The Good: Stylish, Affordable, Durable, Easy to use/clean
The Bad: Way off on the size!
The Basics: Outside being unfortunately way off on the advertised size of the teapot, the Waechtersbach Fun Factory II 28-ounce Black Teapot is a wonderful ceramic teapot!
A few months back, in a moment of complete stupidity and a tired lack of dexterity, I was making tea with the teapot my wife got me early in our marriage and I knocked the ceramic top off the pot and it fell to the floor, where it split into four very neat, but utterly worthless, pieces. That put me in the market for a new teapot and, after months of my wife haranguing me to pick out a new one, I went online and found what looked to be an ideal teapot for me. It was the Waechtersbach Fun Factory II 28-ounce Black Teapot. After I found it, it was not much of a surprise when my wonderful wife picked it up for me and presented it to me for Valentine’s Day (after all, what could be more romantic than having teatime together with one another on one of the most romantic days of the year?!). Promising not to be a klutz, I have been using the Waechtersbach Fun Factory II 28-ounce Black Teapot ever since . . . and it is a pretty wonderful teapot!
The Waechtersbach Fun Factory II 28-ounce Teapot comes in several colors; I chose black because I have a stainless steel and black colorscheme to my kitchen and I like it that way! A ceramic teapot, the Waechtersbach Fun Factory II 28-ounce Black Teapot is a squat, curvaceous teapot made in China for a German company to be sold in the United States. Go figure. Like most ceramic teapots, it has two parts, a base and a top. This teapot has a fully integrated handle and it is solidly designed not to snap, crack or otherwise break.
Measuring 10” long by 6 ¼” in diameter with a 5 ½” height (with the 3 ½” in diameter lid on it), the Waechtersbach Fun Factory II 28-ounce Black Teapot is not, actually, a 28-ounce teapot. I’m not sure why it is called that; the box it came in stated it was 28-ounces, but, a very basic test led me to discover that the capacity for this teapot is actually 38 ounces. Ten fluid ounces is quite a bit to be off by! In fact, for those of us who are tea drinkers, it is the difference between having to use three teabags and four. As it stands, with four teabags in the pot, my wife and I are able to get four 8 oz. mugs of tea out of a single brewing. While this is very nice for couples, like us, and the teapot is comparatively ridiculously inexpensive, the added volume to the teapot raises the cost of use a noticeable amount (given that many tea companies provide the user with 20 teabags per box, it is the difference between 6 pots of tea with the potential for a seventh weaker pot vs. a hard five pots of tea for the actual capacity).
As a ceramic teapot, the Waechtersbach Fun Factory II 28-ounce Black Teapot is exceptionally easy to use. Simply remove the lid, place teabags inside the main chamber, pour boiling (or near-boiling, depending upon the tea) into the pot’s 2 ½” in diameter opening, place the lid back on the opening and let it steep. The Waechtersbach Fun Factory II 28-ounce Black Teapot gets fairly warm to the touch and it remains warm enough to keep tea piping hot without a tea cozy for half an hour to forty-five minutes. After that, it cools rather quickly.
Two of the features I particularly enjoy about the Waechtersbach Fun Factory II 28-ounce Black Teapot is the wide handle and the wide spout. The handle is almost an inch wide and over a quarter inch thick, even at its thinnest point. It has enough of an opening to allow someone like me, who has fairly big hands, to easily grab the handle and feel very secure in the knowledge that the teapot is not going to slip or spill without my consent! On the opposite end of the Waechtersbach Fun Factory II 28-ounce Black Teapot is a spout with a 5/8” in diameter opening. Between the wide opening and the elongated front bottom of the spout, the Waechtersbach Fun Factory II 28-ounce Black Teapot makes it very easy to control flow out of the pot. This is important when one is pouring a boiling beverage and the Waechtersbach Fun Factory II 28-ounce Black Teapot makes it easy to pour – and stop pouring – tea with no drippage!
Cleaning the Waechtersbach Fun Factory II 28-ounce Black Teapot is easy as well. Dishwasher safe, the Waechtersbach Fun Factory II 28-ounce Black Teapot virtually cleans itself! I have taken a medium-stiffness brush to the spout to clean out the inside of the spout and tea gunk seems to come off the enamel’s ceramic surface exceptionally easily.
For the last month and a half, I have used the Waechtersbach Fun Factory II 28-ounce Black Teapot, I have enjoyed how easy it is to use to make and dispense all my favorite teas. The experience has been so enjoyable that I already know that the next time I need a new teapot (which, my slippery hands willing, will not be too soon!), it will be a Waechtersbach . . . and so long as they are still making it, it will be the Waechtersbach Fun Factory II 28-ounce, in actuality 38-ounce, Black Teapot!
For other kitchen product reviews, please visit my reviews of:
J.A. Henckels International Stainless Steel 8-Piece Steak Knife Set
Wear-Ever Popcorn Pumper
Sterlite 0627 White Large Sink Set
8/10
For other kitchen products, please visit my Appliance Review Index Page for an organized listing!
© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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