Bonavita1L Digital Variable Temperature Gooseneck Electric Kettle for Coffee Brew and Tea Precise Pour Control, 6 Preset Temps, Café or Home Use, 1000 Watt, Stainless Steel

When we got an AeroPress in July 2018, we realized we needed a convenient way to heat the water to a specific temperature, since you should not be using boiling water for your AeroPress. I reviewed a number of adjustable temp kettles before deciding on this one. Specifically, I was looking for one with an easy to set temp that also remembered the previous setpoint. This one fit the bill, and we bought it a week after we bought the AeroPress.For over a year and a half, this has been cranking out hot water for us. Typically it is used twice each morning for coffee for my wife and I, who usually get up and moving at different times, and in the winter I use it considerably for making tea throughout the day.Turns out, maintaining the previous setpoint wasn't all that useful after all (though it still is nice), since my wife and I have settled on different temps for making coffee in the Aeropress. What is useful is the quick temps. With one button, it cycles through preset temps of 140, 176, 185, 190, 205, and 208 °F (or equivalent °C if in °C mode), and we've ended up using this almost exclusively. I brew coffee with the 176 °F setting, my wife uses 185 °F. Since you have to add water after you use the AeroPress (or milk/etc), I usually brew the coffee, then set the pot back on the base and tap the preset temp button several times to the 208 °F to top off my mug with really hot water, as I like hot drinks. So we typically are pressing this button numerous times per day, and they've obviously used quality buttons since it shows no signs of wearing out. The temp can be adjusted in 1 °F increments from the preset using the + and - buttons (and again, it always turns back on to the last used temp, whether that is a pre-set or custom temp). Adjustable range is 140 °F to 212 °F.Temp accuracy: If I put my meat thermometer right at the temp sensor, the thermometer reads ~2 °F higher than the kettle. Not a big deal, and explains why a roiling boil happens at a displayed 210 °F and it never reaches 212 °F.Hold button: By default, the pot shuts off when it reaches the set temp. Pressing "hold" will have the pot maintain the set temp for an hour before turning off. You can press hold as soon as you turn the pot on and it will climb to your set temp and hold. Great for turning the pot on and taking a shower, and it will be at just the right temp when you get back to it.Cleaning: They say to use only a "special" cleaner that they sell...go figure. Nah, I put half a pot of vinegar, half a pot of water, turn to the 208 °F preset and "hold" for an hour. When I get back to it all the calcium buildup is gone. Rinse with water and refill for your next use.Rust: I've seen people mention rust. One time I thought I saw signs of rust, but cleaning with vinegar removed it and I haven't seen it since. Maybe it was iron in the water or maybe something was growing. Not sure.Calcium: As with all pots used to boil hard water, calcium will build up on the bottom. This starts flaking off after some time, and with the spout going to the bottom of the pot any calcium flakes that break off will come right out of the spout immediately on pouring. This could be an issue depending on your point of view. If you don't like this, get a pot with a top-pour spout and this won't happen. Cleaning more often or using distilled water are two ways you can fix this. The other way is to just not drink your coffee/tea to the very bottom of your cup, i.e. don't tilt your cup "up" past horizontal and leave just a tad in the bottom and you won't accidentally "drink" these calcium bits.Other: The pot can swivel 360° on the base, and since it has a temp sensor in the pot the power and temp signals are transmitted through the use of a pin and 4 concentric rings of metal on bottom the pot that contact 5 spring loaded pins in the base (the power pins are recesses and cannot be touched on accident, plus the base will not supply power if the pot is missing). I have noticed (only occasionally) that something, I assume minor corrosion, will occasionally throw off the temp reading or recognizing that a pot is attached. Usually this seems to happen if you put the pot at a different angle then normal. If this happens, the fix is easy. With the pot fully lowered on the base, just swing it back and forth a few times until the temp display stops changing when the pot is rotated. Again, I've only noticed this once or twice. Could have just been a piece of dust or something got on a contact.Summary: Great pot, accurate temps, handy pre-sets, holds last temp in memory, reliable and long lasting. Will definitely order again if we need a replacement or if we want a dedicated one for our RV rather than taking this one with us.

I have had this for a couple years and it works great. It is very expensive, it was $99 when I bought it, but I used rewards points to buy it. A $10 kettle from Walmart works just as good, the biggest advantage this has is that you can control the temp. You can heat the water up to precisely 60c which wont burn my mouth. I use this setting for tea. I originally bought this kettle to make coffee, I watched all the youtube vids and they were doing the sales stuff that you need a gooseneck kettle to make the best coffee.... I stopped drinking coffee because I learned how unethical it is, and I get addicted to coffee and I end up having massive headaches from caffeine.Soooo. In reality I probably couldn've just gotten a cheap kettle and been fine, my mom had a cheap kettle from Walmart that I also love. This kettles main advantage is that you can control the temp. It also comes with an easy to clean plastic cover which I like. Overall this has been a good kettle. I leave water in it all the time and I haven't seen any rust yet so the stainless is of good enough quality (just because something says stainless doesn't mean they use a good stainless steel). Overall I have been happy with this kettle, because it has a spout it is on the fragile side, that spout does flex a little, so you can't be super rough with it, but I have moved and it survived the move with care.

Fantastic electric kettle. I just ordered a new one after my old one died. I had purchased the original one back in 2014. It got a lot of use and still lasted over a decade.

2018 EDIT:Still five stars five years later, and I’m about to buy my third 1L bonavita kettle.I spent the week reading reviews figured I would try something different, but Amazon says I bought this pot five years ago, and it still working like new (and I use it every day).I don’t want to risk buying another brand where I cannot control the temperature the way I want. This kettle remembers your last setting when you push one button.You can set the temperature to anything you want it remembers it. There is a button that cycles through preset temperatures, but then the arrow keys allow you to zoom in on exactly the temperature you want. This is probably not very important for coffee or basic black tea, but if you are really a tea drinker temperatures vary dramatically (people brew Japanese green tea for example Starting at around 120°F). Although my favorite senchas brew from 160 to 170 F.When you push the button to heat the water, it remembers the last setting and it heats up to that setting and holds it the temperature to within about 1°. I believe there is a timeout feature but it has never intruded on my tea drinking. For your second and third brews you have to remember to hit one button when you put the pot back on the base (so it will hold the temperature).The gooseneck spout is the best there is for pouring into those little teapots, or for pour over coffee as well. But if you are very impatient this might be a disadvantage if filling a large cup is your only use for this pot.After reading complaints on Amazon of the temperature being off, I checked mine with a cooking thermometer at 170°F, it was spot on. This is the one that has been abuse for five years.My previous review below sucks (reading it five years later). I believe I was comparing the Bonavita kettle to the basic on off kettles. Shortly after I started using it there is no confusion whatsoever with what button to push. I mean come on there are only four buttons.For one person definitely choose the 1 L size. I keep mine full of water, or else if you don’t use it every day the water could become musty. The larger size for one person risks boiling the oxygen out of the water (which is not optimal for making tea or coffee). With the smaller size more freshwater is cycled through that hasn’t been boiled to death.~2013 EDIT:Its really hard to find a water pot that pours well (although most of the electric stainless steel ones do).. Havent actually used this yet for pour over, but I can tell it will work great (because you can aim the pour and the water volume seems about right)..CON;Slightly slower to heat water because it cycles on and off while the electronics control heating (no big deal for me). Pours slow if you just want to fill up a cup then dunk a tea bag in (kind of a pain).. If I did not want this for pour over use specifically, I would not recommend the skinny spout..PRO:Spout pours great for aiming into little teapots, or for pour over coffee.. The temp setting IMHO is great. Much more convenient than speed of heating. I have a manual induction water pot that heats very quickly. But it will boil like mad if I don't stay and watch it. This pot will hold a temp, so it is more convenient to walk away and come back in a few.I Haven't played with the temp enough to check it out completely. But it is at least adequate. It does not go full steam ahead to get up to the temp setting, so it takes a little longer (you can hear it cycling on/off). I believe it is slightly more quiet than my old electric pot. It does remember my last setting (now if only I could remember which button to push to start it.. I wish the main button were different than the others). I suppose I will eventually remember which one it is..I chose the smaller one because I only put the water I want to heat, into the pot (then expect an empty pot to dry afterwards). BUT I find it difficult to drain the pot completely .. When I try I end up pouring out the lid too.. Not a deal breaker. But I don't like my water to get stale. But leaving water in the pot can draw a musty smell over time, and heating the same water over multiple times will boil the oxygen out so it deosnt brew well (but perhaps Im overthinking this part)..

I've been using this kettle every single day for 7 years and it has served me well. No issues. I only wish you could set your own pre-sets for the temp instead of the programmed ones.

Love it. Stylish, boils quickly and doesn’t take up much room.