Can a two-hundred-dollar kettle every be justified? Let me answer that by way of a detour on the way to the kitchen via my living room, where my stereo equipment is housed.
A few years ago, there was a big internet kerfuffle over the value of expensive speaker cable. The debate over whether it is worth it or not to splurge on cables continues to this day among the die-hards, but I am firmly in the camp that it makes (to me and most of the scientists that have written on the subject) no significant audible difference. (The strongest evidence I know is that the noted skeptic, the Amazing James Randy, put up a one-million-dollar cash prize for anyone who could prove their case scientifically. The prize went unclaimed.).
I have always felt that similar puffery went into the claim by certain on-line influencers, so-called coffee brewing experts, that the Japanese inspired gooseneck kettles could improve the taste of pour-over coffee. I drink a lot of coffee, probably too much if I'm being honest. For years the Fellow's gooseneck kettles have beckoned to me from the collection of the Museum of Modern Art. Every time I go into the museum store the iconic shape, the perfectly balanced handle, the matte finish and mix of beautiful materials, seem to mock me with the implied promise that they can magically make better coffee - for a price. Let's face it, you can get a perfectly good electric pot to boil water for twenty-five dollars or so. Why would anyone spend nearly two hundred dollars (or even more for the deluxe model)?
Any person with a true affinity for gadgets knows the tug a piece of electronics can pull once the "idea" of it gets under your skin. I am no Odysseus, so last month, ignoring all warnings, after reading dozens of reviews and finding myself between Scylla and Charybdis, I decided to see if a two hundred dollar kettle could be worth it.
The Fellow's Stag line comes in a variety of models, mostly depending on finish and materials. I fancied one with a wooden handle; that increases the price. The latest and greatest, the "studio" model has an electric base that has a glossy glass top surface. The whole matte+glass+wood vibe is a beautiful thing to look at. Although I love design, the mere look of it, I promised myself, would not be enough to keep the device. Instead, I would try it, and if it didn't make a noticeably better cup of coffee it would go back to the store.
Still, taking it out of the box, it did make a striking first impression. After all, other than my computer, the kettle is one of the most used objects of my workday. So seeing it, touching it, appreciating its lines should count for something (at least so long as it wasn't going to take food of my children's table).
I noticed from the start that the kettle was something of a compromise from my old one, at least in terms of capacity. The old one could boil over a liter and half of water, while the Stagg is limited to one. This is just the right amount for making a pot of coffee in my Chemex but doesn't leave any extra if my spouse wants tea at the same time. Reasoning that any piece of electronics is a compromise, and that I was buying the kettle mostly for me, I rationalized away this limitation before the first pot had come to a boil. I should have realized at that point that Cupid's arrow had already rendered my judgment of the Stagg hopelessly emotional. But I persevered in my quest for "truth", noting that I preferred the "lighter" feel afforded by the smaller pot and marked the "limitation" a kind of a "feature".
I had purchased that Stagg thinking it was a "smart kettle" since it comes with an app. In fact, to set it up you need to download the app. Let's be frank, the app sucks. You can't set a timer in it, you can't remotely start the water boiling, you can't turn it off using the remote. Maybe they will fix this, but as of now the app is more of an annoyance than a help. Strike one.
You set the temperature you want the water to be at by a dial on the base unit. A very pretty digital display shows the current water temperature as well as the objective, much like an oven. The base unit is smart enough to bring the water to desired temperature and hold it there between pours. I had heard that pouring boiling water on coffee can make it bitter. There was also a lot of hype on-line about slowing down the pouring process would result in a better taste.
My wife, who often makes the coffee, was immediately worried by how much time this "longer" method would take. She didn't have time to fiddle with the coffee she told me. Our old method of dumping in the water into the top of the Chemex until the cone was full, and then waiting a bit and doing it again, was just fine with her.
I, too, wondered if the thin neck would turn the process of making coffee into a time-wasting chore.
It doesn't. The total brewing time is almost the same, because if you dump in the water all at once it still has to go through the filter before you can put in the second pour. So, the actual time of brewing isn't much different.
What does change is that the temperature is at a more consistent, slightly under boiling, temperature. By pouring it in a spiral pattern as suggested in the manual it appears to keep more of the grinds suspended for longer, rather than pushed out to the sides of Chemex as the old kettle had done.
Pot after pot, the coffee produced by the Stagg tasted better, smoother, more flavorful, less bitter. Whether this is partially because the old pot had developed a bit of a "taste" from mineral build up, I cannot say. I do know that the process of making the coffee now is something I look forward to; interacting with this well-designed object, brightens my day a cup at a time.
I also really appreciate that the pot keeps the water hot if I'm not there to catch it when it comes to a boil. Too many times, I will put up the kettle and get distracted by a business call or my writing and forget about it. By the time I remember the water must be boiled again. Now I know it will be there waiting for me. I appreciate that.
There are still many questions: will the electronics hold up? Several on-line reviewers have mentioned the unit dying after a relatively short while. My last pot lasted a decade, so this one has a lot to live up to. Will Fellow update the app to make it more functional? Time will tell. The instructions also warn that I must oil the handle from time to time to keep it from cracking. Will it hold up? Will I remember?
So many questions, but in the end, of course, the pot is staying. The time I spend with it bring some calm and beauty throughout the work day. That's a lot more than I can say of my telephone.
