I already have the large Cuisinart Kettle for my daily use. The gooseneck is nice for pour-over coffee and gongfu tea sessions. But it also can pour a bit quicker if desired – I’ve even used it for a mug of tea at times. So if you want this as your everything kettle I can see it working as well!

3. Bonavita 1L Digital Variable Temperature Gooseneck Electric Kettle

Although the Bonavita was the leader in this group several years ago, it can benefit from an update these days. That being said, it’s still a very solid kettle that still does some things better than the new ones on the market (that are also more expensive).

First, it’s important to note that it does have a small plastic piece inside the kettle from the handle. It never actually touches any water, but this might bother some people. Another annoying part is that the hold temperature setting resets every time you lift up the kettle – this would definitely annoy me.

It’s the only tea on the market kettle that comes with a cover for the display. This makes it really easy to keep clean. This is also the first kettle on the list that comes with a built-in timer.

Plus, this gooseneck tea kettle has great control over pour-over speed – with the ability to pour very slowly and quickly (so it can be less annoying for regular use). And it is one of the larger gooseneck kettles coming in with a 1L capacity.

4. Fellow Stagg EKG Electric Gooseneck Kettle 

The Fellow Staff EKG electric tea kettle will win every time; it’s just a well made kettle and the most temperature accurate out of all of them. But because of the high price point, I’m very nit picky about some of the features that make it a bit less desirable (for tea anyway).

It’s obvious that the biggest negative with this tea kettle is the very steep price tag. I do feel like I’m paying for the brand name over anything else.

Another possible downside is the pour-over speed on the Stagg Kettle for tea. It really only has one pour speed – very slow. This can make it really easy if you don’t have a lot of accuracy when pouring- you’ll never be able to over pour again! But it does make it less ideal for steeping tea in a mug and especially a tea pot.

The reason it’s so slow is because there’s actually a balance in the handle. This allows it to remain comfortable in your hand even as it’s getting lighter – there’s no shift in weight.

I don’t love that the temperature hold is a switch on the back of the kettle though. It’s just too easy to forget about. I can just see myself leaving it on for hours at a time!

The display is also hard to see if you’re not sitting at the right angle, and because it doesn’t have any indication of when you’re water is ready, this can get annoying.

But, if you want accurate temperatures, a comfortable kettle to hold and pour, and one that looks amazing in every kitchen – then this is the kettle for you!

P.S. If you aren’t interested in a gooseneck spout, they do sell the Corvo model which will pour out water more quickly. See it on Fellow here or Amazon here.

5. SAKI Baristan & Luna

These kettles for tea have 7 preset temperatures, but are still customizable to the degree. They both offer nice control with your pour (even the Luna) and are nice to hold in your hand.

But, like I said, I added these kettles to my list because of one feature that sets them apart from the others: the temperature alert. The other tea kettles either have a beep alert or no alert at all. I understand not wanting the beep because it can be a distraction, but then still wanting some indication that your water is ready.

If that’s the case, then SAKI kettles are a great option for you! The light system is indicated by the red ring around the bottom of the kettle that pulses as it’s heating up.

Read More Related Posts

• How To Make Tea – Brew The Perfect Cup Every Time!
• How To Properly Store Your Tea To Stay Fresh & Organized
• Tea Tasting Tips For Beginners – A Step By Step Guide
• Tea Digital Products

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Last update on 2024-05-03 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API