Substack diary no.169: Sunday, 31st. May 2026

Every now and again I get a ‘bee in my bonnet’ as the saying goes and this morning it was descaling the coffee machine and the kettle and washing out the water filter, which has taken a good hour or so. In so doing I came to think about some of the shortcomings of such technology.

My coffee machine is a KitchenAid, which is quite good but on reflection I should probably have purchased the Sage coffee machine – the only one they make (all the others are espresso machines). The KitchenAid has an indicator light that flashes incessantly – and annoyingly – when it believes descaling is required. How does it know? Well, the simple answer is that it doesn’t; it presumably assumes the worst-case scenario – a hard-water area. South Devon is a very soft-water area. Before I moved to London to go to university I had no idea what ‘scale’ was and, I must admit that I found it rather gross to see in kettles, but people who lived in London seemed to take it for granted.

My espresso machine (Sage/Nespresso), which I did not descale today, came with a rudimentary but perfectly adequate water testing kit. The machine knows how hard or soft my water is, so presumably tells me to descale only when it is actually required.

When it comes to my Aarke kettle I simply use my best judgement, and that was also descaled this morning. This is a thing of beauty: a great design, well built in highly polished quality stainless steel. Thing of beauty it may be but I am sorry to say it just doesn’t function properly, a rare example of where paying a premium for quality does not pay off. I have gone through two kettles and three bases over the last two years. Aarke have been very obliging but I have given up. Their thing of beauty is not fit for purpose. If I set it to boil I expect it to shut off when it reaches 100ºC, but sometimes it doesn’t – it just carries right on boiling. Needless to say I have formed a new habit: standing by the kettle until it boils.

So, I have a KitchenAid coffee machine that tells me to descale when it doesn’t need descaling, and an Aarke kettle that requires me to be on standby in case it doesn’t shut off.

Anyway, I am pleased to say that I have enjoyed my cappuccinos this morning – a ‘spicy and herbal’ Rio de Janeiro and an ‘intense and creamy’ Arpeggio. I am now set for the day ahead!