An example of Aldi’s middle aisle at its finest. You know, a come for the barbecue sauce and leave with a cordless tyre inflator type of purchase. You’ve got to grab them while you can.

When an Aldi catalogue appears with some coffee items, as you can imagine, I’m likely to take a look when next in store. On this occasion, it was a special trip for one of the Stirling Gooseneck Kettles. Why? Well, first and foremost you can never be sure how popular any particular item might be, yet the remainder of the answer needs a little more explanation.

As an enthusiast (of anything), I’m sure we’d all agree the likelihood of owning (or at least having owned) quite a few iterations of similar products is quite high. Coming along before the subject Aldi kettle were stovetop versions of the Hario Buono Drip Kettle, followed by a Fellow Stagg Pour-Over Kettle. To date though, I had not yet had the pleasure of owning a dedicated electric, temperature controlled model to boil (or near boil as the presets allow…) and hold my water at temperature. Not specifically being in the market for a replacement, this had to be decidedly within the “non-significant purchase” price tag to comfortably be an incidental pickup.

Overall, I find kettles an interesting part of the whole coffee journey, as they of course all do the same thing. They heat water. It’s difficult to find any sort of perceptible way they each do that particular function differently. Sure — faster, quieter, stovetop, or electric — but the result is the same. It therefore becomes very difficult to justify a higher price tag. At $59.95? Justified. A week later, a little further down the aisle in the clearance section at $49.99 — even more so. A bargain indeed. At the time of publishing? Still there…

What it does well

Boils water. In fact, from a room temperate 24 degrees Celsius to 100 degrees boiling in 3 minutes and 20 seconds. I assume this is not the fastest by any stretch, however gets the job done. It certainly doesn’t feel slow. Though quieter than our larger, more traditional Russell Hobbs kettle, it is however perhaps a tad louder than my Stagg Stovetop. That said, I have no qualms about using it pre-dawn when the rest of the household are fast asleep.

It maintains the set temperature for up to an hour before automatically switching off. For someone who had not owned a kettle where the default setting is to stay “on” once boiled, this took a little getting used to, however now I cannot imagine it any other way.

It looks similar to many other more expensive kettles. While purchased in my preferred coffee bar colour of matt white, a black version was also available. Once on the kitchen bench top, it has a similar shape and baseplate style as the Fellow EKG to a glancing eye.

So, while the specs are available for viewing in the attached images, I’m simply here to say it looks reasonably good and completes the task at hand perfectly. All for the princely sum of $59.99, compared with 4–5 times that for the Fellow Stagg EKG upon which it would appear to pay homage.

What could be improved

Certainly not the price — that’s the point here. You get what you pay for, and what you get is a great, functionally adept kettle. However in getting what you pay for, there certainly are compromises which I wouldn’t pay $100+ for, but $59.99? Absolutely worth it.

Build quality will always be a factor here, and it is evident. Generally, a cheaper version will feel as though it is just that. While that’s the case here, I’ve no issues with that affecting performance, you can simply feel it. The slight flex in the plastic handle when the kettle is full; the good but not great click of the on/off dial; the lighter weight lid and baseplate.

The only other areas I’d mention here are perhaps aesthetics, which are again pretty good, though not quite up to something like the Fellow Stagg, particularly when viewed side by side. That said, it isn’t far off. A couple of other considerations include the volume and pouring. Whilst no one in our household ever said: ”make a large pot of…” — at 600 ml it’s not the most efficient way to boil a large amount of water at once, whereas both the Hario and Stagg are 0.9–1.0 litre at maximum fill.

I’ve had a couple of instances of a slightly scalded foot from tipping the kettle a little too far and drips escaping the lid, though I’d emphasise this is most certainly in the category of user error. Come to think of it, so is overshooting the far edge of a cup a few times whilst becoming familiar with the angle of water exit when the kettle is particularly full.

Wrapping up

Is it the world’s best built kettle? No, but it’s solid enough. The best looking? Perhaps not, though it’s comparable to most others, and I’d say an improvement on some. Does it boil water and maintain it at temperature for up to an hour? Perfect, and arguably equal to any other kettle at any price point for what it does.

I make a daily V60 into my Fellow Carter mug to take to the office, and had long given up on bothering with my stove top Fellow Stagg Kettle. It was simply easier to boil our standard electric kettle and do my best to control the flow when pouring from a standard spout.

That has all changed now, and while the Aldi Stirling Gooseneck Kettle may not be the star of the bar (though it could be), for boiling water it’s perfect (well it is a kettle, you could rightly say…). Whether looks, build quality, or brand name carry much weight in your purchasing decisions is a matter for you to decide — I certainly wouldn’t disagree if they did. Heck, they do for me, and I’m delighted with this kettle given what I paid for it.

So if you are any way inclined to consider picking up one of these the next time they hit the middle aisle, you won’t be disappointed. Given I’m only a couple of months along, an opinion on long-term durability will have to wait, though for now, it’s perfect.

I will, however, continue to occasionally check in on Fellow’s “smoke green” Stagg EKG. Which incidentally (and perhaps somewhat tantalisingly…) I’ve also found on sale locally here.

Coffee equipment, where purchases quickly turn from the objective and rational, to the emotive and starry-eyed…

Happy brewing.