The Aroma of Hot Tea Wafts Quickly Through the Air Accompanied by Lots of Steam

The first time I saw the Aroma Cordless Electric Kettle I thought I'd entered a time warp and was looking at my grandmother's old coffee perculator. It's an upright metal kettle with a fairly wide circular base and a really clunky, old-fashioned appearance. It has a hinged circular top that's difficult to lift off and even more difficult to snap back into place and a very wide spout that makes it easy to pour.

The black circular base looks much like a trivet with concentric raised circles. The kettle sticks onto the base from the center and fits easily without any tilt or stability problems. The base plugs into the wall but the kettle itself is cordless. The handle is fairly large, but the kettle is heavy enough that a large handle doesn't help much; I'm always worried I'm going to lose control of the kettle.

The kettle features a small see-through window beneath the handle that allows you to see the current fill level. The markings are metric with a maximum fill level of 1.5 liters (about 50 ounces). This maximum fill line is quite a distance from the top of the kettle; I'm not sure why you're not supposed to fill higher and there's no other indication that the maximum fill is so far down. I can easily see people filling the kettle well beyond the maximum fill. I have no idea if that's a problem or if it just makes heating a little slower. In addition, it takes a kettle that looks enormous and gives it a capacity significantly smaller than many other kettles that handle 10 or 12 cups of water at once. If capacity is important to you, look elsewhere.

Heating is controlled by pressing a lever just below the handle. As soon as it's pressed, the kettle starts hissing and making other really loud, really obnoxious noises. It wasn't that far from a standard tea kettle whistle, although more periodic rather than continuous. This sound never changes throughout the heating process; if you expect a whistle or other auditory indication that your hot water is ready this isn't the kettle for you. The kettle does release a ton of steam out of its wide spout; I'm always concerned the kettle will set off a smoke alarm. The time needed to boil water depends on the amount of water in the kettle; more water takes longer to heat. That said, this kettle is faster than most others I've used and if speed is a requirement for you, this may be a good choice.The kettle is supposed to automatically turn off when the water is fully heated, but it doesn't. I've always had to manually turn the kettle off by flicking the switch up.

The water that comes out this kettle is boiling. This is intentional and, in theory, just what's called for to make tea, hot chocolate, oatmeal, and other prepared foods requiring hot water, but I'd be happier if the water were slightly cooler. I think it leaches just a bit of the flavor out of some products. It also takes quite a while for the resulting products to cool down enough to eat or drink. I've used other kettles that produce water that's hot but not boiling and found the results a bit better.

I have mixed feelings about the Aroma Cordless Electric Kettle. On one hand, it's very fast. It takes less than 30 seconds to heat about two cups of water. On the other hand, it has a small capacity and several usability issues. It looks old fashioned and may provide a sense of nostalgia if you grew up around metal coffee perculators, but part of that look is a clunky, bulky feel. The kettle doesn't turn off automatically, doesn't whistle when done (although it almost whistles during the entire heating process), and generates an enormous amount of steam. The water it produces is definitely boiling but I feel it's perhaps just a tad too hot and removes some of the flavor of the foods prepared with it. Unless speed is important to you or you really insist on boiling water for everything, I'd look elsewhere if you want a new electric kettle.