In the wonderful world of coffee brewing your kettle will be one of the key components of your coffee kit, along side your coffee grinder and your many brewing devices/drippers.
Any kettle will boil water In saying this I am sure many would agree that a good brewing kettle can be an absolute deal breaker to enjoying your coffee brewing experience and enhance the control you have over your brewing variables.
The current market of coffee brewing kettles can be broken down into 3 main categories, Electric, Stovetop and Jugs.
Electric:
Electric kettles both heat your water and usually offer a means to control at what water temp. Usually electric kettles are sold at a higher price because of the heating element and additional electronics found inside the kettle and base. These kettles are fantastic specifically for coffee/tea bars and any place that isn't a kitchen. A massive advantage that is sometimes overlooked is a temp hold feature, currently this feature is exclusive to electric kettles and offers a way to maintain a consistent temperature throughout a period of time, particularly useful for when brewing multiple coffees or single coffees that require a longer brew time.
Some things to consider about electric kettles is that while they are electronic and some do offer fancy timing features/automatic on/off and holding temperatures do you need think you will use these features? and is it worth looking at something that just does the basics without all the additions?
Stovetop:
Stovetop kettles are a fantastic way to have most of the features of an electric kettle at a fraction of the price, because there is no need for a plug or a heating element the manufacturer can save on costs and hence pass these savings down to you. A stovetop kettle can be a great solution for small countertops, kitchens and people who are maybe considering a coffee brewing kettle but don't want to spend a whole lot.
Some things to consider about stovetop kettles is that they need a place to live, one of the most overlooked factor is that people often don't think about where they will store there kettle when not in use. another thing to keep in mind is that when using a stovetop kettle you will have slightly less temperature control, you will need to pay close attention to your kettle and actively monitor your kettles thermometer till it reaches your desired temperature, this can be difficult to get right sometimes and does push people towards electric variable temp kettles.
Jugs/drip kettles:
These jugs are a good entry level way to experience brewing with a goose neck, unfortunately there are a couple of things you need to consider when using these. Firstly you will need to use an additional kettle or heat source to heat your water and then pour into these jugs and most of these jugs do not come with a thermometer so if your current kettle does not have a way to measure your temperature you will need to purchase an additional probe thermometer.
These jugs are usually made of stainless steel and do not hold there heat, as soon as you pour into these you will loose some heat directly into the material and if the jug doesn't come with a lid a lot of heat can be lost fairly quickly.
Another issue to consider with these jugs is that they do not hold much liquid so after you rinse your filter/brewer and start pouring in sets you may run out of water half way.
What kettle should I buy?
Still confused? hopefully after reading about some of the pros and cons we think you should consider you are that much closer to making a decision but if you are still tossing up check out our Kettle Buying Guide we put all of the features these products offer in a side by side table.
Check out our range of kettles that we stock here.