The Convenience of Hot Water

[Salsero]

Hey Salsero, I know that you've been sorta moving away from traditional gongfu cha methods. Do you use the Zoji for your Salfu cha or do you use a kettle?

I am very happy Salfu-ing with the zoji. I just dispense the water straight into the yixing pot. I suppose if I ever had guests I wouldn't want to fu standing in the kitchen in front of the Zoji. In that case, I would drag out my trusty old kettle or get a thermos. Now, guests get Euro brewed tea and I reserve the best tea moments for myself alone.

[neowolf]

Truly has me tempted. While if I'm bringing hot tea I always use my trinitea in the morning (so busy!) I also fill up a Mr. Bento and heat up my electric kettle at LEAST twice before I leave.

[greenisgood]

Salsero, do you ever have problems with not having enough room to put stuff under the spout? I have visions of trying to clunk around teaware under the zoji spout and just having it spill over the side.

[Geekgirl]

I have one teapot that I can't fill under the spout of my zoji. It's a pain. The pot is a large (22oz?,) wide-bodied tetsubin, and the mouth sits about 1/2" past where the pour would hit. I can't tilt it because it's so wide and shallow, plus there is nothing to hold that wouldn't burn my fingers.

Only complaint about the zoji.

[Pentox]

I'm another member of the zoji camp. Although I don't have a zoji brand one. I actaully have a National brand and some random cheapo brand one. (the cheapo one is for the office). I've been eyeing a new zoji though for the multi temp settings.

[Salsero]

Salsero, do you ever have problems with not having enough room

Initially, I was worried about this too, but it hasn't been a problem. See, of course, Geekgirl's comment.

In additional to Pentox's non-Zoji brand, I seem to recall that Tenuki had a Panasonic that he was very happy with. Actually, is National a Panasonic brand?

I was disappointed to find the the temp settings are not that helpful ... at least not for me. If the Zoji has water at 195° it drops by 15° to 25° as soon as I put it into a room temperature cup, so I still have to fiddle constantly to get the right temperature for greens and whites.

[augie]

Zoji Questions:

1. What is the damage in regard to the square footage that it takes up on the kitchen counter? (I have so much crap on the kitchen counter that is an absolute necessity)
2. Is it a PITA to dump & clean every night, Auggy? B/c that is what I'd do.
3. You can completely control the temp just like the UtiliTea?
4. Does it have any tubing intake or such that needs to be torn apart and sanitized every so-often?
5. How much did everyone pay? (if that is not too personal of a question?)

I adore our Zoji breadmachine, even tho I never use it to bake. My kids use the UtiliTea to make hot chocolate and Lipton Cup-O-Soup in the winter. It's just so convenient to make cocoa and soup that is ready right away and doesn't burn your tongue.

[Salsero]

Zoji Answers:

1. What is the damage in regard to the square footage that it takes up on the kitchen counter? (I have so much crap on the kitchen counter that is an absolute necessity)
My LC LCC30, 3 liter Zoji takes 10" by 14"

2. Is it a PITA to dump & clean every night, Auggy? B/c that is what I'd do.
I empty the old water the next day when I fill it. ABx likes to wipe the inside of his out before he fills it to discourage mineral build up, but this has not been a problem with my water. The inside lining seems to be a Teflon-like substance that discourages buildup. Once every 2 or 3 or 4 months I descale it with RealLime, but you can also buy an expensive package of ascorbic acid from Zoji if you like.

It also has a seven-hour timer (only the one setting) so it will turn on automatically before your eight hours of beauty sleep is over.

3. You can completely control the temp just like the UtiliTea?
Mine (and most) have temperature presets of 208° (= "off boil"), 195° ("cool" water if you like for oolong, yellow, or white teas) and 175° (presumably for greens ... after dispensing into a cold container, the 175° probably drops rapidly to about 160° or less). Annoyingly, it always heats to boiling first then cools down to the preset temp.

4. Does it have any tubing intake or such that needs to be torn apart and sanitized every so-often?
No, just rinse and descale. I take the cover off and set it in the sink to fill it.

5. How much did everyone pay? (if that is not too personal of a question?)
Mine currently costs $139 at Amazon. That was the biggest hurdle for me.

I still have my Upton version of the Utilitea, and drag it out for travel or when I am descaling the Zoji, but I really love not having to turn the kettle on and stand there waiting for every infusion of gong fu brewing or worse wander away and forget and not come back until after the kettle has cooled down and have to start over.

But I made a lot of great tea with that kettle, it is smaller and more portable and does zero to 212 a lot faster. And it didn't cost $139!

[Michael_C]

There's a hack to prevent that 'heating to boiling before cooling' inconvenience.

Once the temperature is at or slightly above your target temperature, pull the magnetic plug from the back, count to two, then plug it back in. There you go, no more heat until boiling - it will stabilize at the target temperature immediately. I think there might be a way to do this on the panel, using the timer, by toggling it, but don't have the combination down yet. I'll post it when I figure it out.

[Salsero]

There's a hack ...

How on earth did you figure this out? Thanks for the hint.

[auggy]

There's a hack to prevent that 'heating to boiling before cooling' inconvenience.

I admit, I do that too on refill days when I'm doing something low temp.

Sal, you might find that if you run a cup of water through the zoji first before getting the water for your tea, the water temp is much higher and more constant. If that makes sense. The first 4 or 6 oz that comes out seems to cool really quickly but after that, it seems to stay nice and hot.

Zoji Questions:
1. What is the damage in regard to the square footage that it takes up on the kitchen counter? (I have so much crap on the kitchen counter that is an absolute necessity) Not a huge amount of room for me, but I like to make sure it is pulled out from under the counter when it is going to boil. It usually does good about containing the steam, but it is still boiling water, you know? Pretty much same footprint as Sal's but a little taller.
2. Is it a PITA to dump & clean every night, Auggy? B/c that is what I'd do.I don't think so. It really doesn't take long. I just dump out the last remaining bit, spray it with hot water, swish and refill. I rarely have more than 1L left by the end of the day, so I'd have to refill anyway and the rest take only a minute longer.
3. You can completely control the temp just like the UtiliTea?Same as Sal's here. In fact, I have the 4L version of his.
4. Does it have any tubing intake or such that needs to be torn apart and sanitized every so-often?Taken care of when descaling.
5. How much did everyone pay? (if that is not too personal of a question?)$170 I think? I honestly don't fully remember. But so worth it.

[Geekgirl]

Ditto everyone else on the 1,2,3,4s.

Mine has temp settings of 208-195-175-140. It also has a sleep timer of 6-7-8-9-10 hours. 3.0L, and it was a steal at $115. Supposedly this is a "budget" model, but I don't see why, other than it is not the top of the line vacuum insulated version. Model is CD-WBC30. Amazon has it for $112 + free shipping.

[Space Samurai]

My kettle has a real fast boil, so it meets my needs quite well. I flip the switch, and about the time I have finished measuring my tea and what not, the water is good to go.

A Zoji would be a neat toy, but I think it would take some of the fun out of tea making for me. I love my samashi/yuzamashi tooo much.

[Salsero]

A Zoji would be a neat toy, but I think it would take some of the fun out of tea making

I agree with Space. A Zoji or Panasonic or whatever is not the only solution and not even the best for all. Stéphane at TeaMasters says he has something similar, but he doesn't use it to make tea. He feels the water tastes different coming out of the Zoji type machine and he likes to have more control over his pour. For some people it is definitely not the first choice.