It’s been a long trial and error process to find the appropriate compact electric kettle for this tiny little dorm that I live in.
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I’ve been on a long quest to find the ultimate compact electric kettle and I think I finally found it. This one is the Bodum Bistro Electric Water Kettle. Let’s get right into it.
Bodum Bistro Electric Water Kettle
I have to be honest; this is probably my favorite gadget that I purchased this year and I’m just really happy to talk about this because it has brought me so much joy. It’s very important that I find something that I really like, that looks very nice, but is also very practical, offers a lot of functionality, easy to maintain, is easy to clean, and most importantly, it doesn’t take up a lot of space on my counter. That can be very annoying especially when I have such little counter space. I’ve already opened the box, so I’ve been using it for quite some time.
It comes with a really thick manual that you don’t really need to read at all. Before we get into the review, I just want to talk about all the different colors it supports. It has red, yellow, and black. The reason why I got the white model is that I wanted something that matches my kitchen. I don’t want something that’s very contrasting like a black or red kettle, it would just really stick out or give too much emphasis on this kind of appliance on my counter. I really like this color, it’s very nice and attractive. Coincidentally, in the past, I’ve actually purchased other Bodum accessories. Mostly around their French presses, it is red and it stands out a little bit too much for me. But I really like the small compact size, it’s just great for one person that lives in a tiny tiny dorm room to make a little cup of coffee. I really like this because it gives a very nice look and aesthetic but also offers a lot of functionality.
The first thing I want to do is compare it to a more typical compact kettle that you might get on Amazon. I’ve had one called Bonavita, they’re no longer in business so you can’t buy this anymore but it’s very similar to this one I’ve had here and the first thing that you’ll notice is that there’s this very cumbersome thick wire that just feels very annoying to use. It’s not practical in a small place because you constantly have to have it plugged in and personally, I don’t like to have a kettle plugged in all the time and to have to keep it plugged in and then unplug it is just a very jarring process. What’s really crazy is that I actually broke my prong. It actually broke out because, for some reason, my electric plugs are hard to plug in and out, and as I was constantly doing that, it just got yanked into the socket.
You’ll notice on the Bodum Bistro electric kettle that there is an actual base. What’s really nice about this is that I don’t actually need to have this base on my counter space. You can keep it in a place that isn’t your kitchen and it isn’t going to look like an eyesore or anything like that because it’s so small so yeah, I keep it near my office area.
Another really annoying thing with other types of compact electric kettles was that they had a removable lid. The issue with the lid on the other was that it had this silicon band around it, a gasket – and water would leak inside. That’s a good place to build up a mold, it would never dry up. Therefore, it would cultivate a lot of mold build-up, so it’s not a very safe thing to use. Overall, I don’t like having a lid because it’s something that you can lose. Every time I wanted to take it off, I would burn myself because the steam would come out.
The ingenious design of this Bodum kettle is that it has the lid already attached to it, so you’re not going to lose it and it’s a very fun mechanism to use. All you need to do is press the button on the top and it pops open and it locks back in place. I don’t have to worry about it falling off when I’m pouring my water, it’s not going to burn me, and it’s working very nicely.
Another little nice touch Bodum has provided is that they provide you a little filter over so in case you have very hard water and you have a lot of stone or calcium buildup, it’s going to filter out so it doesn’t go into your tea or into your coffee. This is a very nice little touch and something that you don’t get on those other cheaper types of electric kettles. What I also like about this little cover is that if I don’t want mold to build up but I want this to dry out and I don’t want to have it closed, I could just keep it open and then keep it in my storage. It’s going to ventilate all the air and all the moisture is going to evaporate.
I find that the grip handle is big and comfortable to use. 
Most importantly, there are indicator lights to show you when it’s working and when it’s not. Another nice attention to detail that Bodum has provided is the indicator of how much water is actually in the kettle. To me, this is very useful, especially when you have guests over and you want to estimate how much water you need to boil. Personally, I don’t want to have to put in too much water. I don’t want to waste water and I don’t want to have to boil for longer than necessary. I know exactly how much water to fill up.
In terms of capacity, how much water can you boil in one session? about 0.5 liters or 500 millimeters and to me, that’s more than sufficient. I like the fact that I would never end up overfilling or under fill it because I have the indicator on the side that shows how much water is currently inside the kettle.
Just a quick disclaimer, this review is not sponsored by Bodum. I don’t even know who they are or how to pronounce their company name. I completely purchased this with my own money.
The last thing I wanted to mention is that this kettle is made of high-quality BPA-free plastic. The water did not have any weird taste at all, it tasted excellent. Unfortunately, I would have preferred a glass or steel kettle, but it seems that Bodum reserves those materials for some of the larger models they have on their website.
I guess the benefit of this material is that it makes the whole unit a lot lighter, which is convenient for traveling.
In conclusion, I have to say, I love the look and feel of this compact kettle. It’s perfect for one or two people living in a tiny dorm. The detachable base is the key feature, making it practical to stow it away and not take up any precious counter space.
So that’s it for this review.
