I've never been too sure about these 'one cup' kettles, I've always thought they were solving a problem that doesn't really exist. I often make a cup of tea for just myself and only boil as much water as I need, why then would I want to buy a new kettle which only boils enough water for one cup at a time, and makes it more difficult if I want to fill a teapot with water?


As I've been intrigued by these for a while I was excited when one turned up in the office a few weeks ago. On the face of it it's a great idea as people only make one cup of tea at a time. However in practice, people make cups of tea for colleagues so its actually made the whole process of making a cup of tea longer.


Anyway, what does it do...Essentially this is a kettle which boils enough water for one cup of tea at a time, saving energy etc. You can fill up the kettle at the top like normal and you can see how much water is in there. It has a neat little 'tap', you place your cup under it (it also has a drip tray to catch any spills/drips) and press the button on the top and away it goes. It boils enough water for your cup and then dispenses it out of the 'tap' - much like a vending machine in some ways.


There is a dial which allows you to vary the amount of water it boils at a time, depending on your cup size. My cup is relatively small so I set it to the lowest setting...however, it still dispensed too much water and it overflowed. Now I either have to 1. make sure I pull the cup away before the kettle has finished dispensing the water, 2. Use the old kettle, or 3. buy a bigger mug. There is a button to stop the water but it doesnt help that the dial is not clearly marked. As other reviewers have said i dont think the water actually boils when it comes out, it is very hot but doesnt seem as hot as a typical kettle.


It is pretty quiet, more so than my normal kettle. However it does take a reasonably long time to boil considering its only boiling enough water for one cup. It certainly isnt any quicker than my kettle when i only boil enough water for a single cup.


On the face of it this is a really great idea, and if there is only one person in a household that drinks tea it probably is great. But I still hold to my notion that it solves a problem that doesn't exist. Your faithful old kettle is more versatile and may even boil faster?