CAFÉ BREW COLLECTIONStove Kettle

I had one just like this in the 90s. It looks and works exactly the same as I remember. It's a perfect teapot!!

I bought two Medelco 12-cup Glass Stovetop Whistling Kettles. Unfortunately, the delivery truck must have driven through some type of magnetic force-field anomaly because when I opened the Amazon shipping carton, I saw two rather small boxes inside. Opening one revealed a glass vessel that stated, "12 Cup Capacity", but it just looked to be too small. Testing with a measuring cup confirmed that I could only get about 60 ounces of water into it, full to the top. (In case you forgot what was covered in sophomore Home Ec, that is less than 8 cups.) The darn thing had shrunk on the way to my house! I then began to worry about the driver, but phoning the UPS station revealed that he seemed none the worse for wear. So apparently it was just glass that had shrunk from 12 to less than 8 cups in the truck. I sure hope he wasn't carrying eyeglasses for anyone!My wife's theory is that the company built 7.5 cup (not safe to try to boil all 8 cups in it) kettles, designed to sell for $59.95, but the guy who set up the lettering was a drop-out who screwed up and wrote "12 Cups" on the outside when he was supposed to write "7.5 Cups". Rather than trying to re-do the lettering, they just decided to dump the whole mess for less than 10 bucks apiece. I do remember a grocery years ago in San Francisco on Bayshore that apparently was called the "Farmers Market". It must have taken someone at least a week to paint the name on the side of the building in 10 ft high letters. Nevertheless they somehow managed to leave out one of the R's so that it read, in bright white letters, "FAMERS MARKET" Maybe the tea kettle lettering guy mixed up his cups because he was in his cups at the time. Who knows?I dunno if this thing will work. I read other reviews that say the plastic melts easily. At 10 bucks, I'm seeing this as more of a stopgap water boiling device than a permanent fixture in the kitchen. We bought two since they were cheap and hope the second one will survive based upon whatever we learn from the first one which is sure to be trashed sooner or later due to our unfamiliarity with the product. If I could have found a stainless steel one, at any price, with less than 14% 3-star or lower reviews, I would have bought it. These people might not know the difference between 12 cups and 7.5 cups, but at least they didn't make it in China with lead. My disappointment with the puny size says, "one star" but the fact that it's not Chinese, demands at least two.UPDATE/UPGRADE: We've been using our original one for approaching 2 years now, and I like it. It's better than the original 2 stars I gave. We've been careful and nothing has melted and nothing has cracked. We do cook with propane which is not as hot as natural gas, so your mileage may vary as far as doing damage to the handle if you are the impatient sort who favors high burner flames. Our water is the pits, with lots of mineral deposits, but it cleans up in about 3 minutes with some distilled vinegar. And I'm also thinking that 12 cups would have been too large and heavy to handle, if full, so the 7.5 cups or so is just about right for our uses. For what it's worth, I don't trust plastic next to hot food, so we put the whistling top in a drawer and probably will never use it.Gotta be worth 4 stars and if we still have it in another 2 years, will come back and award the 5th star.ANOTHER UPGRADE; I use this every day and it hasn't let me down. I'm real careful not to drop it or bang it against something like a faucet or granite countertop. I've really grown to like it. My last teakettle died because someone (unnamed) left it on a burner with no water it in and it warped. No way to mistake this for having water if it is empty. You've earned your 5 stars!

Beautiful kettle! I was concerned the plastic may have a smell but it does not - it’s a simple design with quality materials. The glass is easy to clean and can last a while if you follow the instructions.

I've used this kettle 3-4 times a week for brewing tea. Even though the directions say to only use it for boiling water, I haven't had any issues with using it for brewing. I think the reason it was designed for boiling water is that it is a little difficult to clean it. But if you have one of the those sponges on a handle, or even pushing around a dish cloth with a plastic utensil, you shouldn't have any problems with that. Also, pay attention to the recommended 6 cup line. I filled it about 3/4 of the way once, and it actually blew the lid off!. But that only happened once, and since I've only been filling it to the line, I haven't had any more problems. This amount gives you a good 2-3 coffee mugs worth of tea, depending on the size of the cups. As far as the whistling is concerned, don't expect the loud whistle that you get from the metal teapots. I would not recommend being in another part of the house because you might not hear it. Finally, I would suggest boiling under low to medium heat (I have a gas stove; haven't needed to use the element), because the boiling happens pretty quickly versus metal pots. The glass and handle seem pretty sturdy and comparable to a coffee pot. Overall, I would recommend it. Plus I really love the flavor of the tea without the metallic aftertaste.Update - 11/5/15I absolutely love this kettle. I continue to use it several times a week and still use it to brew my green tea, as well. I'm not a connoisseur like others in that I don't measure the temperature or anything like that, but I do recommend using spring water instead of tap water. Makes the tea taste better and avoids the issue some have had with mineral deposit buildup. I have not had any problems with the plastic melting or the handle being loose or too hot to handle nor have I had any issue with the glass shattering. Maybe people aren't used to handling glass. Just use the small burner on gas stoves, use the element on electric stoves, fill to the line that is marked, heat on low or medium and there shouldn't be any problems. The 12 cup description is not 8 oz cups. Filling it to the 6 cup line usually gives me a little over 2 large coffee mugs (which hold about 12 oz each). Enjoy!

I was hesitant about buying a glass kettle and placing it over a direct gas-stove open flame. Yikes. But took a chance. They specifically say not to allow the flame to exceed the size of the kettle bottom, which, on our stove, is the lowest setting. However, although it may take water a couple minutes longer to boil, it's well worth it. It WILL get very hot and boil. Unlike some kettles that rust inside (yes; we've had these), glass doesn't have this problem. It's clean. The taste is clean. If it starts to look cloudy, white vinegar and suds and a gentle soft-scrubbing sponge makes it as new.Follow the instructions, and it's likely to last a while.Recommend.