Advantages: Large Spout and Rapid Boil
Disadvantages: Too Heavy to Handle

...ORIGINALLY WRITTEN May 2003 INTRODUCTION I know next to nothing about kettles. So I do not know why I am writing this op. It will be a struggle to come up with 120 relevant words. So I have deliberately padded out this op. The serious part of the op starts from the 'Features' heading. WHAT I USE A KETTLE FOR Apart from boiling water very little else! I use the hot water for making PG Tips tea, Horlicks, Tomato Cup-a-soup, Oxo gravy, Super Noodles, Pot Noodles and savoury rice. About a year ago I read a silly survey that tea drinkers had more sex appeal than coffee drinkers did. This was due to flavonoids being better for your health than caffeine. So I gave up drinking coffee. A couple of winters ago the boiler and the back up boiler in the flat complex both packed up on the coldest day of the year. So I had... Read review

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Advantages: Great looking household appliance
Disadvantages: have to keep it clean

...the car. For several years I have been using the stove top orange kettle on the gas hob. I had persuaded myself that gas was more energy efficient and previous plastic jug kettles resulted in scummy tea. Over the years, however, I discovered that hob kettles are fine if you are a domestic goddess but while I can boil an egg I seem to run into problems with kettles. The kettle either shrieks at me at inconvenient moments demanding attention or I leave out the whistle and it boils dry. The final straw was the fact that the starlings have started to imitate the whistle and this was beginning to drive me insane. Having justified the purchase I was rather looking forward to trying out my trendy modern appliance. The first thing I noticed was that it was very fast compared to the hob kettle. Secondly, instead of shrieking at me like a demented... Read review

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Advantages: Takes up less room than a filter jug and a kettle.
Disadvantages: You have to wait for the water to filter before you can boil it!

...half this price. The filters help reduce the build up of limescale, reduce heavy metals in the water such as lead and copper and reduce chlorine, certain pesticides and other impurities. On the box it shows a cup of tea in a glass cup the picture is in 2 halves one showing the tea using filtered water the other unfiltered and the unfiltered is really cloudy. I tried this and even in our water there is a definate difference. It also shows the same sort of picture with a kettle element showing the limescale build up without the filter, only time will tell how well this work but so far after 3- 4 weeks there is no limescale whatsoever on either our or my Father in Laws element. They are still on sale for around £45 and we bought the last 4 besides ours from the Tesco near us and sold them on ebay for around £30 each making ourselves... Read review

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Advantages: Kettle and Filter in One, Safe, VERY rapid boil, Brita
Disadvantages: Can be top heavy when filtering

...We first bought this kettle for a new office part of the house that was recently built, it was around 45 pounds and the reason we got it is because it has a built in water filter. Overall this kettle turned out to be very good. Performance = 10/10 = This kettle performs very well; it boils 12 cups in about 30 seconds! Very speedy. It is very good at everything, the water filter is Brita’s fastest yet, and it takes a lot less time than any other Brita water filter. It also performs well at filtering; the clarity of the tea or water is instantly noticeable when the tea looks so brightly coloured. Overall the performance of this kettle is very good. Ease of Use = 9/10 This kettle is very easy to use once you have un-packed it, the unpacking can be a bit fiddly as you have to remove the components... Read review

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Advantages: keeps the water warm
Disadvantages: light might attract small children

...I had just got home after a long tiring shopping trip. All I wanted was a nice cup of tea. Mmmmm. I went into my kitchen put the kettle on and POP! Why is it that kettles always wait for you to want your cuppa most before they decide not to work? Well after trying all the usual things (unplugging it, plugging back in, shaking it and then banging it on the work top) Before throwing it in the bin in disgust. I had no choice but to buy another. My search took me to Argos after looking at many different makes, I settled on the “Breville lighting”. It seemed all singing and all dancing. The main thing that attracted me to the kettle was that it had a keep hot facility I thought this sounded very handy. It cost me £34.95 at the time. (January 2003) The kettle was packed in a box, which contained the kettle, the base and a quite... Read review

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Advantages: Delicious and refreshing
Disadvantages: perhaps a tad expensive

...and the overall experience of drinking it. I am quite picky about my tea and how it is prepared. Whether it is the right way or not I don't know but it is what works for me! I normally brew my tea direct in the cup (well actually it is more of a trough in my case - no small cups of tea in this house, at least not for me!) But I have decided to make it exactly how they recommend you do it on the Twinings website www.twinings.co.uk 1. Use freshly drawn water in the kettle (so not the same water that has been left over from the last 4 kettle boilings then - damn I am so lazy!). It recommends that your kettles are descaled regularly (we do actually do this - boils so much quicker!) 2. Teapots should be warmed with water which is then tipped away (I think my teapot almost died when I dusted it off the shelf - it doesn't say if this can be hot... Read review

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Advantages: Filter and kettle , see through , fast boil , can boil small amounts, cordless
Disadvantages: don't like filling hole , heavy when full

...OOOOOOOHH !! my mum exclaimed when she saw our kettle , ( which we bought approx. 4 months ago ) New house , new kettle. When we moved in ans I made a cup of tea , I was shocked at the amount of debris that seemed to be floating on top of my tea . I'd tried a water filter before but thought this time I would try something a bit different . The tap water is poured into a top compartement and is filtered through to the 3Kw ( big!! ) kettle below . The kettle is transparent so you can see how much water has been filtered . I'm not too keen on the filling as the kettle seems a bit bulky and is heavy when full. A piece of the lid slides back so you can fill the top bit, although we have found that it's easier to leave the kettle on it's base and fill it with a jug. The kettle is cordless and there is a built in timer... Read review

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Advantages: Nothing like a nice cuppa
Disadvantages: You may be a coffee drinker

...Perfect Cuppa = (T + V)+ (H20 @ >98.5 degreesC)2mins + S + OSt (T = Teabag; V = Vessel i.e mug; H20 = Water; S = Squeeze; OSt = optimum Squeeze time) Well that's the perfect way to brew your tetley tea bags,according to the tetley web site. Here's how we do it usually. Part fill kettle and turn on. Bring to Boil and chuck a teabag in a cup. Pour on boiling water, top with milk and add sugar, not forgetting to remove teabag while squeezing against a teaspoon, and part burn fingers. Enjoy with favourite biscuits. I suppose Tetley have gone to a lot of trouble making those tea bags with perforations, and good tea too. Do we actually want to know what our tea is made from or where it comes from or who picked it or what wage they earn? No not really. We just want a nice cup of tea. So why do Tetley go to so much trouble... Read review

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Advantages: Women are like tea bags they never realise their strengths until in hot water
Disadvantages: Revolutions

...form or loose leaves. The tea bags come in boxes of 50 and a 100 and the leaves in boxes of 125g. Both boxes are black with Twinings and Lady Grey in golden letters and a picture of citrus fruits on the front. Everywhere from Sainsburys to Tescos stock this brand of tea and prices start at £2.50. How to make the Perfect Cup of Tea taken from the Twinings Website http://www.twinings.com 1. Only use freshly drawn cold water, ensure that kettles or water boilers are de-scaled regularly and that teapots are spotlessly clean. 2. Teapots should be warmed with hot water, which is then poured away. 3. Use the recommended number of tea bags or one teaspoon of loose tea per cup. For one person use a 10oz tea pot, for two persons a 20oz tea pot is recommended. 4. Water should always be freshly boiled and boiling when... Read review

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Advantages: Healthy....
Disadvantages: I don't know ... maybe the time it takes to boil a kettle?

...Jacksons of Piccadilly ~ Chinese Sencha Green Tea with Natural Mint 50g Box of 20 individually wrapped tea bags cost me £1.49 in Tesco ~ that is £0.07p per cup of tea plus the cost of boiling a kettle, which can be quite expensive in my house, as I always wander off and do something else whilst waiting for the kettle to boil and probably have to boil it on average 3-4 times before I actually make a cuppa! ~~~~~~~~~~ History of Tea ~~~~~~~~~~ China stands proudly as the ancient origin of tea, dating back over 4,000 years, but when tea was first brewed is a little unclear with many myths surrounding its history. Although, one theory was that it was discovered accidentally and used for medicinal purposes initially. Apparently, so the legend goes, some historic Chinese emperor just happened to be passing a tea tree... Read review

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