iKettle from The Discovery Store | Vintage Tea Cup and saucer from Bombay Duck
So, I’m back from my trip to Majorca after taking a short break from posting and I have something rather exciting to share with you. If there’s one thing I can’t live without it’s a cup of green tea to start the day. Now that I work from home, I can put a lot more time and effort into my tea making rituals and these little things really do brighten my day. Does anyone apart from me really look forward to their cup of tea on a morning? From the prettiest vintage tea cups and saucers to the most luxurious tea leaves, I have all of the info you need to up your tea game. My secret weapon? The iKettle (among other things).
So, my morning tea making ritual actually starts from my bed. The Discovery Store kindly sent me their iKettle to try out and it’s fair to say it’s life changing if you are a tea lover like me. Not only is it a pretty sleek addition to your kitchen (it’s all silver and shiny), it has so many individual settings that improve your morning brew. Did I mention you can boil it from your bed? Now this may seem like the laziest way to make your morning cup of tea but it is super convenient. I wake up, open the iKettle App and tailor the settings to make the perfect cup of green tea and by the time I get to the kitchen it has boiled. Voila! Those of you looking for an incredibly cool Father’s Day gift, you’re welcome, you can find the iKettle here. Brownie points guaranteed!
The handy App lets you know how much water is in the kettle so you never have to worry that it might be empty. The best feature by far is the ability to change the temperature at the touch of button so the kettle will only boil the water to the maximum temperature that you have set it at. Amazing no? Water temperature can affect the quality of your green tea and if you boil the water to 100 degrees (like normal kettles do) you end up with a green tea that is a little on the bitter side. For the perfect cup of green tea, set the temperature gauge to 80 degrees.
Once you have set the temperature to the desired setting you can boil it at the touch of a button. I loved the novelty aspect of the iKettle but I was worried that the kettle itself wouldn’t be of the highest quality. However, it has now taken the place of my Delonghi one as it is just as good if not better than my old one so it is so much more than a mere gimmick.
It isn’t just how you make your green tea that improves the quality of the taste, the perfect cup of tea also depends on the quality of the tea itself. Until a few weeks ago, I thought all brands of green tea were the same, that was until I swapped my tea bags for tea leaves. Now I’m not going to lie, it’s a bit faffy and isn’t as easy as throwing a bag in and adding water but I promise you it is so worth it in the long run. I recently purchased the cutest little green tea tins that each contained a different variety of green tea. You may have seen them on my Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat, you guys were extremely excited by the Unicorn tin (which you can find here).
I decant my tea leaves into a teapot as I don’t have one of those handy strainer things to catch the leaves. I weigh out 2 grams on my handy kitchen scales and fill my teapot with hot water and leave to brew for about 3 minutes before I pour it into my teacup. Of course, the perfect cup of tea isn’t complete without a super cute vintage cup and saucer. I bought a super cute set from Bombay Duck and they come in a range of pretty pastel shades.
Have you tried the iKettle? What are your tea making tips?