Search

What is the difference between a teapot and tea kettle?

dina630
May 28, 2016
3 min read

I really love the Chantal blue cookware and one day found a cute Chantal teapot among the Sur La Table shelves. I bought it with no real purpose besides it fitting in with my other Chantal pieces. Inspired by my new purchase, I went home to brew a cup of tea. All of a sudden I heard CRACK! My new teapot sprung a leak. I was actually mad and thought I had a defective product, so I went to the web to see if others had this issue and REVELATION - a tea pot is not intended for the burner. So, as a friendly reminder to others like me, here is the difference between a teapot and a tea kettle (with a little extra thrown in).

Song to bring back fond memories - I am a little teapot.

Tea Pot Teapots have been around since 1300 in China. The first teapots were made of clay. As their popularity grew the use of tea pots spread throughout Asia, to Europe and eventually the Americas. As I found out, a teapot is for brewing or pouring tea, not for boiling water. Teapots are used to steep tea in water that is just below the boiling point and/or to serve tea. When choosing a teapot look for

the size you want (options often go from 1-6 cups, but sometimes you can find larger)
the material/color you like (glass, ceramic, porcelain, silver) and
how it feels in your hand for pouring

Many teapots also have a strainer at the base of the spout to keep the loose tea leaves from pouring out with the liquid, if you like that feature check to ensure your next teapot has one.

Tea Kettle A tea kettle is for boiling water on the stove or is electric. Tea kettles started out as cast iron and some people still prefer cast iron to other materials. However, you can find tea kettles made of stainless steel, copper, glass, or a plastic polymer. Many stove-top tea kettles whistle when the water boils and electric tea kettles are usually quick-heating and very efficient at boiling water. While it seems clear that I would need a teapot to make good tea it is less clear why I need a tea kettle to boil water, other than that it's faster. Since the cracked teapot incident I use a pot so that I can see the water boiling and monitor the temperature easily. Dina, on the other hand, swears by her tea kettle and believes the whistle is part of the "cup of tea" therapy. If you are like me - and use a pot to boil water for tea - check out this really cute guide to water temperature for tea from Hannah McGimpsey.

Shrimp eyes (about 70-80 ºC) - the first bubbles you will see, they will be tiny pinhead bubbles. Some delicate green and white teas can be brewed at this stage.
Crab eyes - (about 80 ºC) - streams of slightly larger bubbles accompanied by light wisps of steam. Some Chinese green and white teas can be brewed at this stage.
Fish eyes - (about 80-90 ºC or 175-195 ºF) - larger bubbles the size of fish eyes will be visible along with a greater amount of steam. Heartier green and white teas can be brewed at this stage.
Rope of pearls - (about 90-95 ºC or 195-205 ºF) - steady streams of large bubbles should be rising to the top of the water. Black tea, Darjeeling and oolongs can be brewed at this stage.
Raging torrent - This water looks like rapids in a raging river, it is at this stage that the water can become de-oxygenized so care must be taken to not let this happen. Pu Erh tea can be brewed at this stage."

If you are still interested in purchasing a tea kettle here is a convenient comparison from Best Reviews updated this month. Their review for teapot is here but except for the cast iron version I didn't care for their selection. Though their top rated teapot Hario is selected by others online too so check it out.

Personally, I like Tea Forte's Pug teapot with infuser for 2. I comes in six different designs and is just the right size for me. If you want a more in depth analysis of teapot materials and care Tea Education provides a lot of good information. I hope you found this discussion of teapots and kettles interesting. Drop me a line and let me know if you use a tea kettle at home. Cheers,

Bash in a Box is an affiliate of Sur La Table and gets a small fee if you purchase something through one of the links. Our stories, opinions and recommendations are honest and our own.