percolator has probably heard these common criticisms about their favorite coffee maker. Well, we here at Coletti would like to be the first to say, no more! The percolator might not be the “coolest” way to brew your coffee, but it’s far from an outdated or archaic system – and more people might agree if we left these six untrue notions about this brewing method behind us.
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1 . The Brew is Too Flavorful One of the biggest issues people take with percolated coffee is that it’s too flavorful – which isn’t something you usually hear coffee lovers complain about! But, to be fair, we’ve definitely messed up a pot or two of percolator coffee by making it, well, strong enough to chew. Now, the nature of percolators is to make strong, flavorful coffee. If you prefer more watered-down coffee, this simply might not be the brewing system for you. But there are ways to enjoy that incredible flavor without that cringe-worthy burnt taste. The key to avoiding harsh percolator coffee is paying close attention to when the coffee is hot enough. For stovetop percolators, it’s crucial to notice when the first burble (this is fondly referred to as “perking”) hits the glass bubble of your machine; this indicates that your water is sufficiently hot enough to begin brewing coffee.
You should aim to have no more than 1 “perc” every three to five seconds, so make sure to turn your heat down once the perking begins. For reference, the water in the pot should stay around 95 °C or 200 ℉, this way steam pressure can build up in the stem and bubble over gently. We did not go into this level of detail in our YouTube Instructional Video and probably should have included this point.
Keep this going for four-seven minutes, or no more than one minute per cup of water.
If you have an electric percolator, the big pitfall can be using the “Keep Warm” function. As helpful as this might seem, these warming options usually ruin the flavor of coffee across most machines.
2. Some Find the Brew Too Hot
A big myth about percolator coffee is that the brew always comes out too hot – hotter than your typical pot of drip-over coffee. This is because percolators often expose the grounds to higher temperatures than other methods, and may recirculate already brewed coffee through the beans. Sometimes, this can make percolated coffee susceptible to hotter-than-usual temperatures.
However, one of the purposes of percolated coffee being so hot is to avoid under-extraction. When the water being used isn’t hot enough, it prevents the acids in the beans to dissolve, resulting in taste weak and sour flavor.
According to the Specialty Coffee Association of America and the National Coffee Association, the optimal temperature for brewing a great cup of coffee is 197.6 – 204.8 ℉, which is usually right where percolated water lands.
In all fairness, if the water temperature brewing your coffee is too high, then over extraction occurs and the coffee tastes bitter. There IS a risk of this happening with percolated coffee (because of that over-exposure), but don’t worry – there are also ways to avoid this mishap.
Our favorite trick is boiling your water (or at least warming it up) before putting it in your percolator; this prevents the water from heating up too much, too quickly which can burn your mouth and even burn your coffee.
And, hey, at the end of the day, we would take a nice hot cup of java that can gradually cool down over a lukewarm cup any day!
3. Percolated Coffee is Too Watered Down
Truthfully, this is likely the least true myth of all – percolated coffee is infamously strong, mostly because of the circular nature of the brewing process (giving the grounds more time to steep) and the hot temperature of the percolated water.
If you’re getting weak, watered-down coffee from your percolator, it’s likely a misstep on your part. (Don’t worry, there’s always room to improve when it comes to making a perfect brew!)
Make sure you’re using enough coffee grounds (one tablespoon for each cup of water is standard, and 40 cup percolators typically need up to 2 ½ cups of ground coffee) and that you’re opting for coarse grounds.
4. Drip Coffee is Just Better
This is obviously a matter of opinion. Drip coffee might be in vogue right now (whether it’s your traditional drip-over method, cold brew, or even Keurig pods), but that doesn’t mean it’s inherently better than percolated coffee.
Much of the “bad rep” of the percolator is that it’s an archaic method of brewing coffee. We would argue that just because other methods have come along, it doesn’t make already existing systems irrelevant.
If there’s nothing wrong with enjoying “Three’s Company” reruns and listening to vinyl records, then there’s nothing wrong with brewing coffee the “old-fashioned way,” either.
5. You Can’t Bring Coffee Camping
Maybe not with your drip coffee maker, but this couldn’t be less true when it comes to the percolator! Percolators are perfect for making coffee when you’re enjoying the great outdoors – in fact, this is what percolated coffee is best known for.
When you’re a camping junkie but you can’t go a day (or less, if you’re anything like us) without your cup of joe, the percolator was designed to be your best friend. It’s easy to transport from site to site, and all you really need to brew percolator coffee is the machine itself, your coffee grounds (ideally coarsely ground, so they won’t slip through the holes in the metal basket), clean water, and a means to heat up your water, like a campfire.
And if you have an electric percolator, it’s that much easier to brew coffee on-the-go! Besides the pot, water, and the grounds, this type of percolator doesn’t require outside heat to brew.
All in all, it takes about seven minutes to make your percolator coffee while camping – about six minutes to brew and one minute to sit before enjoying – which leaves you with plenty of time to fish, hike, and enjoy your camping experience.
6. It Takes Too Long
True, it’s no secret that percolator coffee isn’t instantaneous, but what coffee is? (With the exception of instant coffee, which is in a category all its own.) We checked out the run times of a few different traditional brewing methods to see if percolators really do take an unreasonable amount of time, as some myths have perpetuated.
- French Press: About five minutes, between adding water, stirring the brew, and allowing the coffee to steep for the recommended four minutes. This doesn’t include the time it takes to grind your own coffee, if necessary.
- Automatic Drip Coffee Maker: 10 minutes for a full pot, which is approximately 12 cups of coffee.
- Keurig: 30 seconds, for your average Keurig “K-Cup.” However, different and more advanced Keurig models take up to three minutes to brew a single cup of coffee.
- Percolator: Seven minutes, which includes the six minutes for the coffee to “perk” and the one recommended minute to let the coffee sit. This doesn’t include the time it takes to grind your own coffee, if necessary. Some newer percolators can take as little as four minutes to brew, or one minute per cup of coffee.
How you choose to make your coffee is obviously a personal choice, which depends on different factors and preferences, but it’s important to try various brewing methods to find the one that’s right for you.
We hope, despite whatever bad press you might have heard, that you’ll look past these popular misconceptions and try this classic coffee maker for yourself!
Do you have any experience with percolators? Are you a fan of the coffee or is it not your favorite brewing method? Make sure to share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.]]>
Thank you very much for all Imformation Nick thanks
Afternoon all.
I wonder if you can help. You all seem to know a fair bit about brewing coffee, so here goes…..
We have been using a Dualit percolator for years and just love the coffee we get from it.
We recently bought a Burr coffee grinder as (we are led to believe you get better coffee flavour from Burred beans rather than grinder beans rather than pre-ground!!
So, our Dualit has 10 ‘cup’ markings inside and we usually fill it with water to mark 6 as this gives 2 perfect size mugs of coffee. With a bit of trial and error we found the perfect amount and coarseness and amount of the beans for our 2 mugs.
However-for the life of me if I try to make the 10 ‘cups’ it comes out so weak. I initially measured out the same proportions for the larger volume of water and (to cut a long story short) I am now putting in almost 3 times the amount of coffee for less than double the water and it’s still really weak!!!
Can anybody help?
I look forward to your reply.
Kind regards
Alastair
I’m starting to use perked coffee again, can’t beat the smell and taste.
Thanks for the info. Enjoy your cup.
I’ve tried all sorts of coffee makers from drip, to vacuum pots, from pour over to French presses and at different times I’ve enjoyed them all but I always go back to my beloved Universal Coffeematic electric percolator from the 1950’s. It still makes wonderful coffee.
After years of drinking drip brewed coffee and most recently Keurig coming now in my retirement I have returned to the percolator. Because there is no great rush in the morning oh, I have the time to perk up a great cup of coffee. I enjoy the strong taste more and the aroma through the house is wonderful. The K-Cups are convenient but the flavor is generally lacking and now I’m having some concerns about the internal cleanliness of the Keurig coffee maker. Experimenting with different coffees to see which one provides the best taste and aroma.
Hi,
Camping junkie and coffee addict here. Just want to toss in my two beans on the camping bit… People use a percolator when they are camping because Coleman was smart enough to make a cheapo percolator that is a base model that works! I used one for years and years. It works, but don’t drink the last two sips!!! The thing is a campfire is a reasonably uncontrolled source of heat and the top of the strainer fits loosely allowing the grounds to escape. The last two mouthfuls may have to be chewed or mostly spat out. Even if you’re backpacking camping and going out with minimal gear to keep your packs light, I suggest you give a French Press a hearty try. In the North woods we’re all switching to French Press. It’s cold up here even in the middle of summer in the mornings and the percolator being all metal loses its heat fast, you end up with a cold cup of coffee and grounds in your cup because there’s no secondary strainer at the spout, and there really should be! Instead, with the French Press you’re dealing with one cylinder that is easier to swish out with water and end up reasonably clean instead of disassembling the percolator and making sure you get all the grounds out of every part with possibly limited clean safe drinking water. The French Press also has a larger opening at the top for you men with bigger hands allowing you to get in there and clean it out. I have actually moved over to French Press in every corner of my life, because we often lose power whenever we have a storm on my well forested country road up here . I can always boil water no matter where I am. I have spent 100’s of $ on Mr. Coffee machines… what a waste! Then I went simpler and smarter! It takes a full 9 minutes not 5 for a French Press full pot which is 8 cups of coffee. 5 minutes to boil the water in my Farberware electric kettle and 4 minutes to steep ((the longest nine minutes of my life every day!!!)) Electric kettles are a quicker boil and use less power generally. Of course it’ll take longer to boil the water if you are camping and even longer if you’re camping AND its cold and it takes about half an hour to boil water out on the grill in a Nor’easter… (because wind definitely factors in) lol… near to an hour in a blizzard (with the wind and the cold)… but I STILL got my coffee that day. I guess at the end of the day I would agree that percolator tastes great, BUT its important to find a method that works well in each of our own lives according to our individual circumstances. For me a French Press makes a fantastic cup of coffee at the four minute steep mark and it can be steeped longer for stronger coffee if that is your desire, but the most important factor for me is being able to make it without electricity if that happens to be my circumstance as a camper and one who loses power at least frequently, 6 times this past winter which was a treat compared to usual…lol. Nice article Tessa! Thank you and may everyone find their own perfect cup of coffee!
Percolated is simply the best for me, love grinding my own beans, the taste and aroma cannot be beat! Is it cumbersome? Yes, but worth rvery monent. The Keurig and the Mr. Coffees are just plain horrible, I do use a french press from time to time. Percolated is the only way to make coffee (Not electric either) My wife prefers my Percolated coffee to her nasty Keurig, lol.
Thanks for the informative articles. I use an electric percolator because I like my fresh ground French market style coffee strong. I add a little roasted chicory to give it ” New Orleans” flavor. I also use a French press. My drip coffee maker is on a shelf somewhere.
I like perked coffee better
We think it tastes better and you can clean the whole pot everytime
We switched to a percolator nearly a year ago and now enjoy coffee at its best. As a lifelong coffee drinker – we dipped buttered bread in coffee for breakfast as kids – I have finally arrived at the method that works best for our tastes. It takes a little effort and a little patience but the payoff is full-bodied, rich taste not found in drip coffee makers or Kuerigs. If you enjoy coffee morning and evening as we do, try percolated coffee.
I use a larger 1960’s electric percolator. 12 cups and uses about 5/8 of a cup grind for each brew. No wasted grind whatsoever, no filters,very fine basket holes. I believe the most eco-friendly brew of any method.
Fantastic and extra flavorful, smooth coffee, every time.
I pull the basket and rinse the basket of grounds before pouring the first cup.
Absolutely the cheapest and arguably the most flavorful of all methods.
Plenty to last a couple of days and tastes fresh to the last cup. The strength is easily controlled by thermostat or amount of grind.
If you are a miser who really enjoys coffee , you will greatly enjoy a counter top electric percolator. plus