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trent
Uh, Can I Add Sugar?
Joined: 20 May 2008
Posts: 16
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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 Posted: May 20, 2008 1:06 pm Post subject: what do you personally think is an ideal kettle? |
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I read a number of posts by MarshalN and Stephane of Teamasters that got me more interested in kettles.
Just for the sake of discussion, I was wondering:
What do you personally think is the ideal kettle to boil water for japanese green tea in?
Silver, cast iron, clay... or something else? |
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syntheticpanda
2nd Degree Black Belt
Joined: 07 Nov 2006
Posts: 198
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| Posted: May 20, 2008 1:56 pm Post subject: |
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| I'm also curious about this. I would think (based on the comments of the aforementioned guys) that silver would be the best, but I am very interested (for financial reasons, mostly) in how well a tetsubin or clay kettle would work. |
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Ryan
Sensei
Joined: 19 Jul 2005
Posts: 475
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| Posted: May 21, 2008 5:08 am Post subject: |
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| I think the quality of your water will effect the taste of your tea light years more than the material your kettle is made out of. I use stainless steel. |
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syntheticpanda
2nd Degree Black Belt
Joined: 07 Nov 2006
Posts: 198
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| Posted: May 21, 2008 5:35 am Post subject: |
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| Ryan wrote: | | I think the quality of your water will effect the taste of your tea light years more than the material your kettle is made out of. I use stainless steel. |
I think this you're right, but I trust MarshalN's judgment. He's very level-headed and skeptical, and has a lot of experience with different kettles. |
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okimasa
2nd Degree Black Belt
Joined: 15 Mar 2008
Posts: 167
Location: Elora, Ontario, Canada
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| Posted: May 21, 2008 6:16 am Post subject: |
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I have a tetsubin for Matcha, and for everything else, I use an electric stainless steel kettle.
If it all came down to taste, the tetsubin enhances the flavour of Matcha just a little bit, but not enough that I'd buy another. I like it for the ceremonial aspects.
Anyway, based on speed, cost and efficiency I'd say an electric stainless steel kettle (like my own  ) is the ideal kettle. |
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Chip
Spam/Troll Killer
Joined: 21 Apr 2006
Posts: 737
Location: Back in the TeaCave atop Mt. Fuji, purging looters
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| Posted: May 21, 2008 8:03 am Post subject: |
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| okimasa wrote: | I have a tetsubin for Matcha, and for everything else, I use an electric stainless steel kettle.
If it all came down to taste, the tetsubin enhances the flavour of Matcha just a little bit, but not enough that I'd buy another. I like it for the ceremonial aspects.
Anyway, based on speed, cost and efficiency I'd say an electric stainless steel kettle (like my own ) is the ideal kettle. |
Yes, the ceremonial aspect can be enhanced greatly in any teaware category. I used to have a plastic kettle, like the mini Bodum. It became such a detractor to my enjoyment, I finally got a Stainless model that truly brings me joy. It was a huge jump. A tetsubin kettle over an open flame would elevate my enjoyment to levels I do not consider myself worthy. But I hope to attain this one day.
I would not dispute anything Marshaln says, ever. I have that much respect for him. But for me, I am not on his plain, his level. I actually choose not to even try to attain that level of appreciation of tea. Thus, I will take my stainless kettle and fully appreciate it.
I also believe the benifit of good water will far out weighs the kettle aspect in most cases. |
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friedfunk
Uh, Can I Add Sugar?
Joined: 24 Mar 2008
Posts: 5
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| Posted: May 23, 2008 4:56 am Post subject: |
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| Has anyone had any experience using the Lotus purification system? I've had great luck with it so far. It purifies through a unique ozonation process and then the water is passed though a carbon filter. I've read recently about the concern of medications found in public water systems and that the best way to get rid of them is by ozonation. The water tastes great as well. I've used the filtered water from my refrigerator vs. the Lotus system and the tea almost tastes alive using the Lotus. |
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Domn
Uh, Can I Add Sugar?
Joined: 26 Nov 2007
Posts: 13
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| Posted: May 24, 2008 12:55 am Post subject: |
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| My personal opinion is, that perfect kettle is from high quality stainless steel, with opened top, because if you live in the city or even larger town, your water will probably contain Cl and if you live in middle Europe, which is near Alps, you will probably heva a lot of CaCO3, which must evaporate for best cup of tea. If you use bottled water, i think that only than you can use kettles with closed top, because there is no risk of Cl, and CaCO3. Surelly its faster to heat the water in closed kettles, but for risking few more minutes for better water is from my point of view worth of doing. |
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Seedillume
White Belt
Joined: 07 Jan 2008
Posts: 20
Location: Southern, CA, USA
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| Posted: May 24, 2008 1:18 am Post subject: |
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I, too, agree that water would make the bigger difference. I use a stainless steel electric tea kettle. In fact, it's the Utilitea Kettle. It works ok.
I buy my water from the local water store. They use a machine very similar to one shown below. My whole city gets their water from underneath the city next door (Bunker Hill Basin). My TDS meter reads 294 from the tap. From the water store, it reads 3. I have used tap before with Kabusecha and Daily Sencha, but it was HORRIBLE!
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Domn
Uh, Can I Add Sugar?
Joined: 26 Nov 2007
Posts: 13
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| Posted: May 24, 2008 2:49 am Post subject: |
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| tds meter? What is that? |
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syntheticpanda
2nd Degree Black Belt
Joined: 07 Nov 2006
Posts: 198
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| Posted: May 24, 2008 3:06 am Post subject: |
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| Domn wrote: | | My personal opinion is, that perfect kettle is from high quality stainless steel, with opened top, because if you live in the city or even larger town, your water will probably contain Cl and if you live in middle Europe, which is near Alps, you will probably heva a lot of CaCO3, which must evaporate for best cup of tea. If you use bottled water, i think that only than you can use kettles with closed top, because there is no risk of Cl, and CaCO3. Surelly its faster to heat the water in closed kettles, but for risking few more minutes for better water is from my point of view worth of doing. |
Are you sure calcium carbonate evaporates? I'm pretty sure it just precipitates into a solid. |
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Seedillume
White Belt
Joined: 07 Jan 2008
Posts: 20
Location: Southern, CA, USA
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| Posted: May 24, 2008 7:27 am Post subject: |
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| Domn wrote: | | tds meter? What is that? |
It means Total Dissolved Solids. You know, things like salt, silt, and minerals (water hardness). However, my meter measures this by measuring the conductivity of the water. This works fine as long as the total dissolved solids are ionized. |
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