I got tired of "disposable" coffee makers a few years ago and dug up my mother's percolator. I don't believe it will ever stop working. I don't have to program it or set the time of day or plug it in. It doesn't have a space-managed place on the counter. It produces a flavor that has been forgotten and, IMO, mostly substituted.
I used to like STRONG coffee, but finding a way to sweeten it without ruining it was a challenge. I discovered blackstrap molasses....another forgotten flavor. Adding it to a cup wasn't good at all, so I added it to the fresh grounds in the basket before brewing.
I call a pot of coffee 10 cups. Add 2 tbs molasses. This will take the bitter edge off and produce a rich flavor that isn't overbearing with either ingredient. If you use a creamer, it enhances that as well. It also "allows" you to make stronger coffee without the bite. Play with it until you like it.
I sip coffee all day, every day. After the molasses treatment, it's much better. Guests compliment it and usually ask for a warm-up.
About a percolator. It makes boiling hot coffee. Remember folks stirring an ice cube in their cup or go back further...pouring it in their saucer and sipping from there!? If you don't use a more coarse grind, you will need to get a fine strainer and pour through it into your cup. That's just part of the deal. With coffee makers, you get mud. With percolators, you get a few grounds. The basket gets emptied out in the yard. What's left in the pot gets added to the rain barrel.
As collateral damage, I get the occasional and rare soft molasses cookie or three...if I behave. 8)
back in the 60's, the music of my mom fixing her three sons breakfast and the percolator starting its song, is a great memory to start the day . the warmth, aroma, and richness of of every morning began with Hills Brothers perked coffee.
:) I drink coffee all day long . Black 1 sugar . Drip ,perc , hobo on a wood fire stove love them all .
Mastered the last sip technique before I was 12 . Hot or cold doesn`t bother me ...
My wife and I split up the meal prep & cleanup.
Sue makes dinners, except for me doing the barbecuing of steaks, lamb, chicken, and fish.
We each make our own breakfast and lunches so we don't need to be dependent on each other when we are both going in different directions with various projects.
My job every evening is to do the dishes, clean and polish the granite counters, stove, and make coffee for the next morning.
The best coffeemaker we have found and used for over 15 years is a Cuisinart. It has the bold setting we like, and the gold metal filter works very well.
We only use Starbuck's coffee.
Stevia packets for a sweetener without using sugars.
Real half-n-half.
Coffeemaker timer goes on at 4:45 AM —- and when I roll out of bed at 05:00 —- it is waiting for me —- hot, and steaming.
I recall Mom using the old percolators —- both electric and stovetop. Great memories and great morning smellers.
Of course, the best coffee, IMO —- is 10 miles from the backcountry trailhead, at 8500' —- Cowboy Coffee with bacon, homemade brownies, when the sun hasn't topped the ridge yet.
And the promise of a good day of catching our dinner.
I have hunted with some guys who would gather a few sticks together on flat ground, break out the old black coffee pot, set it on the sticks —- and make cowboy coffee.
Thanks for sharing!
Best, Fred
We like strong coffee as well Starbucks-Italian Roast,Cafe Bustelo,& for Keurig pods on the go, Peet's "Major Dickason" is a strong pod.We take the Keurig single serve on road trips for hotel stays,It's small enough to pack.I like it black mostly with breakfast. If I want creamer I like Coffeemate sugar free vanilla/caramel.It is sweet enough by itself,like dessert.Percolators have the best flavor or John Wayne style on the campfire.
I started drinking coffee at an early age when my Italian grandmother would boil grounds in a sauce pot and strain it with a knife. I didn't need a school bus to get to school, usually beat it on foot :o.
While working in corrections I always knew where to find a pot of coffee brewing. The best were always in the sergeants office. As a captain they knew to have a pot ready for me when I walked in to the office (rank does have a few privileges).
But for me, it's always been a drip coffee maker. My wife insisted we get a Keurig maker but it always tasted like instant coffee to me. Funny thing though, if I open a K cup and scavenge the grounds for the drip maker it tastes pretty good.
Starting with grandma, it's always been black coffee, no sweetener. She insisted I "drink coffee like a man". Sweetener wasn't allowed.
Even into retirement I start the day with two 10 ounce mugs before getting the day started. That's enough time to read the news and plan the day. But I do have to say making coffee at 4,600' was a challenge, altitude does make a difference.
Bill
aeropress; i cannot go back to any other method.
Coffee has a pH of 4.5 - 5.8. The best makers should prolly be steel rather than aluminum and any carafe 's made of glass. Wonder why vinegar is recommended to clean coffee makers? Wouldn't a baking soda solution with a higher than 7.0 pH work better?
Quote from: Gfish on November 16, 2023, 07:18:02 PMCoffee has a pH of 4.5 - 5.8. The best makers should prolly be steel rather than aluminum and any carafe 's made of glass. Wonder why vinegar is recommended to clean coffee makers? Wouldn't a baking soda solution with a higher than 7.0 pH work better?
People usually do that to clean the scale from hard water out of their machines. That scale is usually calcium carbonate.
Also vinegar is a cleaning chem that rinses clean. Baking soda isn't very soluble = much harder to flush out of the machine.
Also the best cheap coffee is a 50/50 mix of cafe du monde coffee and cafe bustelo. That blend is so excellent. My coffee snob friends refuse to believe I'm blowing their minds at sub $7/lb
Quote from: pointbob on November 15, 2023, 02:56:48 PMaeropress;
Yes. That makes a good cup. If I ever change my ways, that's where I'll go.
The sound of a percolator is timeless, though. Especially if the bottom is a little rounded and it rocks on the cooktop!
Quote from: Gfish on November 16, 2023, 07:18:02 PMCoffee has a pH of 4.5 - 5.8. The best makers should prolly be steel rather than aluminum and any carafe 's made of glass. Wonder why vinegar is recommended to clean coffee makers? Wouldn't a baking soda solution with a higher than 7.0 pH work better?
Mr. Know-it-all, however, has a 1-large cup espresso maker; plastic sub-base, with a 120v power cord,
aluminum water holding base, aluminum screens and coffee grounds holder, and the top part is a plastic carafe. The first one I had, the plastic cracked at the bottom and started leaking. A nice design by a popular Italian company, very convenient for motel/hotel use, but now made in China. I do have an all stainless steel Italian stove topper, great for camping or when the Power is out.
On a normal weekday morning I can manage to make my coffee with a Hario burr grinder and french press.