A sip of hot (not boiling) water, anyone?

January 15, 2008 7:31 PM

TeaFilter: where (in Europe) could I find an electric kettle with a temperature control? Do such things actually exist?

Long working nights in front of the computer are neigh, and I happen to enjoy the warm comfort of various brews, among which are several chinese green teas and argentinian mate. The apartment is vast, the kitchen is far away from the office. An electric kettle for hot water refills is needed.

In my country, home to espresso and all things coffee, tea is pretty much a business of dropping a bag into some boiling water (which would transform most green teas into a vegetable soup), so kettles are more or less exotic and can be found just in hotel rooms - most stores do not even sell them, and every single one I found (both on- and offline) looks like it's built to just boil water.

So, I'm asking you, hive(tea-drinking)mind: does or does not actually exist a water kettle which will heat water up to a set temperature (ranging from 75 to 100°C) and then disengage the heating?

Bonus points if it's available somewhere in the EU and 220-240 AC powered, extra points if the temperature dial is in Celsius degrees and for 1lt. water, and a voucher (redeemable chez moi) for a cup of tea and a slice of cake if it's also cheap!

posted by _dario to food & drink (7 comments total)

How about this....
posted by Blacksun at 8:04 PM on January 15, 2008

Or this....
posted by Blacksun at 8:07 PM on January 15, 2008

Blimey, half price on Ebay!
posted by Blacksun at 8:14 PM on January 15, 2008

I presume they're also available in Europe, but the Zojirushi dispensing pots work very very well. They don't heat on demand, but they're insulated and will keep water at a set temperature indefinitely. Being Japanese, they have various settings calibrated for tea - 175F, 195F, and 208F. They hold between 3 and 5 liters of water. They are not cheap, but they work.
posted by Caviar at 9:00 PM on January 15, 2008

I don't know if they ship to Europe, but this is exactly what you're looking for. This is the same thing rebranded, I believe.
posted by liet at 9:27 PM on January 15, 2008

thanks everybody. It seems that most of the British kettles will do the job, (it's a curious thing that that very same Tefal model is actually marketed in Italy, minus the temp controller, that is) while unfortunately japanese or american ones are hard to find (almost noone online ships to europe, plus the 120V would probably be an issue)
posted by _dario at 10:03 PM on January 15, 2008

There's also this, which heats a cup of water in three seconds.
posted by essexjan at 11:02 PM on January 15, 2008