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Review on Ulalov Gooseneck Kettle - Precise Temperature Control For Perfect Pour-Over Coffee And Tea In Seconds by Ryan Carter

Revainrating 1 out of 5

Metallic Taste, funny smell & Leaking

It's a cute kettle with a small profile in my galley kitchen, and I had high hopes for my pour over coffee. But has several significant problems and I will return it as soon as my new kettle arrives. I initially gave it more stars, but after using it a few weeks and the toxic smell didn't fade, I would not recommend this kettle to anyone concerned about health:1. The first thing I noticed was a strange smell. At first I thought it was an out-of-the box issue. I washed it thoroughly before use, in case there were factory residues, and boiled several pots of water and disposed of them, as per directions. This didn't help. So I did a taste test. I boiled water and poured some in a cup and let it cool. Than I dispensed another cup of my delicious reverse osmosis water, the same water I used in the kettle. Once it cooled to the same temperature, I tasted. The kettle water had a distinctive "off" taste which made me wonder what crazy chemicals I was drinking, disguised by the stronger taste of coffee or tea and subtly ruining my beverages. I cannot figure out where the smell is coming from. But it doesn't seem like "High Quality Stainless Steel Interior Ensuring Pure Taste." The taste gets worse if water is left in the pot, so I always empty it and refill it before use.2. The maker claims that the "kettle merely takes 2-3 minutes to heat a full kettle to boiling." This is an outright lie. I live at sea level and timed boiling a full pot at 4:30. That's a full 1:30 to 2:30 longer than claimed. This is not ice cold mountain well-water here. San Diego water comes out warm, if anything.3. The kettle's metal is so light that water doesn't stay hot even in the time it takes to make a single pour-over cup of coffee. This, along with the taste makes me wonder if it's realy stainless steel. I've had several stainless steel kettles over the years that had no tastes, and were substantial enough that water stayed hot long enough to warm up a cooling cup of tea.4. When pouring water from a full pot, hot water leaks out from the cover, because the kettle spout draws water from the bottom, and if you pour too fast from a MAX full pot, it will escape from the lid. I burned myself several times from this. It also makes a mess on the counter. The directions say that "leaking" from the bottom is due to the steam tube catching water, which also happens if you tip the pot slightly toward the handle which is possibly how I burned myself one of the times. There also seems to be a release hole at the bottom for an overfill kettle. Water leaking from the bottom only happened to me once, and I was sure to not fill over the MAX mark after that.Conclusion: While the leaking issues can be solved by filling properly and pouring slowly and patiently (maybe not a good fit for me!), the reason I'm returning the pot is the bad chemical smell. I think the California designers should check in with the Chinese manufacturer and find out what's going on. Seems toxic to me!

img 1 attached to Ulalov Gooseneck Kettle - Precise Temperature Control For Perfect Pour-Over Coffee And Tea In Seconds review by Ryan Carter



Pros
  • Boils water quickly and the spout is perfect for pourover coffee prep
Cons
  • When I give the gift I will definitely let you know. It's nice!!