Rant: I was sure those fancy temperature control kettles were a gimmick

I spent 8 years boiling water in a standard $15 electric kettle and thought anyone dropping $100+ on a variable temp one was just throwing money away. Then my buddy brought his over to my place in Portland last month to brew some Ethiopian beans. He set it to 195 degrees and the difference in taste was honestly shocking. No bitterness, just clean bright flavor that I never got from my boiling-hot water before. I borrowed his for a week and ended up buying a refurbished model for $65 on eBay. I still think the super expensive ones are overkill, but having that control really does change your pour over results. Has anyone else been surprised by a small upgrade they thought was overhyped?

2 comments

2 Comments

verab281mo ago

lol I feel personally attacked by this post because I spent years thinking my $12 goodwill kettle was fine and now I'm side-eyeing it every time I make coffee. guess I'm about to become one of those people with a fancy kettle and a matching apron or something.

schmidt.grant1mo ago

wait which one you gonna get