To brew the perfect cup of tea ...
... start with a Chantal tea kettle. After having purchased tea kettles that didn't whistle consistently even when full (the OXO Good Grips Uplift for one), it is nice to finally have one that does. No longer do I have to worry about putting the kettle on and forgetting about it! The water is heated very quickly, and it has a nice sounding harmonica whistle that is just the right loudness. I have a gas stove and the handle did get hot. Another reviewer had a good idea about using a pot handle hotpad (the Woolworks wool one fits well), but the handle cools so quickly that I find that I usually don't even use it. This is the nicest looking tea kettle that I've seen. Even though it is 2.5 quarts it's not as big and clumsy as some of the others. One look at the bottom of this kettle, and you know that it is sturdy, sturdy, sturdy! Most definitely a high quality kettle.
Not so pretty now . . .
I owned the white version of this kettle for a good 10 years when things started flaking off the inside. It was probably just build-up that I could have boiled away with water and vinegar, but I didn't investigate too closely because I'd been eying this copper beauty. After less than two years, it looks more like an old crone. You have to polish it for it to look decent, but, since it's copper plate, polishing seems to be taking off the copper. I can now see silver underneath..
As for function, it heats up quickly, the whistle works, and it's a great size. However, as several reviewers have pointed out, the handle is too hot to touch without an oven mitt after you've boiled water. And I want a bit more than function. I use a kettle several times a day, and it never leaves my stovetop except to be cleaned. So I also want something that looks nice. This ain't it.
I like these kettles, despite the too-high price, which may keep me from buying another.
Very disappointing!
This teakettle is the most "high maintenance" item I have in my kitchen. At this price, I expected a much better protective coating on the copper. I realize that copper does need to be tended to, but this kettle looks terrible all the time. I have been very careful to wipe it dry whenever I use it, but one drop that I missed left a black spot that still is noticeable, no matter how much I polish. And the first time I used the recommended polish to give it an allover clean up, the color changed dramatically -- it doesn't even look like the same kettle. And now, it needs to be completely polished EVERY DAY. Do not buy this copper kettle! Before I had to replace it, I had the black version, and it lasted me 10 years. Chantal's customers deserve better than this. This one is definitely not worth the money.
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