Reddit mentions of CAFÉ BREW COLLECTION Glass Cafe Brew 12 Cup Stovetop Whistling Kettle, c

Ok. There's been some great advice in this thread and I don't want to step on anyone's toes. But I went through a similar process when I wanted to stop drinking shit coffee a couple years ago, and this is my current setup.

The Grinder. You want a conical burr grinder. You can do this without breaking the bank: I got a Breville for less than $100 and it kicks ass. Grinds like a boss, whisper quiet, and it looks like a robot.

But why, you ask, should you splurge on the grinder? You could get a little Krups grinder for $15. And that would be great -- if all you wanted, ever, was to drink french pressed or drip coffee. But if you ever want to make espresso, then you need a conical burr grinder. And it sounds like you are going to want to do some experimenting.

The Brewer. My personal thing is this: I don't brew coffee through anything that plugs in. There's just no reason to.

Get yourself a kettle for your stove - I like this one, because you can see that there's nothing growing inside. And you avoid the mineral-y crust that you would have to scrape off of an electric kettle.

Use filtered water. It makes a difference.

Get yourself a simple drip cone or, if you want to be a little fancier, a Chemex carafe. You put a filter in the top, you grind the beans, you put the beans in the filter, you pour hot water over the top of it. The beans get thoroughly steeped and you end up with an even, smooth coffee with little to no bitterness.

Because you've saved so much money on coffee makers, splurge a bit. Get yourself a French press for when you want something with more oomph. And get yourself a little Italian stovetop espresso maker. You put fine espresso grinds in the top, you put water in the bottom, you put the whole thing on the stove - voilà.

There. If you wanted all this shit to plug into the wall you would have spent $1000. But you can get all of this for less than $200.

The Beans. Here's the dirty little secret about coffee beans: freshness matters more than brand. You could get the finest quality beans shipped to you from halfway across the country if you like - but they're going to be stale by the time they get to you.

Here's what you do instead: find a cafe that roasts their own beans and buy from their cafe. They'll have been roasted within the last few weeks. The beans will have this great oily sheen to them - that's how you know they're good. Buy them one package at a time and keep them in an airtight canister. And for christ's sakes, never freeze coffee beans.

There you go! With this setup you can make almost any type of coffee drink available at your local Starbucks, for cheap. There'll be no gunk to clean out of the musty interiors of a complex drip coffee maker. And a lot of this stuff has a great aesthetic, so your kitchen will look fantastic.

Edited for spelling.

Steeping tea is enjoyable to me. At minimum, you'll need a device for heating the water (kettle, either electric or stovetop), a container for steeping (teapot), a filter to catch the leaves (can be part of teapot or separate), and a cup for drinking.

I use these:

• Medelco kettle
  
• BIA Cordon Blue teapot and cup
  
• Steel ball strainer
  
  The process is simple.
  
  
• Place leaves into teapot.
  
• Heat water in kettle.
  
• Pour water into teapot.
  
• Place strainer at mouth of teapot while pouring tea into cup.
  
  You can alternatively place the leaves in the strainer and stick it inside the teapot to steep. That's slightly simpler, but it doesn't allow the leaves to fully expand.
  
  Some teapots are also designed to ease the steeping process further, like Adagio's Ingenuitea, which I own and yet don't use as much. You place the leaves inside, steep, and then the tea flows out from the filtered mesh bottom, directly into a cup.
  
  Once you've developed tea as a hobby and have certain regional or style preferences, such as Japanese sencha (green tea) or Chinese oolongs, you can invest in steeping equipment specific to those, such as kyusu or tetsubin and Zisha teapots or gaiwan. These are by no means required, but they can heighten the experience, especially if you decide to prepare the tea in the culturally traditional manner; see Japanese and Chinese tea ceremonies.

I'm American and that's a lazy person's kettle. I have a real kettle. ;)

Copypasta coming though!

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Avoid? I'd say avoid stuff like Teavana or David's Tea unless you're wealthy or love flavored teas over straight teas. Avoid tea bags if you're really serious about teas, but hey there's nothing wrong with a tea bag if you're not.


New to Tea? New to loose leaf? Let me help.

Hello, new friend. So you've stumbled your way into /r/tea, you probably though this was a subreddit for the Mr. T, but no worries you're here and you're in good hands. We're all tea fiends and we're all eager to share our fifteen minutes of meditation, our hobby and our little slice of heaven. So why should you consider switching from Lipton to something crazy like leaves some Chinese person picked off a tea bush?

• Loose Leaf tea is often higher quality than your traditional tea bags.
  
  
• Less preservatives or additives.
  
  
• A greater variety of teas that are too delicate for tea bags or can't be effectively brewed that way.
  
  
• Greater access to fine teas, you can't find good premium teas in tea bags.
  
  
• It's more cost effective. You can pick up Twinning's Irish Breakfast tea (20 tea bags) for $2.99 at your local supermarket and that'll make you 20 cups of tea. With loose leaf tea you can buy 125 grams of Irish Breakfast from Upton Tea for $5.60, which will make you 100-150 cups of tea. You can re-brew the same tea leaves two or three times when it comes to loose leaf, but with a tea bag all the water penetrates the "tea dust" the first go.
  
  
• It tastes better. That's 100-150 cups of far better tea than Twinnings. Not to say you can't get good tea out of a tea bag, but you'll get better tea with more control/flexibility when it come to loose leaf.
  
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  So, Where To Start??
  
  ^^buy ^^theses ^^teas ^^first!!!!!!!!!!!!
  
  Where | Why?
  ---|---
  GoodLife Tea's $7 for 7 Sampler | Free Shipping! Robb has a fantastic variety of tasty high quality tea important for building up your tea pallet.
  Verdant's Five Teas for $5 | Free Shipping! Again, Verdant sells some premium quality tea. Think of their sampler as a crash course into the rich people's side of tea. But the catch with tea is that it's a lot more affordable than wine could ever hope to be. The sampler is great for building up your tea preferences and giving you a kickstart in the right direction.
  Upton Tea | My personal favorite store, they send a nice little paperback catalog every quater. They sell a huge variety of teas, from traditional English Breakfast to Tie-Guan-Yin. Not only that but they sell their teas in different grades meaning you can dabble in what is traditionally an expensive tea by trying a lower quality (but still delicious and tasty) grade of tea. You can find the grade and variety of tea that matches your wallet and taste. They also sell cheap samplers, if you wish you can take $20 and order around 15 samples and see where your cuppa takes you.
  Adagio | A personal favorite of /r/tea if you can find a store nearby! But don't fret, most of us buy our tea online so no worries if you're in Kodiak, Alaska and can't get down to an Adagio. They sell nice quality tea, their stores people are incredibly informed and helpful (unlike a certain Starbucks owned tea store). They also have Adagio XL which sells tea in bulk.
  Harney & Sons | Amazon Prime Shipping. I love my Amazon account, that's usually by go to place online shopping and being able to two-day ship a simple tin of Harney & Sons tea without the shipping cost is fantastic. They sell lots of teas and they're all very good. Maybe not the premium tea you'll see Chinese diplomats drinking but they in my opinion sell tea that all tastes great.
  Coffee Bean Direct | Who knew a place called Coffee Bean Direct* sold tea too? Again, with Amazon Prime Shipping this seems to be the place to buy tea in bulk. They're well reviewed and their tea seems to be good. If you're like me and cold brew ice tea frequently then this might be the best place to pick up some bulkier tea to last you the season.
  Crimson Lotus | Owned by a frequenter of /r/tea, Puerh_Lover stocks a great store with lots of neat little stuff. Be warned, he caters to pu'er which is a type of fermented tea pressed into bricks or pellets. In other words this is a special variety of tea that needs special equipment and special knowledge to brew. Don't fret if you're not walking out of /r/tea after a day brewing in a gaiwan.
  White2Tea | More lovely pu'er.
  Yunnan Sourcing | Again, more pu'er, but also lots of green and white teas too. They sell teaware for good prices too so if you're looking to pick up a traditional china teacup or gaiwan this is a good place to get that.
  What-Cha | Another beloved store on /r/tea, but they're pretty pricey at times. But you can always expect good quality tea and a looser wallet from here.
  
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  Just How Do You Make Tea?
  
  Traditional Western | Gongfu | Cold Brew
  ---|---|----
  The way you're probably familiar with when it comes to brewing tea, all it requires is a teapot like this one (I highly recommend this teapot). Western or Traditional works well with every kind of tea. It's the universal method of making tea and the best place to start. | This kind of brewing is very specific as it only works with Chinese type teas like pu'er. This method of making tea is hands down the best way to make a Chinese styled tea and does wonders to enhance and bring out the best in the leaves. But this method wont work for a cuppa English Breakfast or Japanese Sencha. To brew Gongfu style you use a gaiwan which is fancy talk for a tiny cup with a lid. The idea behind Gongfu is more leaves, less water and time. You use micro-infusions instead of waiting minutes like Western or hours like Cold Brewing. | Cold Brewing is for those of us who just love iced tea. It's simple to cold brew, a vessel like this will brew a mean pitcher of ice tea. All you have to do is leave the leaves in the filter and wait 5-12 hours for the tea to brew, perfect for leaving overnight. Fair Warning: tea can go bad, the kind of stuff you'd buy at the store has a massive amount of preservatives in it. Keep your cold brewing tea out of the sunlight and don't let it sit for more than 48 hours.
  
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  On Kettles
  
  So you're going to need a way to keep your water hot. A stovetop kettle is probably the most accessible and the biggest no brainer out of everything here. A microwave heats water inconsistently, can leave an odd taste if your microwave isn't properly clean, and you really don't have a good way of knowing how hot the water is. Temperature is important. Brewing a cuppa green tea in boiling water will result in a pretty shitty cup of tea, and brewing some black tea in the water appropriate for green tea will result in a disappointing cuppa.
  
  You also have electric kettles like the Cuisinart CPK-17 which is going to cost as much as a decent coffee machine but if tea is your caffeine fix then it might be worth it. The Cuisinart is a variable temperature kettle meaning you just have to press a button and it makes the water the appropriate temperature for whatever kind of tea you're drinking.
  
  
  Tea | Temperature
  ---|---
  Black | 212
  Green | 175
  White | 190
  Oolong | 185
  Pu'er | 212
  Herbal | 212
  
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  Where To Buy Tea Equipment? What Equipment Might You Want To Buy?
  
  Umi Tea Sets sells lots of cute tea sets. They also sell pretty much any kind of vessel you can brew tea in, from Yixing to Japanese tea sets.
  
  Mr. Coffee Tea Kettle A simple, $10 stovetop kettle to boil some water. It seems to have a little hole in it for a thermometer to go in if you need to measure your water temperature.
  
  Glass Whistling Kettle I have one of these, you can tell water temperature from the bubbles if you learn to read them well. It’s pretty handy but if I could I would exchange it for the Mr. Coffee.
  
  CPK-17 Electronic Kettle probably the device that makes most of /r/tea’s mouths water (that might just be the tea). This is pretty much the best electronic kettle you can buy, cheaper than a K-Cup Coffee machine. It has temperatures for making all kinds of tea labeled nicely. I have one and I love it.
  
  OTHER
  
  Want to find the right kind of tea for you? Here’s a tea discovery wheel! Try it out here.

I grew up using a glass whistling kettle. It had a plastic lid and handle and heated up water pretty quick. After 15+ years, I finally broke one of them when I was a bit rough cleaning it in the sink. We replaced it with this one.

These glass kettles have a lip for a spout that pours easily and the whistles on them are loud. The plastic lid on mine has warped a bit from the heat, but otherwise still fits and whistles as usual.

The glass does get a bit mucky with residue after some use, especially if you keep it on the stovetop when you cook, but it'll look new after you scrub it with a scouring pad

Even though glass is more fragile, I like that it's easy to see the water you're boiling. You'd be surprised at the stuff floating in your water after a while.

Also, some modern steel kettles have a coating on the inside that flake off after a while and leach into your water. That happened to me, which made me switch back to glass.

bodum french press is cheap and goodc

($10). hario hand grinder is relatively cheap and good ($40). glass tea kettle to boil water ($10). $60 total for nice tasting coffee. i did this setup for 2 years or so, no problems, but you'll use a little muscle grinding.

https://www.amazon.com/Medelco-12-Cup-Stovetop-Whistling-Kettle/dp/B000V5X826/ref=sr_1_3?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1500248291&sr=1-3&keywords=glass+tea+kettle

https://www.amazon.com/Hario-Skerton-Ceramic-Coffee-Mill/dp/B001802PIQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1500248316&sr=1-1&keywords=hario+coffee+grinder

https://www.amazon.com/Bodum-BRAZIL-Coffee-Maker-French/dp/B000KEM4TQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1500248377&sr=1-1&keywords=french+press+bodum

Hario Mini Mill

Kettle

Scale

Brita Filter

Aeropress

Thermometer. The one I have is from a Culinary Arts class I took, but this looks to be the same. It's very useful, and to calibrate it, which you'll need to do every once in a while, fill a cup full of ice and then water and put the blue thing on so you can move it (I'm not sure how to explain it, but I'm sure you'll get it), and make sure the dimple is in the water and move it to 32 degrees.

Edit: Also, the mug was from the reddit Secret Santa exchange! It's a really fantastic mug.

Not an injury, but came close: I broke my glass kettle (this one by accidentally tripping and dropping it). Thankfully it fell away from my and didn't get cuts. I ordered another one from Amazon a few minutes after :D

Link to product: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000V5X826/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_sXsywbV64K9N5

If you actually like Keurig coffee and are willing to pay the premium for it, and you drink mostly green or oolong tea, it's probably fine (providing the water actually tastes good). It will be sub-optimal for black tea, since the water won't be hot enough, and you'll probably still want to use a thermometer for green tea.

Personally, I would say it's not worth it (because Keurig coffee is overpriced if you aren't using the reusable filter basket and it doesn't give me any control over the brewing process), and stovetop kettles are cheap, less than a couple packs of K-cups.

Would this tea kettle be alright? :) it would be most helpful!

I <3 Coffee, I buy a dry medium or dark roast usually, in whole bean form. My typical morning cup is fresh ground and made in a french press. I grind it a little finer than usual, by preference. I heat my water up in a glass kettle on a gas range. Sometimes I add a little pinch of nutmeg to the press in addition to the grounds.

I bought a $5 thermometer instant read thermometer from my grocery store. I use that and a pot on a stove and it works fine. No need for a fancy tea maker. This kettle apparently works well and is only $10 as well.

I do have a countertop still and it's nice when I want to futz around with a new idea or make small batch stuff. I enjoy gin for instance, but rarely want to make several gallons at a time.

Why fire up the keg still and worry about if I have enough propane or a whole day to devote to it, then end up with several cases of stuff I only drink occasionally. Rum or whiskey, sure, fill the keg with low wines and I'll drink it eventually. But absinthe and gin get the countertop treatment for making two or three bottles instead.

I was unbelievably lucky to find my 2 gallon water distiller at a thrift store for $5 (it's a $750 machine) so I can't recommend a particular vessel, but the common coffee pot still design I am aware of uses a borosillicate glass coffee pot so it can be put directly onto your kitchen stove, gas or electric.

Get one of these

http://www.amazon.com/Medelco-12-Cup-Stovetop-Whistling-Kettle/dp/B000V5X826/ref=sr_1_16?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1416428586&sr=1-16&keywords=chemex

and one of these

http://www.amazon.com/Hario-VDC-02W-Ceramic-Coffee-Dripper/dp/B000P4D5HG/ref=sr_1_3?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1416428625&sr=1-3&keywords=hario

Damn, was available this morning, oh well. So I was thinking of ordering these.

press ginder pot

Only thing I am unsure about is the grinder.

Would a kettle like [this] (http://www.amazon.com/Medelco-12-Cup-Stovetop-Whistling-Kettle/dp/B000V5X826/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463179911&sr=8-1&keywords=stove+top+kettle) work? and I think I have an infuser lying around

Why not glass? I absolutely love mine. It's durable, completely cleanable, and even though they tell you not to, you can totally use high heat. It's also really fun to watch the water boil.

I used to have an enameled kettle and the enamel would melt and bond to the stovetop, and once you boil it dry its garbage. I have yet to boil my glass one dry, but i'm thinking it might hold up better.

Click here for non-mobile link

At first I thought this could be a great tea kettle that will last me where all my other have failed. Ever tea kettle I've had has melted at the whistle at some point. While I could have been more attentive by stopping it over heat, I fell this situation happens eventually. I feel that plastic whistles are just a bad design.

My issue with this one is the non-flat base. Probably do to it being of glass construction. It looks like it could let the flames from a gas stove creep around and melt the handle.

Now, /u/RockstarPotion how long have you had this tea kettle?

I really need a new kettle for my home. The rubber handle on the one I have now broke off last week, and it's a real bitch to use it without burning my hand. I've already burnt it twice. I think it's time to just toss it altogether and get a new one.