AGARO Grand Electric Goose Neck Kettle, 800 ml, Hot Water, Tea, Coffee, Stainless Steel Body, Narrow Neck, Adjustable Temperature Settings, LED…

 The kettle is ergonomically good and easy to use and it looks good too.

But if you want the temperature indication to be accurate then this might not be the product for you. Especially for coffee brewers.

It’s good 😌

It’s nice and sturdy

I’m going to assume you’re buying this kettle because you want to control your flow rate while brewing pourover coffee. But given how cheaply it is priced, you might also buy it because you want a temperature controlled kettle for less money. I shall review the gooseneck and the temperature control system separatelly, then the overall build, and finally compare it to alternatives.

## Gooseneck

Unlike dedicated pourover kettles like the Fellow EKG or the Timemore Fish Smart, the Agaro Grand has a much higher maximum pouring rate. So if you’re looking for a beginner-friendly kettle that artificially restricts the flow rate to a very slow speed, this isn’t that. Buy a Timemore!

I would instead recommend practicing your pours by pouring room temperature water into an empty glass (on a scale) and working on your muscle memory. If you do that, you’ll find that the range of speeds makes this kettle significantly more versatile.

For example, if you were to brew with a Hario Mugen and use the Hario one-pour recipe, you’ll have to pour at the maximum speed of this kettle (a Timemore Fish or a Fellow EKG would be too slow). You also need the full speed if you’re brewing tea.

For other pourover recipes, you need to rely on your hand muscles to control the flow rate – from very slow (needed in the bloom stages and for the flush) to slow.

Now, the quality of the spout isn’t going to be anywhere as impressive as a more expensive kettle (it certainly did not compare to the streams from higher end kettles reviewed by James Hoffman in his kettle shootout video), so you’ll have lower agitation at slower pouring rates. But that should not matter to you if you can tweak the recipe for the kettle.

Overall, I’d rate it a 7/10.

## Temperature Control

This feature is a bit of a let-down. The built-in display shows the current temperature very accurately, but the internal temperature control mechanism runs the kettle at full power till the target temperature is reached, causing you to overshoot significantly.

At lower target temperatures, the overshooting is quite a bit higher. You might need to set it at 75C to get to 90C, for example.

As a result of its tendency to overshoot targets, the built-in temperature control only goes up to 95C. At that temperature, you’ll always hit 100C due to the overshooting.

Now, if you need 100C water but the current temperature is 96C, it wouldn’t heat the water at all because the maximum target is 95C in the control panel. So you’ll have to wait until the water temperature drops below 95C to re-heat it. Somewhat annoying!

I almost always brew with 100C water, so that isn’t a problem for me. But the rest of you might not like it. A lot of Indian speciality coffees have fancy processing and are roasted on the darker side of light, thus needing 90C water. You’ll need to figure out the temperature to set on the kettle so that you can finish at 90 AFTER it overshoots. This requires some calibration. You’ll need to re-calibrate if your ambient temperature gets significantly warmer/colder.

The hold function is a bit wonky too. There seems to be no way to turn it off, and the kettle keeps restarting every 10 minutes or so, for up to an hour, the temperature (as usual) overshoots the target, and the kettle goes quiet again. I recommend not depending on it, and physically switching off the mains when you are done using the kettle.

I’d rate it a 4/10. The temperature control exists, but it is wonky.

## Build

The base is much lighter than it looks, and the buttons look tactile but they are touch-sensitive. There’s no feedback. The kettle looks like it is insulated, but it isn’t. It’s a simple stainless steel construction, with some sort of a black coating on the body that serves a purely aesthetic purpose.

The lid is a tight fit and wouldn’t open while pouring. But it’s also tight enough for you to need a towel / kitchen mitten to open it, if you want to avoid getting splashed with boiling hot water. Make sure you have enough water IN the kettle before you turn it on, so you only open it after it has cooled down!

The cord is longer than most cheap kettles. Good enough for most kitchen counters!

I’ll rate it an 8/10. It’s acceptable.

## Value & Competitors

It has no direct competition. If you want an electric gooseneck kettle whose gooseneck offers enough control for any pourover recipe, the next cheapest option is the Bonavita, at 11000 rupees. The Bonavita, the Fellow EKG, and the Brewista kettles all give you accurate temperature control and hold, so you’ll need to spend nearly 10,000 rupees extra if you’re picky about that feature.

But you don’t NEED this for coffee. I can make delicious coffee with a 1.8L Prestige Kettle, and also with a 0.7L Pigeon Gooseneck (the one with a very fat spout). They’re both sub-900 rupees. Stick to light roasts, and you’ll always brew with 100C water.

Due to the unique positioning of this kettle, I’d rate it a 10/10 on value. Nothing comes close.

## Overall

I think it is a bit unfair to compare this kettle to competitors that cost atleast 3x more money. So my rating reflects the unique value proposition. if you buy this as your first kettle for coffee, there isn’t much you’ll regret. Just pay for an extended warranty!

I’ll rate it a 9/10. It is pretty darn good, and I hope they fix the temperature control system soon!