Teaware

Kettle Comparison – Aroma vs Bonavita

December 31, 2017 by Larry Mai

Transcript:

hey hello up in a walker to review i’m jason walker here with just a brief comparison of two different teakettles electric decals that i use the advantages and disadvantages of each should briefly talk about sometimes i have here the aroma teakettle this is versus let’s introduce both of the bonavita gooseneck kettle that i have here the aroma kettle is a 1.7 liter versus the one liter size here the boat evita go ahead get into a little bit more information here just going to go directly to what you’re talking about different price wise the aroma kettle around 3035 dollars for this kettle the double movida around closer to sixty dollars some of the other details were advantages things to consider if you do you need one larger volume do you want the smaller the smaller bonavita has a more elegant brushed metal exterior surface versus the polished smooth shiny chrome light the surface of the this the aroma kettle other things to consider when I compared when I put one liter of water into each of these so it had the same amount of water boil times differed quite a bit to the because the aroma here has a 1500 watt heating capacity you’re talking about two minutes faster boil compared to the 1000 watt unit here with the bull Evita where the the other considerations of course there’s the appearance value but I also want to show a little bit about the pouring difference if you are using something small like a ishing pot or a guy one with an aroma where with a spout like this I’d rather not to any any kind of kettle it’s hard if you’re gonna have more sloshing and less control over where water goes compared to let me move this valve away because I’m right-handed here with a nice tape with a nice slender spelt like this you’re going to be able to move around and get more control in your quarry and when you have smaller openings like these things to consider next time you’re choosing your next tea kettle price heat eating capacity eating speed volume of water that they can hold and that ability to provide a nice smooth elegant pour come back to walk or to review if i had about tea kettles tease subscribe to the newsletter so this so you can get these these updates these reviews directly through email if you want to look into get into more details you can also go into the subscription area which is members only join there as well

Death of Teaforia

November 20, 2017 by Jason

Around the end of October 2017, Teforia announced it would close its doors. The company offered a $1,000 tea maker that was an internet-connected tea brewer. Once you chained yourself to the machine, you were hooked. The machine could only be used with an exclusive set of pods with RFID chips that initiated pre-programmed settings for each tea. Teforia offered 2 versions of the machine – the $999 Teforia Classic and the $399 Teforia Leaf.

Reactions to Teforia

Opinions of the machines abounded.

A Gizmodo reviewer noted the machine was a pain to clean, and brewed weak tea.

World of Tea lauded the Teforia Leaf’s praises for drawing the best from the leaves.

So what were the problems that led to Teforia’s demise?

Tea Drinking Public

There aren’t enough tea drinkers eager to fork over that kind of dough.There are still way more coffee drinkers, and there are still a good chunk of tea drinkers who throw back tea just for the medicinal value. For others, tea is a cold bottle they get at the convenience store. The vast majority of tea drunk in the US is iced tea. The portion of specialty tea drinkers is truly quite small, and Teforia and other gadgets do not provide the impetus for a seismic shift.

Overkill

Wifi. Bluetooth. Apps. RFID chips. Does the path to better tea really require that much tech? I do understand the importance of quick, convenient, and great tasting tea. But there are very good ways to make tea that aren’t that complicated.

It cost too much

$400 or $1,000, and I still have to hand wash it? No thanks. I’d rather use that to buy yixing teapots that will increase in value while potentially improving the taste of the teas steeped in them.

How Do You Brew Tea?

September 27, 2017 by Jason

Some people run in fear of loose leaf tea because they think that brewing loose leaf tea is complicated or messy. They’ve seen all the fancy setups and get turned off or intimidated. Steeping loose leaf tea is really not much different from using a teabag.

Things You Need

1. Tea – Choose a good tea. Life’s too short to drink bad tea.

2. Hot water– at the right temperature. Good teas are more tolerant of hot water and produce less bitterness, but optimal temperatures can extend the life of your tea leaves and deliver richer character. A good kettle will help control temperature and allow for smooth pouring.

3. A steeping vessel. This could be a gaiwan, teapot, tea infuser, or other. Avoid those infuser balls and similar gimmicky crap. If you want something that goes straight in a cup, get a brew basket instead.

What To Do

1. Get your cup and pot ready. If you want good tasting tea that isn’t weak and watery, you’re looking to add a good heaping teaspoon of tea for each cup of tea served at each steeping. Notice this is per steeping – don’t think that you need 5 teaspoons if you’re going to steep the tea 5 times. Most good teas can be re-steeped. In many cases, they can be re-steeped multiple times.

2. Heat your water. There’s all kinds of talk about how heating water in the microwave is bad. It may not be the best but it isn’t terrible either. Kettles are nice, and a Zojirushi is delightful. Aim to heat your water to slightly below a full boil- look for small bubbles, not a rolling boil. Most teas don’t need water that hot.

3. Add water to your cup/pot. Tea leaves will float. Try to pour so that all the leaves at least dip beneath the surface for a second.

4. Wait 30 seconds and then decant. “Decant” is just a fancy way of saying get the water off the tea leaves. You may be thinking that 30 seconds isn’t enough. You may be right. Use 30 seconds as a rule of thumb- as you learn to use the tea leaves you’ll find a your ideal amount of time. In most cases you certainly don’t need more than 2 minutes for a first steep. That’s just over-steeping tea leaves that can be better used on the re-steep. As you re-steep, steep a little longer each time – add 10 to 30 seconds to the previous steep time.

5. Enjoy.

Steeping: Finum Brew Basket

September 5, 2017 by Jason

For the longest time, having tea at the office or away from home has involved compromise. In most cases, the compromise came in the form of a teabag. Even when teabags have high quality tea, it rarely compares to a well-steeped cup of quality loose leaf.

This compromise on quality often comes at greater convenience. Or at least that is the prevailing logic.

But the Finum Brewing Basket offers a middle path that comes closer to achieving Tea-At-Work-Nirvana.
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Product Review: Bonavita Gooseneck Kettle

August 31, 2017 by Jason

It would seem that right after building a better mousetrap, mankind has striven to build a better kettle that would bring the world a-knocking at the door. Despite all the bells and whistles, everything from the Breville 800XL Tea Maker to the Keurig is still, at its essence, a kettle that heats and distributes water.

So how does the Bonavita BV3825B stack up?

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Review: Breville 800XL Tea Maker

August 29, 2017 by Jason

Introducing one of the heavy hitters in the tea-making arena.

The Breville BTM800XL tea maker packs a combination of powerful features:

custom temperature and steep times for different kinds of tea
an automated brew basket that lowers and rises on program
“set it and leave it” for scheduled tea brewing

The positives:

BPA free lid
a brew basket big enough to allow for leaf expansion, even for oolongs in 1.5L of water
a keep-warm feature- for those times when you can’t get to hot water just when you’d hoped
Durable: I’ve personally used this teapot almost daily for over 7 years. It’s never let me down.

The negatives:

the lid absorbs aromas easily. Avoid strong-smelling teas, or leaving a tea in the pot overnight.

Overall, it isn’t the cheapest teapot out there- but you’d expect that from a dependable tea kettle made of the highest quality materials available. Its automation also allows for hands-free operation when making a larger volume of tea. This tea kettle is definitely worth considering if you are a regular tea drinker seeking greater convenience in preparing larger volumes of tea.

On the other hand, if you are the type who prefers to use a gaiwan or yixing teapot, the Bonavita Gooseneck Kettle will give you the precision pouring you’re looking for.

Product Review: Banko-yaki kyusu, Shofu kiln

March 16, 2014 by Jason

The Banko-yaki kyusu, Shofu kiln is a thing of beauty to behold and use.

Teas of Japan (thes-du-japon.com) offers this teapot made by Yamamoto Hiromi of the Shofu workshop. The Shofu studio was originally the collaboration of three brothers. The teapot was created by the youngest brother, who now focuses on works shown in art galleries. Don’t expect new teapots to come from the Shofu kiln.

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