I was perusing the online Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales last weekend, and Amazon (of course) had this Secura 4 liter water boiler/warmer on sale for $74.00. I should mention that I'd already just spent an hour binge-buying tea, so I was already rather susceptible to "accessories".
I'd been considering a Zojirushi for years, but never quite wanted to spend the money. And of course there's the tea purist in me that says you need fresh water each time you brew tea...which was enough to keep me from shelling out the money before now. But many other "tea people" use these types of boilers/warmers for convenience, and frankly, the only thing holding me back from a cup of tea late nights and weekends is the time it takes to let the water boil, then come to the right temp for whatever I want to brew. Yes, I *know* it's totally lazy, but it is what it is.
In any case, I decided to go ahead and get one of these Securas. It's all stainless steel inside, no plastic lining, which is good (though plenty of plastic in the top, sadly). The way it works is it boils the water (212 degrees), then allows it to cool and hold at one of three temperatures (or you can set it to auto cool, which just let's it cool gradually to room temp). It's designed to stay on for as long as you need it too, so it can run all day every day if you want it to.
6am - fill with fresh, cold water and set the temp to hold at 208 degrees.
8am - make tea for the morning (to take to work), set temperature to hold at 176 degrees (so it takes less time to boil at lunch).
Noon - reboil, make tea for the afternoon, set temp to auto cool (save energy, since I'll have time to wait for the boil after work).
7pm - reboil, set temp for 176 or 194 for nighttime brewing (depends on whether I feel like white or green that day).
Make tea as desired throughout the evening...or cider, hot chocolate, etc.
Before bed - drain and unplug. I'm okay with drinking water from it all day/night, but I prefer to start with fresh water every morning.
I haven't had it over the weekend yet (this will be the first, but my plan is to boil a pot in the morning and hold it at 208 for most of the day, since I drink black teas all day long (and I'm okay with blacks brewed at 208...though it takes no time to bring it back to a boil from there if needed). Then I'll cool it down to 176 for evening cuppas again.
Needless to say, with no more excuses to be lazy, I'm actually drinking more tea at home again, which is a very good thing. And honestly? I haven't noticed a difference in how the tea tastes with reboiled water...I thought perhaps I would, but I haven't at all. Maybe I'm just out of practice, but everything tastes fine to me. This is going to be quite handy for parties/entertaining too...
So there you have it - my electric kettle has been retired, and I'm pretty happy with my purchase. If the top accent color had been black like I was hoping for, I would be happier, but it's a small quibble.
Anyone else have one of these? Do you like it? Do you feel like it affects the flavor of the tea at all to reboil water all day?
On a somewhat related note, I'm writing up a bunch of tea reviews from my binge purchases, and will be posting one a week or so starting tomorrow. And if you want to see what I'm drinking on a nightly basis, check my Tea on Tap facebook page.
Happy sipping!
