What is a tea pot versus a tea kettle?
A tea kettle is a piece of utilitarian cookware designed to heat up water while a tea pot is a piece of serveware designed to steep and serve tea. Because tea kettles are used to heat up water on the stove, they are generally made of steel, iron, or copper and maintain a fairly functional form. Tea pots, however, are designed to adorn the table so they often showcase a more elevated appearance and delicate construction materials such as glass, ceramic, or porcelain. For proper tea service, water for tea would be heated up the stove in a kettle. Once the water reaches boiling, the water would be poured from the kettle into a tea pot already packed with tea bags and loose leaf tea. A tea pot can be topped off with hot water from the kettle several times throughout tea service. Although tea pots are meant to be more decorative than kettles, kettles are increasingly becoming showcase items in their own right as many homeowners choose to leave them on the stovetop permanently.
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Lead photo by Brad Knipstein
