How Does a Percolator Coffee Pot Work? (Hint: Very Well!)

The Perks of the Percolator Coffee Pot


A nod to simplicity: That’s why we at COLETTI encourage manual brewing. There are a few manual methods out there, and today we want to focus on the percolator. Our vessel of choice is the stainless steel percolator coffee pot. Manual brewing doesn’t take as much time as you might think. The range for percolator, aka “perked,” coffee is 7-10 minutes. For comparison: This is the same amount of time it takes for a pot of drip coffee.

If you’ve never had percolator coffee, that’s probably a good thing because it allows you the chance to make this brewing method your own and avoid popular misconceptions about it. The percolator pot is a favorite of the outdoor-adventure crowd because it’s so portable. However, it’s a great option for any coffee drinker because the process is straightforward and cost-effective. For perked coffee, all you need is a stainless steel percolator pot, clean water, coffee, and a heat source (stovetop or flame).

Fun fact: The percolator pot relies on gravity (hey, so do humans!). The belly of the pot is an orb like the Earth—except instead of drawing humans to its center it draws water bubbles. The mechanics are simple: Through the process of convection, as the temperature of the water rises, it moves away from the heat source. The resulting bubbles are pushed upward through a hollow stem in the middle of the pot and into the chamber up top that holds the coffee grounds (coarse ground is essential!). The water rains over the ground coffee and trickles downward into the belly of the pot where the process repeats until the full pot is brewed.

Slow, Simple, Satisfying

With about 1.4 billion cups of coffee poured every day across the globe, it’s safe to say the world is heavily populated with coffee drinkers. Some simply require coffee to get moving in the morning while others are invested in the art of the drink. Regardless of what kind of coffee drinker you are, when you drop the drip, you open up a whole new world of coffee appreciation, from the actual brewing process to the taste of the brew itself.

At COLETTI, we invite you to pull the plug, literally, on your coffee-making routine. It’s not because we’re particularly old-fashioned. We love our technology as much as anyone else—too much! Products to simplify hectic weekdays with work and kids? We’ll take ‘em! However, like most of you out there, in our everyday lives we tend to mix contemporary options with tradition. We know there are some things worth waiting for, and a good cup of joe in the morning is high on that list.