By Jennie
My husband and I just recently moved into a new house and somewhere in the process of moving, our electric teakettle stopped working. Our porcelain teapot also broke in two. The teapot conundrum was solvable since we had another teapot as a backup. The teakettle conundrum though prompted urgent action. We resorted to heating water in the microwave for single cups of tea and (when we found them in the moving boxes) used a saucepan to boil multiple cups of water. For English tea drinkers though, this was a calamitous situation.
When we moved to the US many years ago, our very dear friend offered us a cup of tea. We said, “Yes please, we love tea.” We were horrified though when she put two cups of water in the microwave to heat through! We are still convinced that the water that boils in a microwave is different to water boiled in a teakettle. To us, it is very important to get oxygen into the water through the boiling process. It makes a better cup of black tea, which is our preferred tea. Water boiled in a microwave is just not the same and the tea tastes very different.
After several searches on the Internet and visits to local stores, we finally found a teakettle that we have fallen in love with. It is made from stainless steel and glass and the water container is BPA free. It is lovely to watch the water boiling with great big bubbles of oxygen. Our tea now is the best it has ever been. We are very happy 🙂
Footnote: To make a good cup of black tea, we warm the teapot first with a little hot water. We swish that water around in the teapot, pour it out, then put the tea in (a good spoonful for each cup) followed by boiling water. We then let the tea brew for a few minutes until it is a darkish amber color. We pour the tea, then add a little splash of milk.