Breville Kettle Water Boiler

What it is

The Breville IQ Kettle, model BKE820XL: a 1.8-liter (seven-cup) cordless electric kettle in brushed stainless steel, with five one-touch preset temperatures tuned to black, green, white and oolong tea and to French press coffee. A keep-warm button holds the water at your chosen temperature for twenty minutes and can be pressed before, during or after the heating cycle. It has a Soft Top lid that opens slowly and vents steam rather than spitting it, a removable scale filter, boil-dry protection and a 360-degree base with cord storage.

Why it's on this list

Temperature is the variable nobody controls and everybody should. Boiling water pulls bitterness and astringency out of green and white tea; it is simply the wrong tool. A French press wants water off the boil. Any decent variable-temperature kettle fixes this for good, and this one does it with presets instead of menus — one button, correct water.

The rest is build. Brushed stainless rather than the plastic-bodied kettles at half the price, a lid that does not scald you, and a viewing window so you can see what you have. The keep-warm is the underrated feature: it means the second cup does not require a second boil.

What to know before you buy

• The spout is not a gooseneck. If you brew pour-over — V60, Chemex, Kalita — you need a controlled, slow, precise pour, and this kettle will not give you one. Buy a gooseneck kettle instead. That is the single most important thing on this page.
• Keep-warm runs twenty minutes, then stops. It is not a hot water dispenser and will not sit warm all afternoon.
• 1.8 liters is large. Good for a household or a teapot, oversized for one person making one cup, and it takes up real counter space.
• Hard water will scale it. The filter catches flakes; it does not prevent buildup. Descale it on a schedule or it will get slower and louder.
• A plain $30 kettle boils water perfectly well. If you drink black tea and instant coffee, you do not need this. The temperature presets are the entire reason to spend the money — if you will not use them, do not.