Reddit reviews Ovente Electric Stainless Steel Hot Water Kettle 1.7 Liter with 5 Temperature Control & Concealed Heating Element, BPA-Free 1100 Watt Tea Maker with Auto Shut-Off and Keep Warm Setting, Silver KS88S
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LIGHTNING FAST – This Ovente electric kettle operates on 1100W (120V) of power, quickly bringing a 1.7L of water to a rolling boil in minutes. Simply pour the water in the carafe, plug the kettle in, and wait for the beep sound that signals your water is ready!VARIABLE HEAT FOR EVERY BREW – Some tea leaves and coffee grounds taste bitter when immersed in a cup of boiling water. Get the water temperature that’s right for every cup of hot beverage using the 5 preset settings (140, 158, 176, 194, 212 °F) of Ovente’s cordless electric kettle!KEEP WARM SETTING – The electric kettle features a Keep Warm setting: Once the water drops to 185 °F, the electric kettle will reboil the water to keep it in 212 °F for 2 hours.FIRE-SAFE – This BPA-free electric kettle features an auto shut-off and boil-dry protection: The kettle shuts off on its own when the pot has reached its boiling temperature and then turns off the heating element when there is no water in the kettle.2-YEAR WARRANTY on Domestic (USA) Repairs and Replacements on workmanship and materials from date of purchase from authorized reseller. International inquiries please contact manufacturer customer service directly for better assistance.
The most important thing is making sure the water isn't too hot since it destroys the antioxidants and makes the tea bitter. I got a cheap electic kettle from Amazon a few weeks ago and the difference is night and day.
For tea bags I use Smith Tea since I find they have incredible flavor. I use each other their tea bags for 2 or 3 infusions depending on the type, and follow the package instructions for water temp/brewing time. I did try Mighty Leaf but found the flavor kind of flat and weak.
For loose tea I use either Rishi or Tao of Tea and brew it up in a small French press since it allows the leafs plenty of room to expand and I had it on hand anyway. Again, I follow packaging instructions for water temp/brew time.
You can get a cheap probe thermometer for around $15 on Amazon. I would do that if you don't want a kettle, they are excellent kitchen tool anyways. I have 3 for cooking (though I own the more expensive ones as the read out is only a couple seconds).
Though really, there's a temp kettle on for $40 and another for $28 on amazon. In the end to save time, you'll want to have a variable temperature kettle anyways.
Here is one I have. It limits your temperatures to presets though. Also disregard anything in the reviews about an annoying beep. They are from last year. I just recently got this and there is no beep. They must have gotten rid of it. Hope this helps :D
Loose leaf tea is great! It's so much better. Bigger leaves and less fine particles (fannings) mean it will be less bitter. Those little pieces steep really quickly, and make it bitter and almost metallic.
There's also temperature and steep time that you have to look out for, and adjust to your taste. Some greens only need 15 seconds of steeping in 160f water, while some blacks are best in 200f for 2-3 minutes.
I didn't know at first, but color varies a lot. A green can be ready when it's almost totally clear, or a dark green color, but most will be a yellow color (the result is often called the liquor or broth).
One of my favorites is an irish breakfast tea, with like a tablespoon full of leaves for a really strong but not at all bitter tea.
Sometimes people will intentionally steep tea for a long time, then add warm water to dilute it.
Check out r/tea, it's the coolest and most relaxed sub ever. "Oh, you like cheap lipton tea bags? That's cool, whatever you like!".
Tea balls suck, by the way. They don't let the leaves expand and mix evenly.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01ABVM226/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1 This is what I use, and it's great.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/ya/ref=oh_aui_i_sh_post_o17?ie=UTF8&ac=od&ii=&ij=&noi=&of=&oi=&oid=105-5075213-2947460 This is my mug. The infuser came broken, but it's great watching the water mix and change color.
Edit:
These are some of my favorites that I've gotten off Amazon
This is some of the best Jasmine tea I've had, and it's super cheap. I got mine for $8.
This is some really good mint tea, good balance, really refreshing.
This is a good oolong, which is really good and way different from most other teas. It's roasted, which gives it a unique flavor. This is the black dragon (Oolong is actually Chinese for black dragon), which tastes more like a black, but they also have a green dragon oolong that is more green, if that's your preference.
That's just what I've gotten from Amazon, but the best stuff I've gotten is from The Devotea. They had a crazy 75% off sale so I just bought some of everything, and it was all consistently very good, very high quality.
This kettle has saved me a lot of trouble, it works really well once you figure it out, and you don't have to worry about boiling water and letting it sit for 3 minutes or something, you just push the button a couple times to choose the temperature.
As a beginner I bought this: Ovente KS88S Temperature Control Stainless Steel Electric Kettle, 1.7 L, Brushed https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RZXJOU2/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_bDrxwbCG3WA0Q
Hopefully it gets the job done :)