Perfect Iced Tea

Author's Rating:

Pros: Water really does stay fresh, as heating element is not immersed

Cons: Indicator light and on-button are located on the back

The Bottom Line: 
The Cuisinart satisfies the two basic needs of a kettle owner: ease-of-use and good taste

Author's Review
After almost 20 years of iced tea addiction, I think I’ve probably brewed iced tea using every method known. I’ve draped tea bags over the top of a big clear jug, left to sit for several hours on a south-facing porch. Dangled tea bags over the side of a stove-perched saucepan. Plugged in instant coffee makers and iced tea pots. Dunked my little silver straining spoon into flavored mugs… I’ve tried family-sized tea bags, individual sized tea bags, and loose tea. I’ve even brewed tea in McDonald’s styrofoam cups, pouring the result over pop-machine ice. Not the greatest tea, but better than the Lipton swill you find tucked between the root beer and Hi-C.

Anyway, after years of experimenting, I’ve discovered a few truths about tea making. For example, putting a carafe of warm tea in the fridge before it’s cooled will cause it to cloud up and taste funny. Iced tea pots are fine, but only if you plan to drink the tea in one sitting; the large amounts of ice used to chill the tea tend to dilute it after an hour or so. And don’t brew tea on the stove if you (or your family members) dislike tea-stained pots. My feeling is that the best way to make a consistently good glass of iced tea at home is to make it one glass at a time. And the most efficient and tasty method I’ve found is to use a tea kettle, a one-cup pyrex measuring glass, two individual-sized tea bags, and a glass filled with approximately 10 ice cubes.

The recipe is as follows: Fill your tea kettle with 1.3 cups of tap, distilled, or spring water (the .3 will evaporate off, which leaves you with a nice rounded cup). Heat the water just until the kettle starts to steam, then pour the perfectly heated water over two tea bags in a Pyrex measuring glass (it should fill right up to the one-cup line – it’s an art, and you’ll improve with practice). Let the tea steep for about 3 minutes while you fill a glass with 10 ice cubes. Then dump the tea bags (they don’t re-use well) and pour your liquid amber over the ice. Perfect.

Since narrowing in on the above method, I’ve already ground one tea kettle into dust. After two years of faithful service, my Rival teapot just quit working one morning last fall. For nearly a month I reverted (regressed) to brewing tea in a saucepan on the stove, waiting patiently for Christmas. Saucepan tea is not an optimum experience; without a spout to narrow the steam into a visible stream that can be measured by connoisseurs, the tea is usually under- or over-brewed. If I seemed unusually cranky during November and December of last year, you may now understand why. Finally came the morning of December 25, and I was shocked to find not another $15 kettle under the tree, but a luxuriant $85 Cuisinart Cordless! Or, more specifically, the Cuisinart Cordless Automatic Electric Kettle KUA-17.

That first glass of iced tea on Christmas morning was positively stunning. Of course, I was in too much of a hurry to read the manual, and waited for a whistle that isn’t a feature of this kettle. Still, the brew was exquisite. More so was the ease with which it was accomplished. After running tap water into its top (estimating precisely my 1.3 cups), I placed the Cuisinart kettle on its black counter-top pad (it’s the pad that plugs in) and found, on the back, the gentlest appliance button I’ve ever pressed. Once the steam level was sufficient, I just lifted the kettle off the pad and the button automatically popped itself back. This kettle is cordless, and it took more than a few uses to rid myself of the cord-handling habit I’d developed over 2 years with my Rival. I’m now spoiled.

Cuisinart claims that by keeping the heating element in the pad and away from direct contact with the water, it stays fresher and its taste is enhanced. This claim seems true; Cuisinart tea does taste better than saucepan tea (which can sometimes taste “scorched”), sun tea (often bland), and even the tea I made in the Rival teapot (my previous high standard).

Cleaning the inside of the Cuisinart is no different than for any other kettle; a water and vinegar rinse is recommended periodically. The chrome wipes up well with 409, but not so well with vinegar & water or CitraSolv (my favorite cleaners). A few other minor criticisms: I like my spout to point toward the center of my kitchen, not up against the wall, and with the indicator light on the back of the kettle, I never actually see it. I also need to reach around back to turn it on. And the handle is less ergonomic than my old Rival; my mouse-weary wrist gets a workout pouring this kettle three times a day. But if you’re an addict like me, and picky about the taste of brewed tea, you’ll truly appreciate the Cuisinart Cordless!