topic Re: Going Back to a Coffee Percolator in Home

Going Back to a Coffee Percolator

Desert Lily — Sun, 23 Dec 2018 08:45:22 GMT

I've had a few complex coffee/espresso makers with all the bells and whistles. They've been complicated to clean, and taking them apart to do so takes away the convenience and some enjoyment. I don't want a pre-determined amount of coffee grounds in those little individual plastic cups, and sometimes I just want the simple coffee from earlier times. I bought my millennial child an electric coffee percolator 3 years ago when it was retro trendy for that age group, and today I bought one for myself. Remember the aroma that filled the house from a percolator and the fresh robust flavor of the coffee? When I was a child, the neighbor lady had a non-electric percolator she used on the stove and you could watch the coffee bubble up into the glass knob at the top. The percolator I bought also has a glass knob. Anyone else have a percolator?

Re: Going Back to a Coffee Percolator

haddon9 — Sun, 23 Dec 2018 09:39:06 GMT

I have two percolators that I use when we have a crowd. One holds about 12 cups the other is very large...party size though I'm not sure of the number of cups. Both were my mothers and yes the aroma is wonderful when the coffee is percolating!

I'm not a big coffee drinker so for me the individual cups work fine for everyday.

Re: Going Back to a Coffee Percolator

meallen616 — Sun, 23 Dec 2018 10:15:48 GMT

@Desert Lily

We have two percolators and feel they are still the best!

Re: Going Back to a Coffee Percolator

Mombo1 — Sun, 23 Dec 2018 10:47:03 GMT

Yes I still have a percolator as backup to my Keurig. I will never be without it because I really think it makes a better cup of coffee. I love being able to "top off" my cup to keep it warm.

Re: Going Back to a Coffee Percolator

chiclet — Sun, 23 Dec 2018 10:59:38 GMT

I can still remember the sound and smell of the cheap little percolator on top of the stove that my parents had.

Re: Going Back to a Coffee Percolator

Pooky1 — Sun, 23 Dec 2018 11:19:12 GMT

i remember sleeping over my aunts house and she alllways used a percolator and yes house smelled like fresh coffee. she had 3 different size pots..

Re: Going Back to a Coffee Percolator

Desertdi — Sun, 23 Dec 2018 11:31:49 GMT

That's all I have ever used.......(a stovetop; corning and pyrex)

Re: Going Back to a Coffee Percolator

ID2 — Sun, 23 Dec 2018 11:36:25 GMT

I can top that! Try perking your coffee in a steel, old time perculator over an open fire! When we camp, we perk our coffee over the campfire! Now that's the true taste of coffee that can't be beat!

Re: Going Back to a Coffee Percolator

OKPrincess — Sun, 23 Dec 2018 11:37:31 GMT

I don’t use a percolator but my parents used a glass one on the stove. Wow what memories from the ‘50s.

Re: Going Back to a Coffee Percolator

catlover — Sun, 23 Dec 2018 11:47:44 GMT

Re: Going Back to a Coffee Percolator

Witchy Woman — Sun, 23 Dec 2018 11:53:20 GMT

@Desert Lily

You've set me to thinking that I am going to look for a percolater. I've got a nice Kitchenaid 14 cup drip pot, but this is my second one. The other stopped working after maybe 3-4 years.

Yes, that sound and smell of coffee is a wonderful memory for many of us. We were not allowed to have coffee until we were a bit older...and then just a small amount in a little cup with lots of milk. I adored it from the start and used to beg for it every morning!

Both my Dad and Grandpa (railroad men), used to "saucer" their coffee to cool it off as they were always in a hurry to get going

It's a rather indelicate way of slurping coffee from the saucer, but I didn't much think of the bad manners of it as a child.

What brand did you buy? Just curious.

Re: Going Back to a Coffee Percolator

OKPrincess — Sun, 23 Dec 2018 11:54:42 GMT

@catlover That’s it. Thanks for the memories!!

Re: Going Back to a Coffee Percolator

ciao_bella — Sun, 23 Dec 2018 12:24:32 GMT

@Desert Lily After going through several types of different coffee makers through the years, I, too, have reverted back to the electric percolator. My coffee not only smells delicious when it's brewing but it's hot! I'm not one bit disappointed either.

Re: Going Back to a Coffee Percolator

violann — Sun, 23 Dec 2018 12:32:49 GMT

Such a sweet post! I’m sitting here in my kitchen looking at my little collection of glass percolator glass “bubblers”. In the ‘30s-‘40s some of them were made of what we now call “Depression Glass”, and I have a blue Pyrex bubbler and a green (maybe Hazel Atlas?) one, a tiny one from a vintage toy coffee pot, and a couple others.

Then, when the Pyrex coffee makers came out, we all had those. They were the ones that could turn into shrapnel if they were unwittingly placed on an electric coil top stove. They came in at least 3 sizes that were used throughout our family, including a 9 cup that when fully utilized, was hard as heck to lift off the burner. There was a 6 cup and a smaller one, but nobody I ever knew could start their blue collar work day on just one dainty little cup.

I’m thinking they might have emerged from wartime efforts to conserve metal, because the bracket that held the handle to the vessel and the perforated metal bottom of the basket are the only metal parts I can remember.

As as they were phased out, the whole family became scavengers, swapping baskets and stems and the pots themselves, to get a “decent cup of coffee”. Then came the “hybrids”, MUCH SAFER, MUCH LESS LIKELY TO EXPLODE, LOUSY COFFEE. I don’t know if they make them any more at all.

Re: Going Back to a Coffee Percolator

drizzellla — Sun, 23 Dec 2018 12:34:35 GMT

We bought a Faberware percolator when we first got married. My son uses it now. He took it to work and uses it there. It is still going strong after 40 years.

As a kid I loved the smell of percolated coffee. My parents made a pot on weekends. I still enjoy walking down the isle at Sam's, where coffee beans are ground. Just to sniff.

We bought a small Kerig about 3 years ago. It lasted about 3 cups of coffee.

THEN I saw what the inside of a Kerig looked like after being used numerous times a day for months. At work they had a Kerig that was used quite a bit. It was a larger unit with quite a water reservoir. EEWW! I thought since it was used so often the water would not form mold or slime. But with weekends and holidays - it did.

Re: Going Back to a Coffee Percolator

Still Raining — Sun, 23 Dec 2018 13:16:55 GMT

Either mind is really going or else I remember Mama had a metal two-part and when it was done perking you took off the grounds top and had just a pot and lid to leave on the stove. Anyone else?

Re: Going Back to a Coffee Percolator

geezerette — Sun, 23 Dec 2018 13:32:08 GMT

@Still Raining wrote:
Either mind is really going or else I remember Mama had a metal two-part and when it was done perking you took off the grounds top and had just a pot and lid to leave on the stove. Anyone else?

@Still Raining

No, your mind is not going. My mother had one of those the whole time I was growing up. It was meant to go on the stove (not electric). She used it for eons until they finally got an electric percolator that she used until she died.

Re: Going Back to a Coffee Percolator

CelticCrafter — Sun, 23 Dec 2018 14:44:16 GMT

I'm not a coffee drinker, I can go days with out having a cup. If I do, it's only just that one cup for the day.

When my husband had his gall bladder surgery, for some reason he could no longer stand the smell or taste of it. After about a month I finally took the Keurig off the countertop because it was really taking up valuable space.

When he decided he wanted a cup I took out the little 4 cup Mr. Coffee maker and we've been using that ever since.

It was just easier rather than having to clean and descale the Keurig and it's a lot cheaper to buy a can of coffee.

I finally ended up giving the Keurig to my daughter when hers died.

Re: Going Back to a Coffee Percolator

songbird — Sun, 23 Dec 2018 14:49:29 GMT

i've never had one! I don't think I ever drank one. I'm just used to the drip and Keurig. More of a tea drinker then coffee, but I do like that Keurig!

Re: Going Back to a Coffee Percolator

Misplaced Parisian — Sun, 23 Dec 2018 18:44:35 GMT

For me the best cip of coffee is either from my stove top percolator or French Press!