Where to invest my money?

[steanze]

I have the Waring and am happy with it. I use it with a tetsubin as well.

[ryancha]

Thanks steanze, for the tip.

[BioHorn]

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I ended up getting a tetsubin from AN.

My next decision, of course, is how to heat the thing. On Amazon, the Waring 1300W and the Duxtop 1800W both have pretty good reviews. The duxtop is about $15 more.

I've never used a hotplate before. Should I go for the 1800W, or is that too much power for a 1.2 L tetsubin? The instructions says not to go above medium on heat.

Thanks again!

The Duxtop sounds amazing! This one review off Amazon does make me question using it to keep water at low boil:

Levels 1 and 2 are advertised as 200W and 500W--they achieve the lower levels by cycling the power to the coil on and off at 1000W, which makes it impossible to maintain a slow boil/simmer when cooking things like rice and pasta.

If it consumes much less power than the Waring it could pay for itself!
I have been using a Waring for 4 years or so now with a tetsubin. It works great.

If you get the former, please let us know how you like it.

[BW85]

http://www.amazon.com/DUXTOP-Portable-C ... red+burner

I use this. Cheap, and I love it. Mimics burning coals to a degree. I was inspired to go with infrared or a halogen burner based on information kyarazen shared

[BioHorn]

http://www.amazon.com/DUXTOP-Portable-C ... red+burner

I use this. Cheap, and I love it. Mimics burning coals to a degree. I was inspired to go with infrared or a halogen burner based on information kyarazen shared

That is great! Am ordering one now! It should pay for itself in energy savings. Thank you.

[ryancha]

For any future readers looking for kettles, I forgot to mention what I found from Lin's. They quoted me $255 USD for the purion kettle and $140 for their regular kettles with stoves. They estimated shipping to the U.S. at $60 USD.

We should perhaps group edit a collective, pinned posting of Teachatter wisdom on kettles/heating. As my thanks to the group for their advice in guiding me through my own buying spree, I've taken a start at it below. I've tried to take a neutral tone on any potentially contentious issues. I was also thinking, if people wanted to do this, we could also add links to the most pertinent teachat topics as well as helpful external websites.

----

There are a variety of ways of heating water. There is an even greater variety of opinions about the best way of heating water. Luckily, however, there are easy solutions for those who want a basic, well-functioning kettle:

Basic: Glass and stainless steel are two common and perfectly adequate materials for stove-top of electric kettles. Both materials are thought to change the taste of the water only slightly if at all.

Electric kettles, given their convenience and speed are popular. Unlike stove-top kettles, however, they prone to developing problems such as broken springs, etc. They also tend to cost more than traditional kettles.

For those who brew their teas at less than an off-boil (for instance, those who drink green tea), variable-temperature electronic kettles that heat water to a pre-selected temperature are popular. Many and perhaps all of these kettles are only roughly accurate in bringing water to the selected temperature.

You do not need a variable kettle, however, to brew tea at less than an off-boil. The size of the bubbles in a traditional kettle indicate the temperature of the water. <to do: explain fish eye, etc, here>

Fancy: Many dedicated tea drinkers use other, mostly artisan-made kettles for brewing water. The appeal is multiple: 1) the enjoyment of using artisan-made teaware, 2) the ability, for some kettles, to better control the speed and direction of a pour (important for those who believe that getting leaves, for instance, to spin in the gaiwan helps open them up, 3) to improve the taste of water used in brewing the tea.

If you are looking for artisan kettle, you are likely picking between: 1) an iron Japanese tetsubin, 2) clay kettles. So long as the kettle is high quality and unlined/unglazed on the inside, these materials are likely to change and often improve the taste of water and thus change and perhaps improve the taste of tea. Unlined iron Japanese tetsubin (note these are different from lined tetsubin and teapots that are much more common at less serious merchants) likely leech some iron into the water, making it sweeter. Unglazed clay kettles (including Yixing, Chao Zhoa, Taiwanese) are more complicated as it depends on the type and quality of clay and its firing.

There is considerable disagreement about which kettle goes well with types of teas. In general, tetsubins are highly regarded, especially for Japanese green, but also for oolong and puer. Some swear that clay is better for oolongs and puer, however, than a tetsubin.

Some Teachatters believe that kettles made from material traditional to the tea culture in question is superior: a tetsubin for green tea, Chou Zhou clay for dancongs, clay in general for oolongs and puers. Others, however, believe that there is no particular reason to suspect a priori that a clay from a region will match that region's tea.


<To do: Table of kettle types, material, place of origin, rough range of prices>

<To do: info on heating source>

<To do: List of recommend online vendors>

[demonyc]

Nice start, ryancha! I think this is a great idea, and could probably end up being a go-to topic for many newer members with similar questions.

I like how you tried to cover all of the viewpoints in a neutral manner - that's a good way to stay away from any contention over even well-meaning implications of preference and stay above the fray, so to speak. Keep up the good work!

[Zacherywolf7]

ryancha, thank you this is a great idea. I have been drinking for a couple years and still didn't really know certain things (seems like there isn't a consensus either...)
Hope to move on from just the bonavita to a variety of kettles one day!

[BioHorn]

http://www.amazon.com/DUXTOP-Portable-C ... red+burner

I use this. Cheap, and I love it. Mimics burning coals to a degree. I was inspired to go with infrared or a halogen burner based on information kyarazen shared

That is great! Am ordering one now! It should pay for itself in energy savings. Thank you.

I got the Duxtop hotplate in the mail. It was quite reasonably priced and should pay for itself. The only issue is it will not work without a grounded outlet. Our house has many two prong outlets. Adapters do not solve the problem. So it looks like the tea room is getting upgraded outlets!

It heats water quite a bit faster than the Waring Pro hotplate.

[iGo]

I've found a couple of other Japanese tetsubin on-line. Could the assembled multitudes comment?

http://www.analoguelife.com/En/products ... 2_1_E.html

http://www.analoguelife.com/En/products ... _32_E.html

http://ginkgoleaf.com.au/products/azmay ... ron-teapot

Thanks in advance.

[AT333]

I've found a couple of other Japanese tetsubin on-line. Could the assembled multitudes comment?

http://www.analoguelife.com/En/products ... 2_1_E.html

http://www.analoguelife.com/En/products ... _32_E.html

http://ginkgoleaf.com.au/products/azmay ... ron-teapot

Thanks in advance.

analoguelife has some other gorgeous products too. Wonderful

[Tead Off]

I've found a couple of other Japanese tetsubin on-line. Could the assembled multitudes comment?

http://www.analoguelife.com/En/products ... 2_1_E.html

http://www.analoguelife.com/En/products ... _32_E.html

http://ginkgoleaf.com.au/products/azmay ... ron-teapot

Thanks in advance.

We come back to the point of whether a tetsubin has been 'reduction fired' to achieve 'activation', the change in iron content. Many beautifully designed tetsubin are on the market at commercial sellers but try getting the answer to this question from most of them. They usually don't know anything, just sell product.

[BioHorn]

I've found a couple of other Japanese tetsubin on-line. Could the assembled multitudes comment?

http://www.analoguelife.com/En/products ... 2_1_E.html

http://www.analoguelife.com/En/products ... _32_E.html

http://ginkgoleaf.com.au/products/azmay ... ron-teapot

Thanks in advance.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/D846-Japanese-i ... 43d829766c

[MmBuddha]

Really glad to have stumbled across this thread,

it happens to pertain to a lot of things I've been wondering lately. I'm glad to hear that Lin's kettles have their fans since they're quite accessible and fairly priced compared to other clay kettles I've found. Interesting to hear you use yours often Kyarazen, how favourably do you think they compare to a decent yixing kettle?

I imagine they have a similar softening effect but I'm wondering which to look out for.

Thanks.

Where do people suggest purchasing a clay kettle? It seems the options are pretty limited. EoT and Sample both have yixing kettles. Teahabitat has a CZ one as part of a stove set (and I definitely don't need the stove part). I don't think Hojo has any.

What/where am I missing? Opinions on what to look for would be very appreciated.

on taobao you can get some traditional chaozhou kettles from reliable brands, some of them are moving into making purion wares too.

or you can get the chaozhou one from chawangshop or somewhere similar.. the prices are very reasonable. i actually dont need the kettle but i want the stove part so that i can transplant a halogen heating unit inside...
unfortunately international shipping costs of such an object is much more expensive than me getting from china directly, or settling for something "loud" and red in color that i find off the shelf here.

lin's ceramics clay kettles are pretty good, i absolutely love this :
http://www.aurlia.com.tw/detail.php?id=70&proid=7
i had them in yellow and black. its brown clay inside, a material reminiscent of a duanni/qingshuini blend but of course its just taiwanese clay not yixing. they are pretty much my daily use kettles now, apart from my radical habits of boiling water in tea pots..