YAMATARO 4 in 1 Boiling Tap

Is the YAMATARO 4 in 1 Boiling Tap worth buying?

The YAMATARO 4 in 1 Boiling Tap is worth buying at £339 if your kitchen gets through a lot of hot drinks, because its 2.5-litre boiler is the biggest of any tap here and gives 7 to 10 cups in one draw. It is a 4-in-1, so boiling water, filtered cold drinking water and ordinary hot and cold all come out of the same body. For a busy household that is a kettle, a filter jug and a mixer rolled into one.

Skip it if you want a true 100°C boil, because it stops at 98°C, or if you want a long record of owners behind the purchase: only 49 owners rate it so far, at 3.9. Buy it if filtered cold water matters and you would rather not pay the £400 the QETTLE 3-in-1 asks for its 100°C.

What does the 2.5-litre boiler actually give you?

The number that defines the YAMATARO 4 in 1 Boiling Tap is 2.5 litres, the largest boiler capacity of any tap here. It gives 7 to 10 cups in one go, which works out at 250 ml per cup at the top of that range and 357 ml at the bottom. The boiler is counting teacups rather than mugs, so a full tank covers more drinks than the figure first suggests.

That 2.5-litre tank is half a litre more than the 2-litre boilers in the QETTLE range, and the extra water is the main reason to choose this tap over a smaller 3-in-1. Water arrives at 97°C to 98°C, and the touch screen lets you set the boiler anywhere from 75°C up, which is the setting for green tea rather than a rolling boil. Nothing on this tap reaches 100°C.

What comes in the box and how does it fit under a sink?

The box holds the tap, the boiling water tank, a carbon water filter and a replacement filter, so your first filter change is already covered. You get a brass body with a chrome finish, a 360° swivel spout and a digital touch screen on the boiler. The tap needs one hole in the worktop, and the tank stands on the cabinet floor below.

The tap stands 39.5 cm high on a 21 x 4 cm base and the whole kit weighs 9.41 kg, so fitting it is quicker with two people: one holding the tap upright, one tightening underneath. The boiling handle takes a spring-loaded catch and a slide before it will pour, and the insulated spout stays cool to the touch. The carbon filter is rated for water up to 500 ppm and wants replacing every three to six months.

What are the downsides of the YAMATARO 4 in 1 Boiling Tap?

The first limit is temperature: 98°C at the spout rather than the 100°C the QETTLE taps deliver, so a serious tea drinker will notice the difference in the cup. The second is the review base. Only 49 owners rate it, at 3.9, against 683 owners at 4.4 behind the QETTLE 4-in-1, which means there is far less of a crowd to learn from before you commit.

At 9.41 kg the kit is heavy for one person to fit, and the carbon filter is a consumable you pay for every three to six months on top of the £339. The boiler also needs its own socket inside the cabinet, which gets tight in a sink unit that already houses a waste disposal.

How does it compare with the QETTLE 3-in-1 and the Ellsi 3-in-1?

The QETTLE 3-in-1 Boiling Water Tap costs £400, £61 more, and it is the cheapest way here to reach a true 100°C boil, with a 2-litre boiler and 49 owners rating it 4.6. Choose the QETTLE if a genuine boil is the whole point of buying the tap. Choose the YAMATARO 4 in 1 if an extra half-litre of tank and filtered cold water matter more than the last 2°C.

The Ellsi Matte Black Boiling Tap costs £194.98, which is £144.02 less, and it gives boiling, hot and cold from a 2.4-litre boiler with a carbon filter, backed by 124 owners at 3.9. It is the better buy on a tight budget. It has no filtered cold water, though, so the YAMATARO remains the one to pick if you want all four functions from a single tap.