Percolator Coffee

[TheFall]

I have a percolator that I use probably 2 or 3 times a month. It is the cheapest ceramic coated one I could find, exactly like the one my dad bought 30 years ago. I got it when we had company visiting because my moka pot and manual espresso maker were too slow to make everyone coffee at once, I am not fast enough to make cups back to back and visit at the same time. I also picked up a can of Kirkland coffee because, may as well stick with what my dad put in that pot.

It is amazing how the senses work, I think the first coffee I ever had was fishing with my dad, in that same style perc pot. Dad would make 1 pot of perc coffee and then make cowboy coffee in the same pot when we got to the last quarter of the first pot. Something about those hot cups of coffee in the early morning, coupled with the cold feeling yesterdays jeans have when you put them on getting out of the sleeping bag, the cool damp mountain air, with steak, bacon sausage and eggs cooking on the camp fire just seemed to fit and mesh really well together.

The first sip I had after I got my own, brought the memories flooding back, and I was hooked as an adult on this style. Does it make same quality of coffee as my espresso maker or moka pot? No. But it makes a cup of coffee off on its own. Even though I don't use it every day, I really enjoy it when I do.

 

[mso489]

I think senses of smell and taste are the most evocative of memories. The Fall, those cold jeans really bring back camping trips of yore.

 

[kola]

Boiling coffee just doesn't make sense to me - tastes burnt and bitter to shit. Like that starbucks junk.

I use coarse ground coffee, dump 3 tablespoons in a mason jar, add boiling hot water and let it steep about 3 minutes or so. Stir a few times. I also add leftover hot water to my coffee cup to warm up the cup. I then strain my coffee grounds through a tea strainer. I guess you'd call it a modified french press - sorta.

 

[mso489]

kola, I think percolator coffee may indeed be an acquired taste. I go way back, so it was my introduction to coffee, so it seems especially natural to me, boiled or not, has a distinctive depth of flavor that I prefer to other more refined methods I've tried (and enjoyed!). Every morning I fix my wife her French press coffee, and then boost my stovetop perc' pot onto the burner. Most people grew up on filter drip brewed or other more elevated brewing methods, all mighty fine tasting to me. But what do I want in the morning? A pot of percolator stovetop. Before I started drinking coffee, my folks made cowboy coffee, threw the grounds in the pot without a basket, with a few egg shells. Maybe it is just as well I didn't start with that! The post has gone on for years and keeps getting recycled. When I first posted, one of the members posted: "Dad, is that you?"

 

[uprightman]

I use an aero press for my everyday at home coffee, but do sure love a percolator when camping. I was just pricing them the other day so I didn’t have to borrow dads. They want quite a bit for such a simple implement these days.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I grind a serving of beans and use a French Press. Best method I've found to date.