Archive for April, 2010

The Capresso tea kettle stands the test of time

Sunday, April 25th, 2010

Three years ago, Ben and I received an electric Capresso tea kettle from Ben’s mother, and we have completely fallen in love with this kettle.  The Capresso kettle has consistently and quickly boiled water for us, without once threatening to burn the house down.

The glass design threw me a bit initially, but the water is enjoyable to watch and the kettle itself hasn’t broken nor have I burned myself.  I was also not convinced by an electric kettle versus a stove top kettle.  I have great fondness for stove top kettles (another day I will write up my favorite), but at least on our electric stove, it is definitely slower and presumably pulling more power.

The glass also allows us to easily monitor the water, and while I’m not particularly manic about having the perfect temperature of boiling water, I like knowing that I could have perfect fish eye water if I wanted.

There is now some slight discoloration to the metal bulb in the bottom of the kettle, but after three years of heavy use, I’d be concerned if the kettle didn’t show its age a bit.  The efficiency and auto shutoff haven’t shown any signs of slacking.

We would definitely recommend this kettle to anyone considering an electric kettle.

Kenilworth Estate and new tea coming our way

Sunday, April 25th, 2010

Cat and I have been sampling and tasting a lot of new teas recently because we are hoping to start offering a select number of them to our visitors to buy and experience for themselves.

Spring is in the air here in Portland and we have been enjoying a very nice single estate Orange Pekoe Ceylon tea from Kenilworth Estate in Sri Lanka. The tea we brewed is light, but not insubstantial with hint of fruit. Very refreshing change of pace from some of the heavier infusions we have been brewing up. There was no need for milk or sugar with this tea, although we’re never one to judge if you need something extra with your tea.

We’re debating whether to carry this particular tea or not — if you want to have a taste, let us know. This is a tea we first stumbled across several years ago, and specifically noted as a preferred tea.  I was delighted to find that we were still enjoying high quality tea from this estate.

Stay tuned to TBD Tea as we launch our store and bring you one step closer to enjoying fine single-estate loose leaf teas from round the world.  As we get a bit closer, we’ll get a Twitter feed going with our daily tasting notes as we drink through a wide range of delicious teas.