Hario V60 Drip Kettle

I went online and bought a Japanese steel kettle. This is the Hario V60 drip kettle. This kettle was designed for making drip coffee where one needs hot water to be poured slowly in small and controlled amounts over the coffee powder.

You will have noticed from the pix, that the spout is much smaller than the conventional kettles and when you pour out water from this kettle, the water stream is smaller. I purchased this kettle as I thought I would have better control in pouring out hot water from the kettle, cause less 'splash', maybe not wasting too much water and more importantly, the kettle looked pretty and more fanciful to use than my regular kettle.


I had a pleasant surprise when I got my kettle. There were clear English instructions enclosed in the box but more importantly was that the kettle could be used on many heating devices, namely induction cookers, gas and electric stoves as well as radiant, halogen and sheathed cookers.

Size of the kettle is good with the base of the kettle at 5.5 inches (13.5cm) which is ideal for smaller stoves and heaters. Though stated on the box that this kettle is a 1.2 l capacity, it recommends a water capacity of 0.8 l in the event the water over-boil and spill out. The enclosed leaflet also recommends washing the kettle with detergent a few times before use.

I like this kettle. I could use it on my gas stove, hot plate and my induction cooker. I enjoy the better control in the pouring out of hot water from this kettle. It gives a sense of precision and it is fun to use. This kettle is a little small and when you have guests over for tea, you may need a regular 'back up' kettle to boil water and later transfer the boiling water to the Hario so you can use it for brewing your tea.

But I digress. While looking at the reviews and videos of this Hario kettle before plonking down my money to buy one, I was piqued with the Hario coffee drippers used to make coffee. Yes, I do drink coffee ("hello from the other side"), about 3-4 times a month. I included a Hario coffee drip set when I ordered this kettle. Making drip coffee is interesting, as the coffee grounds are only in contact with hot water about 20-30 seconds max. This brewing style, makes the coffee more aromatic and not bitter as the grounds are not over-infused. I can understand why my friends need their morning coffee. I felt a perky buzz for a few hours after drinking a cup of coffee. Singapore readers, would know of Daiso department store here that sells products for $2 each. This store, being Japanese, sells many Japan made products as well ( I faithfully get my Japanese udon noodles from here). Well, Daiso sells their version of coffee drippers and unbleached filters as well. For $4, one can get a dripper and 100 paper filters to make drip coffee at home. This coffee drip brewing method does seem like 'kungfu tea brewing' - pour hot water, quick drip out. Would this drip method work for tea?…..stay tuned!

Back to the Hario drip kettle. I had purchased this kettle from Japan online and it cost less than US$50 for the kettle and air freight to Singapore. I had also recently found out that Hario now has a thermometer attachment, that you can buy and attached to a Hario kettle, which read the temperature of the water in the kettle. This would help and inform the user on his/her preferred water temperature when brewing a hot beverage. I would recommend my readers, if you are looking to buy a kettle for brewing tea, to consider this Hario kettle as one of your choices.