Hey all, does anyone have this kettle by chance? Or know anything about it? Because if it is what I think it is, I may have found my dream kettle!
http://www.imperialtea.com/AB1002000Sto ... gory_ID=18[/img]
Imperial Tea Court's Glass Kettle.....
I probably just said something...how do you say.....hmmm, what's the opposite of "groundbreaking"?
Hmmmmm, I don't think the link is working.....try this
http://www.imperialtea.com/AB1002000Sto ... gory_ID=18
http://www.imperialtea.com/AB1002000Sto ... gory_ID=18
I probably just said something...how do you say.....hmmm, what's the opposite of "groundbreaking"?
Re: Imperial Tea Court's Glass Kettle.....
HouDe used to sell what I believe is the same one (for $20 or so less, I might add). Hard to say 100% for sure that it's the same model, though I'll be in the Berkeley ITC tomorrow, so I'll try and check then; it looks like a couple of Kamjove models, but is actually a Taiwanese company. I have one (from HouDe), and use it, but I don't entirely recommend it, because:Ian wrote:Hey all, does anyone have this kettle by chance? Or know anything about it? Because if it is what I think it is, I may have found my dream kettle!
http://www.imperialtea.com/AB1002000Sto ... gory_ID=18[/img]
* Most of the ones I've seen of this sort are 400W, and heat water *very* slowly
* The adjustable temperature control (on the new models which have it) doesn't seem to work well - the sensor doesn't seem to be accurate, and shuts off at higher than the temperature the dial is pointing to.
* Unlike electric kettles with a coil in the water, the kettle continues to stay hot after the heating element or induction plate shuts off. This means that the water continues to overboil unless you remove the kettle or prop it sideways (which always makes me nervous).
* The kettle shuts itself off when it overheats, which (in my case) is frequently, meaning aside from the slow boiling, the kettle frequently shuts itself off before even coming to a boil
Pros:
* Looks good
* Great pour
* Visual indication of exactly how the water is boiling
* You can put mineral stones or charcoal in the bottom of the pot easily
I have been seriously thinking of switching back to my trusty electric kettle (old type with the Bakelite base, made by the same Taiwanese company). The pour is still good, the metal doesn't affect the taste significantly in any way that I can tell easily, and it boils much faster and more reliably.
When I emailed Guang @ HouDe about it, he said that a few people have had problems so he's not selling them anymore (they apparently have a new model coming soon). He said one customer fixed the problem himself by adjusting the "thermocouple gap" (which I'm guessing is engineer speak for the space between the metal plate on the bottom of the kettle and the heating element).
Danica used to have a similar one from ITC (with a built in tea tray if I remember properly) and had some problems with it as well; she doesn't use it anymore. I know Michael Wong (Wong Chung) from Tea Gallery uses an older model of one of these (just auto / manu setting, no adjustable temperature), and it works pretty well, though it is slow, so he uses a Capresso to re-heat when in a hurry.
You can see it in action in his shop here:
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/200 ... .1.190.jpg
(those are Maifan mineral stones in the bottom)
See also this thread:
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/479996
However, I think I responded there before I had started having quite so many problems with it.
Re: Imperial Tea Court's Glass Kettle.....
I was over there yesterday and took a quick look underneath. I think it's a slightly different kettle (either different manufacturer or different model), even though it's very close cosmetically from the front (the dial and the color of the non-wood area on the top were the only differences). Anyway, you might not have problems with that one, but I would still think very carefully before spending $150 on it.
Well Kamjove makes kettles of this type (and they make one that's 600W, though I imagine it'll still be pretty slow), but I don't know if they make any 110V models - from their site, looks like all the models like the one you're talking about are 220V only. I don't personally know any vendors other than the two in this thread who sell a similar product online.Puerh Lover wrote:Thank you, wyardley, for your review. I almost bought one from ITC but might just wait for the newer model that Guang said would be here soon. Do you know of any other that has the same oriental look and good functions?
wyardley, thank you so much for your posts. It seems like they just don't make the exact type of kettle that would end my yearning: an all-glass kettle with NO metal parts that functions exactly like Adagio's UtiliTEA. Why-oh-why can't this dream be a reality?!
I probably just said something...how do you say.....hmmm, what's the opposite of "groundbreaking"?
Yeah... the thing I don't like about that one is that the little shiny thing inside is actually plastic. But as I mentioned in the chow post linked above, Michael @ Tea Gallery uses the Capresso, and I know he has recommended it to some people. It boils water *really* fast.Mary R wrote:If it's the glass aspect you like instead of the Asian aesthetic, Capresso makes a quality kettle.
(Entirely) glass kettles themselves are pretty easy to find, so you could maybe get one and then either boil it on the stove / transfer it to an alcohol burner, or you could get a hot plate and use the glass kettle on top of that. An earthenware kettle with a strong alcohol burner might also get the job done if that's an option.Ian wrote:wyardley, thank you so much for your posts. It seems like they just don't make the exact type of kettle that would end my yearning: an all-glass kettle with NO metal parts that functions exactly like Adagio's UtiliTEA. Why-oh-why can't this dream be a reality?!
Re: Imperial Tea Court's Glass Kettle.....
ps - From looking at the original box / manual plus the logo on the kettle, the company name seems to be 天乙 (Tiān Yǐ) - this seems to be their site: http://teneasy888.com/ . Looks like the ITC one is the same brand, though seems to be a slightly different model. Mine is a DE-286N. Also, seems like it's a Chinese company, not a Taiwanese one, but they make both 220V and 110V models.wyardley wrote:I was over there yesterday and took a quick look underneath. I think it's a slightly different kettle (either different manufacturer or different model), even though it's very close cosmetically from the front (the dial and the color of the non-wood area on the top were the only differences). Anyway, you might not have problems with that one, but I would still think very carefully before spending $150 on it.
Don't know if you can ship to the US from there, but a web search turned up some hits... if that's NTD, I guess those are about $40-50 US.
http://shop.e-seven.tw/index.php?mod=pr ... 27&ipage=4
ps - this mini-roaster looks super cool!
http://teneasy888.com/product_view.asp?id=3[/i]