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Whether you favour tea, coffee or maybe a combination of the two (although not at the same time or in the same cup), a supply of hot water is essential to satisfy your choice of beverage.  One possible solution to supplying this hot water could be the Rowenta Prelude.  This stainless steel kettle has a capacity of 1.7 litres.

Its description as a cordless kettle does raise the question of how the water is heated if there is no cord to connect to a power source.  Actually this is more a question of semantics.  While a cord is not attached direct to the kettle, there is one permanently fixed to the base on which the kettle sits during the heating process.

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Positioned opposite the stubby kettle spout is a plastic handle which runs down the full length of the Prelude.  At the top of the handle is a latching button that releases the swivel top to give access when refilling the kettle while the base of the handle holds the trigger on/off switch.  Panels on either side of the kettle provide water gauge indicators marked off at 0.5, 1.0 and 1.7 litres.  These transparent panels are illuminated by a green light when the water is being heated.

The Prelude kettle has a built-in filtering system.  This consists of a small mesh device that sits between the spout and the main body of the kettle holding the water.  Removing the kettle for cleaning purposes is relatively straightforward.  I wish I could say the same for fitting it back into the kettle but I can't.  This proved to be extremely fiddly and took far longer than I would have expected.

Comparing the Rowenta Prelude kettle to my more traditional-style unit, with its own built-in power connection, revealed some interesting points of which a number were not in favour of the Prelude.  With its base diameter of 16.5cm as against the old kettle's 19cm meant than a smaller footprint space is required but you will need greater headroom as the Prelude is 4cm taller.  The more solid construction of the Prelude meant that it was nearly 20% heavier, even without its power base, than the incumbent kettle. 

When it came to heating water, the Prelude was a clear winner.  Heating two pints of water took the Prelude 2 minutes 54 seconds, easily beating the 3 minutes 40 seconds required by the older model.  However this increase in water-heating speed could be a factor in the Prelude being far noisier during the heating process.  The Rowenta Prelude has been official priced at £49.99, however it is available from retailers for as little as £29.99.

http://www.rowenta.co.uk/rowenta/frame.aspx