Electric Kettles

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d.manuk
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Fri Sep 27, 2019 7:55 pm

Carelessly pouring water onto tea leaves leads to a worse and likely more bitter brew... so gooseneck offers important precision and also feels easier on your wrists.


There’s a reason every tea shop uses one!
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tjkdubya
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Fri Sep 27, 2019 9:26 pm

Shine Magical wrote:
Fri Sep 27, 2019 7:55 pm
Carelessly pouring water onto tea leaves leads to a worse and likely more bitter brew... so gooseneck offers important precision and also feels easier on your wrists.


There’s a reason every tea shop uses one!
Wasn't planning on being careless, but yes I suppose it opens up that possibility, with different spout designs. It's also possible to pour strongly, with skill and care (not that I'm going to claim I have either).

Let me pull together some photos to illustrate what I mean.

As for gooseneck pourover coffee type kettles in "every tea shop"... Maybe every western tea shop.
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debunix
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Fri Sep 27, 2019 11:54 pm

I love my gooseneck kettles when pouring into small pots and cups; I love my wide-spouted pot when filling a one or two quart thermos. Big spout/small vessel, tricky; gooseneck spout/large thermos, frustration.
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Tillerman
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Sat Sep 28, 2019 7:39 am

Shine Magical wrote:
Fri Sep 27, 2019 7:55 pm
Carelessly pouring water onto tea leaves leads to a worse and likely more bitter brew... so gooseneck offers important precision and also feels easier on your wrists.


There’s a reason every tea shop uses one!
Not every teashop! There are options that are just as precise and offer a much faster pour.
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d.manuk
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Sat Sep 28, 2019 7:43 am

I’ve never seen any other kind of kettle used in Chinatown here and it’s considered a little bit of a joke amongst the NYC tea shop owners I’ve gotten to know.


When I visited HK, Taiwan, and Japan it was the same deal unless a clay pot or tetsubin was being used, in which case there’s other benefits those pots give that are more important than the shape of the spout.


Maybe you guys can tell me what the benefits would be. I know I started off my tea journey without a gooseneck and wish someone had let me know the cons, because the sessions I have now are much better.
Last edited by d.manuk on Sat Sep 28, 2019 7:48 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Tillerman
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Sat Sep 28, 2019 7:45 am

debunix wrote:
Fri Sep 27, 2019 11:54 pm
I love my gooseneck kettles when pouring into small pots and cups; I love my wide-spouted pot when filling a one or two quart thermos. Big spout/small vessel, tricky; gooseneck spout/large thermos, frustration.
@debunix, try this one if you are want a single kettle that will do both: https://www.mybrewista.com/products/sto ... ure-kettle.
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Tillerman
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Sat Sep 28, 2019 7:52 am

Shine Magical wrote:
Sat Sep 28, 2019 7:43 am
I’ve never seen any other kind of kettle used in Chinatown here and it’s considered a joke at least here in NYC when someone doesn’t use one.


When I visited HK, Taiwan, and Japan it was the same deal unless a clay pot or tetsubin was being used, in which case there’s other benefits those pots give that are more important than the shape of the spout.
I've never seen a gooseneck kettle used in Taiwan. Tea houses like Wisteria and Hui Liu use glass kettles set on an alcohol burner. The spouts are standard type. Every tea merchant I have visited in Taipei and Taichung uses a large nondescript metal kettle. These also are used by tea farmers at their farms.

I've not seen goosenecks in Japan either but I have visited far fewer tea houses there. I don't know about HK as my sample is way too small.

The kettle that I mentioned to @debunix, the Brewista Stout Spout, allows for fast pouring (I find goosenecks to be WAY too slow) and for precision pouring. I know that this kettle is used by many others in the tea business - a gooseneck is not good for a cupping session.
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d.manuk
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Sat Sep 28, 2019 8:01 am

edit: I see that the Brewista Stout Spout is essentially the metal version of what they have at Wisteria and we're essentially talking about the same thing.

Basically, I would not recommend a kettle that has a triangular spout near the top, as I've found it hard to control properly. And I think I'm in pretty decent shape since I lift weights at the gym rather regularly. Perhaps if all you drink is puer, maybe then it makes sense but then you could just use a kettle that is like the stout spout.
Last edited by d.manuk on Sat Sep 28, 2019 11:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
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debunix
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Sat Sep 28, 2019 10:15 am

Thanks for a neat suggestion. I do have a full complement of kettles at present, but I’ll keep that in mind the next time on of them quits working.
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Victoria
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Sat Sep 28, 2019 1:20 pm

Tillerman wrote:
Sat Sep 28, 2019 7:52 am
- a gooseneck is not good for a cupping session.
Interesting @Tillerman can you elaborate?
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Tillerman
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Sun Sep 29, 2019 2:06 am

Victoria wrote:
Sat Sep 28, 2019 1:20 pm
Tillerman wrote:
Sat Sep 28, 2019 7:52 am
- a gooseneck is not good for a cupping session.
Interesting Tillerman can you elaborate?
For a formal cupping session (for oolong teas, 4g of leaf in 150ml boiling water for 5 minutes) one needs a kettle that pours very quickly. The gooseneck is just too slow for this. Getting the water into the cup rapidly is crucial.
Teachronicles
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Sat Nov 02, 2019 1:56 pm

Bonavita BV07001US Cosmopolitan 1.3L Variable Temperature Body Electric Kettle, Glass and Stainless Steel




Well this just came in the mail today. And unfortunately, just upon filling up for the first time i knew it wasn't gna work. The handle makes it very uncomfortable to hold when full, it looks nice, and is cool to see the water boil through the glass but the handle needs a redesign.
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Bok
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Sun Nov 03, 2019 12:28 am

I think gooseneck per se is not a bad design. Take my old Tetsubin, which can pour slowly and precisely, yet when I tilt it rapidly I can get a very fast pour (still quite precise and controlled).

So as always it depends on the design.

But I do hate those very broad and wide, open mouth kettles, impossible to brew clean and dry.
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Bok
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Sun Nov 03, 2019 12:31 am

Maybe every fancy ass teahouse has goose neck kettles, yet any down to earth tea shops will always use run off the mill, stainless old school kettles (like uses in kitchens around Asia), or cheap clay kettles.

Usually their tea tastes better than the ones in atmospheric places, so there’s that. Skill in handling an instrument of choice certainly plays more of a role than the tool itself.
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Tillerman
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Sun Nov 03, 2019 2:00 am

Bok wrote:
Sun Nov 03, 2019 12:31 am
Maybe every fancy ass teahouse has goose neck kettles, yet any down to earth tea shops will always use run off the mill, stainless old school kettles (like uses in kitchens around Asia), or cheap clay kettles.

Usually their tea tastes better than the ones in atmospheric places, so there’s that. Skill in handling an instrument of choice certainly plays more of a role than the tool itself.
@Bok Agreed!
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