Disclaimer – We have received this item for free or on a loan basis for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
The Tower Cavaletto Mirage Edition a very elegantly designed matching kettle and toaster set. If you are modernising your kitchen appliances, then this kettle and toaster should be very serious contenders!
The Mirage Cavaletto Set by Tower came in matt black. Very upmarket looking and would match most modern kitchens styled in white or grey. They both felt very light weight and a little flimsy, surprising for Tower, but once in situ, this wouldn’t be a problem.
To the actual test – does the kettle fill easily, heat water and pour adequately? The answer is yes. Fill from the spout or lid and the actual spout is nicely shaped so there’s no splashes or random water dripping out. The kettle does have some nice features. A clear capacity indicator that’s easy to read. Below this is a small digital display near the base where you can set the heat temperature, from 40 to 100 degrees, in increments of 5. This is also the on/off and was a little fiddly to use and would take a little getting used to. It also shows you the current temperature as it heats up and after it has boiled. Very useful if you walk away for a few minutes. If you are a herbal tea or matcha drinker you can get water at exactly right for these brews at around 80 degrees, with no more guessing. Additionally, coffee should be brewed at about 90 degrees, so this kettle lets you choose the right temperature per beverage, with a little research! It also has a keep warm feature for those of us who may need a second cup.
The only downside I found was that the kettle is very wide at the base and narrow at the top, a design feature that means that the minimum amount of water they tell you can boil is 0.8L. This seems wasteful. However, on the box it states that it can boil 1 cup of water in 45 seconds. So I tried and it can without the minimum water cut off kicking in. I’m not sure therefore whether the minimum is 0.8L?
Overall though I found this to be a very good kettle and I liked the digital readout/display.
Now to the toaster. Confession time – I love toasted things. I bought crumpets, toasting waffles, rye bread, mini pancakes and pitta breads to test. The toaster itself looks quite high tech. It has a digital readout and control panel, countdown timer and options for white bread, bagels, G/F, muffins and waffles! It also can defrost frozen breads, reheat items and has variable ‘browning’ levels from 1 (light) to 6(very toasted) on the control panel. The panel is at one side of the toaster and illuminates when in use. I found you had to keep the panel to ne side, which was a little awkward to read, as the electric cable was too short to have the panel front facing and towards you.
I toasted a waffle, some wholemeal bread (using the white bread option), pancakes, multi grain crumpets and frozen pitta breads. Like all toasters it took a little time to get the hang of how much it toasted and what level to set. Hands up – I burnt a piece of bread and the first crumpet was a bit too soggy. But it really didn’t take long to have a feel for how to set the browning levels and what function to use for say pittas and crumpets, which weren’t an identified option. And it coped really well with the frozen pittas. My current toaster tends to dry them out if I put them in frozen. The Tower Cavaletto toasted them perfectly.
Finally, a toaster that properly toasts. And a kettle that can heat water at the correct temperature for different drinks. In conclusion I would highly recommend this toaster if you like all things toasty like me. The kettle, only if you drink anything other than builder’s tea/coffee.
The Review Studio 