We absolutely loved Franke’s Omni instant boiling water tap when we reviewed it, so we had high hopes for the Minerva. While we can’t say it is quite as good, the fact that it is around ⅓ of the price certainly is.

Accessing the water is easy. Just turn the right-hand lever backwards for cold, forwards for hot, and press the left-hand button in for boiling water. Because accessing the boiling water is a two-stage process, it is harder to run automatically, which is good for keeping accidents at bay.

The 100°C is pretty instant, so you don’t have any waiting around to make that cup of tea or get the vegetables boiling. If you need to rotate the tap head, the swivel action is smooth and unproblematic, and because it will turn 360-degrees, it is ideal for a large central area in your kitchen.

We love the fact that the hot water tank can be fitted under the kitchen plinth to save some valuable space. While many others need to sit on the shelf or be fitted to the wall, this one will be relatively unobtrusive for your storage space.

Insulation means the tap is largely cool to touch, even when the boiling water has just been running, which again improves safety and reduces the risk of scalds. There were parts of the tap which were still a little warm, although not bad enough to cause injury.

The Minerva instant hot water tap was great at steadily running the water, with no splashes or stuttering, although we did realise that it started to slow down after around the first litre, so it isn’t the best for anyone who is going to be using large quantities of boiling water at any one time. However, the 4.7L capacity is certainly one of the largest available, so it is unlikely you’ll have to ever wait for it to refill and reheat.

The safety button action is heavily sprung, so while this is great for making it harder to get to the steaming water and will prevent it from being left running for a long time, there is, of course, the possibility that you want it to be running for a prolonged period. Having to hold in the button makes this difficult. On a more positive note, the filters are purse-friendly to replace, and it is simple to maintain.