Boiling point: Tech and the perfect cuppa

Sage the Smart Kettle

Whatever you might think of Heston Blumenthal’s culinary combinations, his association with Sage and its Smart Kettle is certainly a lot less challenging than some of his dishes. Here you get a choice of five temperature options from 80° to 100˚C in 5° increments. Drink names like White Tea 80°C appear next to each button – simple, but, er, smart.

Keep warm lasts for 20 minutes and it ticks boxes for a swivel base, pop-up lid and 3kW fast boil too. As far as taste goes, perhaps Blumenthal was taking some Sage advice as you can’t go wrong with the brushed stainless steel design.

AEG EWA7800

Part of the AEG Series 7 range of appliances, this kettle, which only came out this month, is making a bit of a splash. Its five-temperature range is akin to the Sage Smart kettle, however, there’s just a single button to click through them.

A bright LCD display shows the temperature of the water in real time and there’s a keep-warm button too. A neat feature is the OneCup Turbo function to boil water for a mug of tea (200ml) in less than 60 seconds. Pricey but paw-print proof, which is something to be considered in this stainless steel world.