OXO Brew Uplift Tea Kettle Anniversary Edition - Brushed

Received it today. No taste to my water in anyway, yet. The whistle works for me as I have good hearing and a small house. Others may not have heard whistle because it takes awhile to boil a large pot but it finally whistled. Quiet enough the neighbors won't think someone is being harmed in my home as the glass whistling kettle I had was obnoxiously loud. Just make sure the cover is on tight. As for concerns about plastic around seal of the lid, I'm not concerned as most of it it falls on the outside of the opening where the cover overlaps with the kettle. The metal is a 18/8 stainless. Guess the 8 signifies the amount of nickel in it. Some folks are allergic to nickel so there is concern about leaching but this lower count versus the standard 18/10 means the kettle may be prone to rust as nickel helps prevent rust. However, the directions said if rust spots appear on the interior, to boil water for 30 min with 2T baking soda and 3T lemon juice. I'll update this post if I need to do that. In the end I picked this because it's beautiful, doesn't have any plastic touching the water (unlike electric kettles), has little less nickel, is designed very well (no need to use oven mitt to pick up) and oxo has a year warranty and appears to have good customer service. Good luck finding the right kettle for you.

Yet another company with a reputation for quality products giving in to the urge to slap their name on some cheap junk and end up destroying their good name as a result. Think Lincoln Logs or Tinkertoys. Utter junk now but they used to be quality products.Since it first appeared the name Oxo has meant "like your old one except that we figured out how to fix the problems with the classic design." We own probably dozens of various Oxo products and have loved them all. We've had 2 Oxo tea kettles and have loved them as well. When I needed to replace one due to our own neglect I saw the anniversary edition at double the price and said "Hey, why not splurge? These things last a long time and it will eventually be something unique."So I bought one. Boiled some water and the silly thing didn't even whistle. Sent it back for a replacement, which was surprisingly easy to do. The 2nd one arrived quickly and it didn't whistle either! Plus the lid on the 2nd one is difficult to open/close due to its poor fit. Twice the price and manufactured as cheeply as possible. This one is going back and now I'm looking for something NOT OXO because that name is no longer the sign of quality products. Honestly, what were they thinking?

To the reviewer who once had one with a strong whistle (that a friend burned), then got what she thought was a lemon because the whistle was so much quieter, and then exchanged it for one that was as good as her original...... what you actually had were two tea kettles with the "old design" whistle and one with the "new and improved" whistle.I ordered three of these-one black, then two anniversary editions. (One reviewer mentioned that OXO said there was a "batch batch" and I was hoping it had been fixed for the more expensive anniversary edition.) The whistle didn't work at all on the first one, and was barely audible on the two anniversary editions. I called OXO and asked them if there was an adjustment I could make so that it would be louder. The representative said that they changed the design of the whistle on all of their tea kettles due to customer complaints about how loud they were, and that every tea kettle in their line is now designed to be quieter. Hopefully this explains the mixed reviews about the loudness of the whistle.The representative also told me that the handle is designed to be sort of wobbly, because as the water boils, the tea kettle expands and changes shape.I really like the design, and I wanted to keep it, but it I need a tea kettle that whistles-and this one really doesn't make any noise.

This tea kettle is marvelous. I read all the reviews before I bought it, and noted the not so good ones particularly. Just want you to know that I bought this kettle in June 2013. There is no sign of rust, I have never been spattered with boiling water, not once, and it is easy to wipe.The handle gets a bit hot occasionally, and I have used a hot pad sometimes. I do empty after each use. I also use a medium flame on my gas stove. And I do NOT fill it too full. I am amazed at how much water it holds.The water heats quickly: enough water to fill my teapot and a bit left over heats over a medium flame in about 4 minutes. The finish is excellent still. No problems with the cork handle. I love the look of the kettle.It is easy to keep it clean, and I got the brushed finish which looks wonderfully retro.*****Update: It is January 2015. The tea kettle still works beautifully, looks great and shows no sign of rust. Just sayin'. It is developing a slight and pleasantly warm patina and has a small ding from where I banged it against the counter edge accidentally. Doh. Cork is still in excellent condition.