The Convenience of Hot Water

[ABx]

The Zoji measures by temp, so once the water reaches 212 it switches to "keep warm." A boil from cold in a Zoji is going to take longer, using more power. A boil from a 2/3rds full Zoji full of water already at 150 isn't going to take nearly as long, and hence it will use less energy. I do this for the convenience factor, so I don't have to wait a half hour for the water to be ready.

For my purposes I'd be using around a thousand watts or so either way, so the power consumption approximately evens out.

This is also keeping in mind that the figures for the Zoji using 700 to 1100 watts at keep warm is for 24 hours, whereas I shut mine off for 7 hours at night.

[Zodduska]

I don't think I could live without my CD-LCC30, I agree with the comments about it detracting from the 'magic' of tea but the convenience far outweighs that for me. My guess about the boiling first is to sterilize the water for the benefit of keeping the unit clean and also making the water safer to drink.

my zoji travels with me back and forth to work so I don't usually fill it up a lot, about 1.5L.. I've actually found that using less water makes it boil and cool much faster along with the water tasting more fresh, I can always add more fresh water if needed. I even signed up for office cooler style bottled water delivery to use with my zoji, dumping each night and also before I leave work.

As a couple people mentioned earlier, the first few oz of water is much cooler than what follows it since it is located in the zoji's tube section away from the main heating area.

americanspice.com is a good source for citric acid in the US which I use to descale every couple weeks.

[Salsero]

americanspice.com is a good source for citric acid in the US which I use to descale every couple weeks.

Wow, that's a lot cheaper than the $4.00 per .25 lb ascorbic acid I bought at the health food store. Does citric work as well as ascorbic and how much should I use?

[Zodduska]

americanspice.com is a good source for citric acid in the US which I use to descale every couple weeks.

Wow, that's a lot cheaper than the $4.00 per .25 lb ascorbic acid I bought at the health food store. Does citric work as well as ascorbic and how much should I use?

Yeah it works great, the zoji manual suggests 30g

1. Put 30g of citric acid or 1 pack of Activated Descaling Cleaner in a cup and dissolve it in warm water.
2. Fill the container with water and add the dissolved Activated Descaling Cleaner or citric acid from (1).
3. Plug the dispenser into the electric outlet, and press the REBOIL key for at least 3 seconds.

I bought the 30oz container which should last me ~28 descalings.

[Salsero]

the zoji manual suggests 30g

The manual, huh. I knew there was a secret document somewhere!

Thanks.

[Michael_C]

I figured out a way to bypass boil without pulling the power.

When the current temperature exceeds the target temperature, toggle the unit to timer mode. Wait for the machine to emit a soft 'click' (you might see the lights in the room brighten) to indicate that the heating element shut off - it will take about a second and a half. Then, quickly toggle the machine to your target temperature. It's important to do that last part pretty quick, or else the machine might register that you want water at 195 and go back into reboil.

This is waaaaay easier than my description. At least this way it stays plugged in.

[silverneedles]

so what will that do?

[Michael_C]

Oh - that lets you heat to target temperature without going to boil first and then cooling. It shaves at least 30 minutes off the startup time if you keep your water at 175.

[Thirsty Daruma]

Lots of fantastic discussion here. I like that two sides pronounced the two approaches here - utility versus art. Frankly, I can't see why both couldn't happily co-exist on the tea hutch. So through this thread I've decided to plunk down the considerable investment for a Zoji. I'm stuck between the 3 and 4 liter models. Both would be too much for me, even with my whale-like drinking habits, but if my roommate gets into tea, we might have to double that volume. Decisions, decisions.

I also got to see the 4L Zoji in real life today and was surprised by how compact it was.

Question: is it easy to switch between temperatures? So, say I set it in the morning to sit around 210 for black teas, and then turn the dial so that when I get back from class it's a more green tea friendly 180?

[Geekgirl]

Question: is it easy to switch between temperatures? So, say I set it in the morning to sit around 210 for black teas, and then turn the dial so that when I get back from class it's a more green tea friendly 180?

Yep, just push the button and wait for awhile. But I rarely take mine off 208. When I need cooler water, I use a cooling pitcher. And I don't think it really impacts the "art" of tea for me anyways. It's far less disruptive than my habit of wandering off while the water is boiling, coming back 15 minutes later to too cold water, reboiling, wandering off...



Zojis are GREAT for the ADD-type.

[Michael_C]

Yeah - and with a Japanese fiancee, there's ALWAYS got to be hot water for tea. Tea with breakfast and dinner at the very least (a pot of tea).